Dear Partners and Colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that we present to the harm reduction community, the first Advocacy Brief for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. This Advocacy Brief is a new contribution to regional literature and has been conducted as part of the information and knowledge-building services that MENAHRA aspires to offer to the decision-makers, the civil society organizations, and the scientific community in the region. I hope that this regional brief offers an added value to civil society organizations and decision-makers in their efforts to scale up the harm reduction response.

MENAHRA aims to focus on building stronger advocacy and looks forward to building a more conducive environment to ensure a better quality of life for people who use drugs in MENA.

This Advocacy Brief would not have been possible without the contribution and cooperation of countless colleagues in the field. We extend our thanks to Dr. Marie Claire Van Hout and Ms. Patricia Haddad for cooperating with MENAHRA and effortlessly conducting this wide and comprehensive brief. We also would like to thank the Global Fund and Frontline AIDS, our Principle Recipient, for their support and for funding the development of this report. I would also like to thank my team at MENAHRA, for their commitment and energetic participation in reviewing and editing the report.

Last but not least, this report is dedicated to the community of people who use drugs and their families in the region in recognition of their suffering and resilience.