Rights of indigenous people

Publications15 September 2025

Guaranteeing the rights of young people and substance use in contexts of armed conflict in the Colombian Amazon - Submission to the UN CESCR on Colombia

IDPC and A la Orilla del Río highlight how prohibitionism continues to shape the lives of young people in the Colombian Amazon, where gaps between policy and practice perpetuate stigmatisation and deny rights.

News9 September 2025

Some conservation groups want to legalize cocaine—here’s why

The 'war on drugs' against cocaine fuels Amazon deforestation, empowers organised crime, and endangers Indigenous communities, all of which speak of the need for rights-based reform.

News19 August 2025

Call for applications: OHCHR Indigenous Fellowship Program 2026

The program aims to train candidates on engagement with UN human rights process and bolster Indigenous voices within evolving rights issues, such as drug policy reform.

Blog15 August 2025

Reviewing the coca leaf’s international status: A chance to heal what Prohibition broke

The upcoming critical review process offers a chance to de-schedule the coca leaf, mitigating prohibition's environmental and social harms, affirming Indigenous rights, and reforming colonial, punitive drug policies.

Events

48th meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD)

Geneva, Switzerland

20 October 2025 - 29 October 2025

The WHO's ECDD meeting will assess the critical reviews of a handful of substances, including the coca leaf, guiding future international scheduling decisions, with major implications for Indigenous rights.

Publications13 August 2025

Vienna after consensus: Report of the 68th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

IDPC highlights the creation of an independent review and deepening divides on harm reduction, human rights, and Indigenous rights.

Blog7 August 2025

A historic opportunity: Why the global liberation of the coca leaf matters on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, IDPC's Ann Fordham highlights how the international drug control regime harms Indigenous communities, and how the WHO’s coca leaf review offers a chance to right a longstanding injustice.

Blog3 July 2025

Indonesia’s drug policy at a crossroads: A shift towards rights-based reform?

Indonesia’s drug policy is under review as civil society pushes for health- and rights-based reforms, including legal changes, better treatment access, gender-sensitive harm reduction, and respectful kratom regulation rooted in indigenous knowledge.

Publications4 June 2025

Land use, drug policy and climate justice - Plató magazine special edition

This publication offers contributions to the debate on land use and climate justice, shining a light on the dynamics arising from current drug policies in Brazil.

Publications29 March 2025

The legal regulation of drugs: the potential to deliver global justice

Health Poverty Action proposes restructuring illegal trades to prioritise public health, equity, and sustainability rather than reproducing harmful market practices.

Publications20 February 2025

Decolonising global health in the Global South by the Global South: Turning the lens inward

Sharma and Sam-Agudu propose a framework to reassess coloniality in Global South public health, tackling harmful behaviours and systemic inequalities while developing new frameworks that elevate neglected knowledge systems.

Events

Understanding the coca leaf review process: A conversation with experts about the cultural and scientific value of the coca plant and the WHO review process

New York, United States / Online

31 January 2025

The event will explore the cultural, scientific, and policy dimensions of the coca WHO review process.

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