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Monday 4 April 2011 – DAY ONE –
Daily Update
– 3
For the first time, this year’s conference will feature
skill-building sessions and an official conference
declaration.
The Daily Update
spoke to IHRA executive
director
Rick Lines
about his hopes for the event
THIS YEAR MARKS THE FIRST TIME
the IHRA conference has
been held in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, reflecting
both the high level of need and the growing strength of local harm
reduction organisations. A sizeable Global Fund grant has also recently
been awarded to the Middle East and North Africa Harm Reduction
Association (MENAHRA), IHRA’s main local conference partner.
‘The timing couldn’t be better to bring people together from
across the region in the context of some major international
investment,’ says IHRA executive director Rick Lines. ‘The
conference is a good opportunity to raise the profile of the problems
in the region, but also to try to springboard the activity of civil society
and harm reduction advocates into the grant period.’
Harm reduction practices are making inroads into the region,
although more vigorously in some countries than others. ‘There are
examples where we have extensive harm reduction programmes –
Iran is the most well-known, but it’s increasing in places like
Lebanon, Morocco and Afghanistan,’ he says. ‘There’s definitely
increased capacity and increased urgency, but obviously there are a
lot of specific barriers – religious and cultural, and some countries
with particularly punitive law enforcement policies – which get in the
way of harm reduction and
increase the vulnerability of people
who use drugs.’
There is, however, an increasing-
ly large and dedicated pool of harm
reduction advocates and practition-
ers, he stresses, often working in
difficult circumstances. ‘I hope the
conference can play a role in bring-
ing some of them together,’ he
says. It’s also his first conference as
executive director. ‘We’re trying to
do some different things this year,
taking the conference in some new
directions. For the first time we have
a specific skill building and capacity-building stream to pass on skills.’
Thematically there’s a strong stream on women and harm
reduction, something he was very committed to developing, while
another first will be the release of a formal conference declaration.
‘That’s very exciting from an advocacy point of view. The conference
is only a couple of months before the UN General Assembly High
Level Meeting on Aids, and there’s a feeling that we need to use this
opportunity to make a lot of noise about the failure of governments
internationally to scale up harm reduction. It’s an excellent
opportunity for us to have a focused advocacy outcome alongside
the networking and information exchange.’
Beirut’s harm reduction is represented by MENAHRA,
which covers 22 countries in the region. Ahead of his
speech at this morning’s ‘capacity building’ session,
director
Elie Aaraj
tells
The Daily Update
how the
association is becoming a champion of change
THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA HARM
REDUCTION ASSOCIATION
(MENAHRA) was founded in 2007
and aims to develop harm reduction in the region. It comprises three
sub-regional knowledge hubs responsible for capacity building,
training, technical assistance, advocacy and documentation, and a
network secretariat providing central coordination.
MENAHRA serves 22 countries, out of which 12 have had some
kind of activity in the area of harm reduction. Such activities range
from informal programmes to fully adopted harm reduction policies
at country level. While harm reduction has had a slow uptake rate in
the region, MENAHRA had a major funding proposal accepted by
the Global Fund in 2010 that seeks to build on progress, maximising
learning on harm reduction to make sure it is adopted.
This Global Fund proposal (Round 10) aims to increase the access
of people who inject drugs to harm reduction services in the region and
includes capacity building for governments and civil society
organisations, as well as addressing
gender differences to help reach
female drug users.
The proposal includes several
objectives. The first is to create an
environment conducive to imple-
menting and scaling up harm
reduction activities. The second is
to build capacity, knowledge and
skills of governments and civil
society to deliver harm reduction
services for drug users. Finally, it
aims to ‘model’ programmes that
show feasibility and effectiveness of
harm reduction activities.
By bringing together key
stakeholders, knowledge-sharing and capacity can be increased.
MENAHRA is hoping to become a champion of change in the Middle
East and North Africa region, ensuring that all segments of society
are involved in harm reduction.
Visit the MENAHRA stand in the dome area for information.
A Dialogue Space session at 12.30 today will discuss the
Global Fund proposal. Come along and get involved!
Local champions become global players
New directions and hopes for IHRA
Rick Lines:
‘We’re trying to
do some different things
this year...’
Elie Aaraj:
‘MENAHRA had a
major funding proposal
accepted by the Global Fund
in 2010.’