June 26th is the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Many governments today still choose to continue their “war on drugs” and in some instances commemorate this day by holding public executions or public violence against people who use drugs. The heightened risks faced by people who use drugs can no longer be ignored. It is time to leave behind harmful politics and prejudice. It is time to priorities the health and welfare of people who use drugs, and their families and communities.
On this “Global Day of Action,” the Middle East & North Africa Harm Reduction Association (MENAHRA) will coordinate in the MENA region the Support. Don’t Punish. campaign, which was launched in 2013 by the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) (London).
This campaign aims at raising awareness regarding: the risks resulting from the criminalization of people who use drugs, the need to reduce these risks, and the need to promote other harm reduction services that respect the human rights of people who use drugs.
In 2013, people in 41 cities around the world took part in this “Global Day of Action”. In 2014 the campaign reached more than a 100 cities around the world with the support of MENAHRA and other partners in the region.
Within this framework, MENAHRA will provide you with information regarding all the activities that will be organized this year for the Support. Don’t Punish. campaign by the organizations/countries of our region. We hope to gain your support and your participation on this day in order to help increase awareness.
MENAHRA is the first Harm Reduction network the Middle East and North Africa working on increasing the quality of life of people who use drugs. The MENAHRA network includes twenty countries from the region, Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The Secretariat is based in Beirut, with three Sub-Regional Knowledge Hubs that are respectively located in Iran (The Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies, INCAS), Lebanon (Soins Infirmiers et Développement Communautaire, SIDC) and Morocco (ArRazi Hospital).
You can find the campaign guidelines and goals following this link:
http://menahra.org/images/pdf/2015_Guide_for_the_Global_Day_of_Action__-_en.pdf
The campaign program in the participating countries will also be sent at a later time along with the name of the organizations in order to communicate with them.
We hope that the media will follow this campaign at all stages to raise the voice in our region and to support human rights during this day.
For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us on info@menahra.org or at the MENAHRA offices at +961 1 493 211.
