RHRN's mission is to promote a harm reduction approach by facilitating communications between partner organisations in order to improve harm reduction service quality at the national level, and to facilitate the implementation of effective policies and programmes targeting drug users and other vulnerable groups.

La misión de RHRN es de promover un enfoque basado sobre la reducción de daños, facilitando la comunicación entre organizaciones asociadas para mejorar los servicios de reducción de daños al nivel nacional y facilitar la aplicación de políticas y programas eficaces hacia los usuarios de drogas y otros grupos vulnerables.

Le RHRN promeut une approche de la réduction des risques en facilitant les échanges entre les organisations partenaires du réseau afin d’améliorer la qualité du service de réduction des risques et de faciliter la mise en œuvre de politiques et de programmes efficaces ciblant les usagers de la drogue et autres groupes vulnérables.

Romanian Harm Reduction Network (RHRN)

At the 5 th Global Fund Replenishment Conference in September, US$12.9 billion was raised for the 2017 – 2019 Allocation Period -- the largest replenishment amount ever in the Global Fund’s history. At the end of October, the Global Fund published its 2017 Eligibility List identifying which country components are eligible for funding during the during the 2017-2019 funding cycle, noting that eligibility does not guarantee an allocation. According to this list, Romania’s HIV/AIDS program is only eligible for funding for HIV/AIDS under the NGO rule, the criteria for which is detailed in the Global Fund Eligibility Policy.

In advance to the upcoming 36th Meeting of the Global Fund Board on the 16th and 17th of November, we – representatives of Romanian civil society organizations, including people living with HIV and TB and key populations - would like to express our deep concern about the potential disconnect between a successful replenishment and the small or non-existent allocations that will be made available for countries like Romania and upper middle income countries with HIV epidemics that are still not controlled. We believe that there is a high risk that the allocation for the HIV component for Romania for the next three years could be zero – the same as it was the previous allocation period. In this circumstance, even if we, as civil society, work hard to show that we meet the criteria of the NGO rule, there will be no funding available for us to apply for.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Joint Statement of Romanian Civil Society Organizations in advance to the Thirty Sixth Meeting of the Global Fund Board

LONDON (2nd August 2016) – Civil society groups from across the globe, 

have called on UN drug control authorities to urge an immediate stop to the extrajudicial killings of suspected drug offenders in the Philippines. Since 10th May 2016, more than 700 people have been killed by police and vigilantes in the Philippines for being suspected of using or dealing drugs, as a direct result of recently-elected President Duterte’s campaign to eradicate crime within six months.

Until now, however, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) – the UN agencies responsible for global drug control – have failed to condemn the Philippines for these gross human rights violations committed in the name of drug control.

375 non-governmental organisations today sent an open letter to the UNODC Executive Director, Mr. Yury Fedotov, and the INCB President, Mr. Werner Sipp, asking them to take immediate action aimed at putting a stop to the extrajudicial killings.

“We are calling on the UN drug control bodies to publicly condemn these atrocities in the Philippines. This senseless killing cannot be justified as a drug control measure”, said Ann Fordham, Executive Director of the International Drug Policy Consortium. “Their silence is unacceptable, while people are being killed on the streets day after day”, she continued.

The open letter asks the UNODC and the INCB to call on President Duterte to:

Immediately end the incitements to kill people suspected of using or dealing drugs,

Act to fulfil international human rights obligations, such as the rights to life, health, due process and a fair trial, as set out in the human rights treaties ratified by the Philippines,

Promote evidence-based, voluntary treatment and harm reduction services for people who use drugs instead of compulsory rehabilitation in military camps, and

Not to reinstate the death penalty for drug offences.

Senior Research and Communications Officer

*******************************************

Key data on the Philippines drug policy crisis:

President Rodrigo Duterte was elected President on 30th May 2016 and began his presidential term on 30th June. He declared a war on drugs in which both police and civilians are encouraged to kill drug user/traffickers

704 people have been killed between the 10th of May 2016 to the 29th of July 2016 (ABS CBN News)

Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar said 60,000 drug dependents have surrendered to authorities (Daily Mail).

Statements by international human rights groups:

Amnesty International, 10th May: Philippines: New President should break cycle of human rights violations, not compound them

Amnesty International, 30 June: Philippines: President Duterte must break the cycle of human rights violations

Human Rights Watch, 25th July: President Duterte’s Mixed Messages on Rights in the Philippines

Human Rights Watch, 12th July: Philippine Officials Shrug at Surge in Drug Killings

Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates & Citizen’s Council for Human Rights, 14th July: Stop the bloodshed, human rights defenders tell Duterte

Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates & Citizen’s Council for Human Rights, 14th July: Extra Judicial Killings: Normalizing Criminality Under the Guise of Peace and Order

Drug Policy Alliance, 25th July: Philippines President Makes Good on Pledge to Mass Murder People Who Use or Sell Drugs, Calls for "No Mercy" in State of the Nation Address

Asian Network of People Who Use Drugs & International Network of People Who Use Drugs, July: Philippines: An Entreaty to End the Killing, to End the Poverty and Exclusion

Over 300 NGOs call on the United Nations to take immediate action on the hundreds of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug offenders in the Philippines

Fom October 1-3, 2015 a regional meeting of NGOs, policy makers and scientists/researchers from the countries of Southeast Europe, was organized by Diogenis Association in Belgrade, to discuss the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS, April 2016) and its significance for Southeast Europe. The meeting closed with the formulation of some conclusions relevant for the situation in the SEE countries.

The UNGASS 2016 and its significance for SEE: Statement of NGOs in South East Europe

On the 29th of August 2014, the Romanian Harm Reduction Network sent a request for information under the Public Information Act 544/2001 to the National Administration of Penitentiaries. The statistics received from the National Administration of Penitentiaries show the accelerated rise in the HIV prevalence in prisoners.

Out of the 321 HIV positive prisoners in 2013, 271 are people who use drugs, 127 of whom were registered in 2013. As seen in the chart below, the number of new HIV positive cases per year has increased drastically between 2012 and 2013:

HIV explosion in Romanian prisons: drug users are the most affected population

Civil society organisations wrote an open letter toUNAIDS Executive Director, Mr. Sidibe, criticizing UNAIDS for supporting Russia's HIV policies.

On April 25, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation (ARF) published an open letter to UNAIDS Executive Director, Mr. Sidibe. The letter, signed by 21 international, regional and national level civil society organizations and networks, sharply criticizes the UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS for their de-facto endorsement of Russia’s ineffective HIV policies through sponsoring the fourth Eastern European and Central Asian AIDS Conference (EECAAC).The upcoming EECAAC will be held on 12-14 May in Moscow, Russia. HIV advocates from around the world believe that holding the regional HIV conference organized by the Russian government will contribute to promoting ineffective approaches in HIV response in Russia and other countries of the region.

“Russian authorities openly reject human rights and evidence based approaches to HIV prevention and treatment among key affected populations (KAP) of people who use drugs, MSM, sex workers. Since UNAIDS being the co-chair and sponsor of EECAAC, never contradicted these statements, we can only state that UNAIDS is in the full agreement with them,” said Anya Sarang, president of the Andrey Rylkov Foundation.

As a result of the deadly national HIV policies, Russia remains one of the world’s few countries with rising HIV incidence and mortality: 77,896 people were diagnosed with HIV and 22,387 people with HIV died in 2013 alone, or, respectively, 10.1% and 9.1% more than in in 2012.

Because of the current Russian legislation KAP representatives will be almost prohibited from participating in the conference and directly speaking for themselves. At the same time, the conference organizers are inviting to the EECAAC opening Russian officials and politicians who actively discredit evidence-based health programs and promote a totalitarian state control over civil society.

“We still hope that UNAIDS will stand up for those whose interests are being ignored, and voices suppressed,” adds Anya. “But when will it happen?”

 Anya Sarang (+7 926 870 85 18) and Artem Chapaev (+ 7 915 349 19 55)

Follow the Andrey Rylkov Foundation (ARF) on Twitter @AndreyRylkov and on Facebook.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Civil society sharply criticises UNAIDS for supporting Russia’s deadly HIV policies

On the 7th – 8th November 2013, the Global Fund’s Board will consider revisions to the Eligibility, Counterpart Financing and Prioritization Policy (ECFP), based upon recommendations from its Strategy Impact and Investment Committee (SIIC). While some of these recommendations are positive; others, if adopted without changes, would have negative consequences for middle-income countries (MICs) and particularly regions with MICs such as Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

We – the organizations representing civil society and including communities of people living with these diseases, i.e. key affected populations from different countries and regions - are deeply concerned about these recommendations and would like to share with Global Fund Board members our position on several critical issues that should be considered by the Board during its deliberations.

Joint statement of civil society organisations to the Global Fund

The Drug Policy Network in South Eastern Europe publishes this quarterly newsletter in order to facilitate more regular communication between the network organisations and in general inform those who are interested in developments related to the activities of NGOs active in the field of Drugs. The Newsletter is prepared and published by the Diogenis Association, Drug Policy Dialogue in South East Europe.

This newsletter focuses on drug policy developments and harm reduction services in Montenegro, as well as in prisons- health care and in the documentation of human rights violations of drug users within the justice system in Montenegro. It also explores OST treatment in Albania and Aksion Plus intervention with IDUs, the the methadone maintenance therapy in Albania and the Global Fund in the country for two years

Regarding to Romania, it focuses on the Development of local answers to emerging HIV threat among legal high users.

February 2013 newsletter of Drug Policy Network south east Europe

During its annual meeting in Vienna in March 2012, the Drug Policy Network in South East Europe decided to publish a quarterly Newsletter for a more regular communication between the Network organisations.

The Newsletter was prepared and published by Diogenis, Drug Policy Dialogue in South East Europe, in collaboration with the members of the South East Europe Drug Policy Network. Each newsletter focuses on two or three countries in the region, for which updates are provided on issues related to drug policy reform, criminal justice, social and health programmes and human rights.

The first edition of the Newsletter provides updates on drug policy developments in Albania and Greece.

http://www.diogenis.info/index.php?menu_id=3c34fe9e-8120-11e0-822c-1c0ce76237ea&language=en

Newsletter No. 1 of the South East Europe Drug Policy Network

By Valentin Simionov, Romanian Harm Reduction Network

On December 5, 2011, the Romanian Government issued a new Emergency Ordinance (GED) which amends the current legislation on drugs. More specifically, the new provision simplifies the procedures for amending the lists with controlled substances: from now on it will be easier to criminalize a new substance, once identified.

The amendments refer to art. 1 from law 143/2000 on preventing and combating illicit drug trafficking and use and art. 8 from law 339/2005, concerning the legal status of plants, substances and narcotic and psychotropic concoctions: the lists with controlled substances can be changed based on international recommendations and law enforcement only, without requiring a Government decision.

The Ministry of Administration and Interior can propose the registration, cancellation or transfer of a new plant, substance or precursor between lists in the law 143/2000.

According to the authorities, this provision is aimed to speed up the criminalization procedures in order to protect the health and life of the population, especially the youth.

The GED was issued as a consequence of the legal highs epidemic which affected mostly adolescents and young users.

Keep up-to-date wth drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Romanian Harm Reduction Network (RHRN)

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