As COVID-19 poses specific challenges to people from the LGBTQ+ community and people who use drugs, health-centred drug policies focusing on harm reduction and prevention are paramount.
HIV2020 organisers recommend, among other things, that the IAS holds a smaller conference focusing on new and urgent developments and greatly increases community involvement.
The World Organisation Against Torture reports that some children have been deliberately shot at and targeted as proxies, adding to growing calls for an independent investigation by the UN Human Rights Council.
The "war on drugs", which has wreaked havoc on millions of people across the world, is rife with racism, fuels the HIV pandemic and remains a total failure.
Three activists from Ukraine, Russia and Norway and shares their insights concerning the effects of COVID-19 on people who use drugs and the responses from the community and governmental levels.
A report by the OHCHR confirmed findings and concerns of widespread and systematic killings and arbitrary detention in the context of the war on drugs, killings and abuses targeting farmers and indigenous peoples, the silencing of independent media, critics and the opposition.
As the COVID-19 pandemic, and government responses to it, are exacerbating existing inequalities that pose particular risks and challenges for people who use drugs, States must use this opportunity to put in place effective policies to protect their rights.
