Voices from the left behind: Protecting the human rights of women who use drugs

Side event organised at the Reconvened 61st Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, by the International Drug Policy Consortium, the International Network of People Who Use Drugs, the Women and Harm Reduction International Network, Canada, Mexico, Norway and Uruguay.

Location: Mozart Room, Vienna International Centre (breakfast will be served)

At the UNGASS, member states committed to ‘ensure that women, including detained women, have access to adequate health services and counselling, including those particularly needed during pregnancy’, to ‘identify and address protective and risk factors, as well as the conditions that continue to make women and girls vulnerable to exploitation and participation in drug trafficking’, and to ‘mainstream a gender perspective’ into drug policy.

As member states are delineating the way forward for global drug policy beyond 2019, this side event will evaluate the key challenges for women who use drugs to access health services, including in political environments where drug use remains heavily criminalised. The event will also be an opportunity to provide a space for affected women to have their voice heard, to highlight examples of good practice, and to offer recommendations with regards to women who use drugs for the post-2019 global drug strategy.

Speakers:

• H.E. Ambassador Kjersti E. Andersen, Permanent Mission of Norway to the International Organisations in Vienna
• Louise Beale-Vincent, International Network of People Who Use Drugs
• Putri Tanjung, Asian Network of People who Use Drugs
• Marie Nougier, International Drug Policy Consortium

Moderator: H.E. Ambassador Alicia Buenrostro Massieu, Permanent Mission of Mexico to the International Organisations in Vienna