Advocacy with Law Enforcement Agencies “Orientation on Needle/Syringe Programs and Outreach among People Who Inject Drugs (PWID)” Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies (INCAS), March 8 to 12, 2015 Seyed Ramin Radfar MD,MPH,NIDA/IAS Fellow

Drug Users Illegal Use Connection with Smugglers Drug DealingRubbery Domestic Violence Vagabondage Public Property Damage Prostitution POLICEPOLICE POLICEPOLICE POLICEPOLICE POLICEPOLICE POLICEPOLICE POLICEPOLICE POLICEPOLICE POLICEPOLICE

 1/Police is also responsible for community safety and health  2/Some police services also engage in good practice relative to the operation of drug consumption rooms, drug overdose prevention and drug referral schemes.  3/ In some countries polices services remain antagonistic towards harm reduction interventions and often operate contrary to national laws and rights-based treaties.  4/ Embedding harm reduction principles within police service training curricula can bring about positive and beneficial change in policing attitudes towards people who inject drugs.

Police concerns/Problems about harm reduction  Drug dealers target services: This will be a commonly held belief. You must stress to police that harm reduction services are not a “no go” area for police. If criminal behaviour or supply of drugs is occurring in the vicinity of a site, police will need to take some action. It would be worth recommending that where possible, police consider liaising with the management staff of the service before they take any action.  Programs attract drug users causing increased levels of crime and public nuisance problems  Programs are a good way to locate wanted offenders  Service staff should ‘identify’ drug dealers

Other concerns or key issues for police may include:  What is the level of support of senior officers?  How will police performance indicators be changed and what records do we need to keep?  Will drug referrals and cautioning programs be supported and who should be targeted for such approaches?  What protocols will be in place to support decisions about when to arrest and when to not arrest drug users?  Who will make decisions about who are “sellers with harmful tactics” and who are not?  What approaches should be taken with users who sell drugs to support their habit?  What approaches can be better taken to target major suppliers?  What is the level of community support for changes in the approach of law enforcement? How can this be increased and maintained?  What mechanisms can we have in place to demonstrate the success or failure of introducing new approaches and to gain the necessary evidence?  What approaches do we specifically use in establishing safe areas around NSPs and substitution programs?  What specific guidelines do we need to work together with the health sector and what are law enforcement procedures and other procedures of the health sector?  How often do we meet with health and who attends and how is information circulated to all operational police?

 Advocacy for HIV/AIDS prevention among IDUs is the combined effort of a group of individuals or organizations to persuade influential individuals and groups and organizations through various activities to adopt an effective approach to HIV/AIDS among IDUs as quickly as possible. Advocacy also aims at starting, maintaining or increasing specific activities to a scale where they will effectively prevent HIV transmission among IDUs and assist in the treatment, care and support of IDUs living with HIV/AIDS.

Advocacy Principles 1.ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES SHOULD AVOID INCREASING HARM 2.ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES SHOULD AIM TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF IDUS AND PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS 3.ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES SHOULD BALANCE SHORT-TERM PRAGMATIC GOALS WITH LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENTAL GOALS 4.THE OBJECTIVES OF ADVOCACY MUST RELATE TO APPROACHES AND ACTIVITIES SHOWN BY RESEARCH TO BE EFFECTIVE IN ADDRESSING HIV/AIDS AMONG IDUS 5.ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES SHOULD CONCENTRATE ON BOTH HIV/AIDS PREVENTION AMONG IDUS AND ON TREATMENT, CARE AND SUPPORT 6.SPECIFIC AND TARGETED ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES SHOULD FIT THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, POLITICAL AND LEGAL CONTEXT OF THE SOCIETY 7.ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES SHOULD TARGET DIFFERENT SECTORS OF SOCIETY AND KEY INDIVIDUALS, USING MULTIPLE ADVOCACY TECHNIQUES AT THE SAME TIME IF POSSIBLE 8.ADVOCACY SHOULD AIM AT QUICKLY ESTABLISHING SUPPORTIVE POLICIES AND LARGE ENOUGH PROGRAMMES WITHIN THE SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND FUNDING CONTEXT OF THE COUNTRY 9.ADVOCACY SHOULD BOTH LEAD TO ESTABLISHING NEW POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES AND REACT TO HOW INSTITUTIONS, THE MASS MEDIA AND OTHERS DEAL WITH HIV/AIDS AMONG IDUS 10.ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES SHOULD INVOLVE, TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE, IDUS AND PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS IN PLANNING, IMPLEMENTING AND EVALUATING PROGRAMMES 11.ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES SHOULD CONSIDER DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROUPS OF IDUS ACCORDING TO GENDER AND ETHNIC BACKGROUND AND TO VULNERABILITY TO HIV/AIDS AND PROMOTE EQUITY IN TREATMENT, CARE AND SUPPORT

ADVOCACY STEPS 1. Starting up. A formal or informal advocacy group or coalition is formed. Specific funding for advocacy, which is usually needed, should be sought at this stage or at any of the next three steps. 2. Analysis. The group analyses the identified problem more systematically, including key stakeholders, existing norms and policies, the implementation or non-implementation of these policies, the organizations involved in putting those policies into practice and the channels of access to influential people and decision-makers. The more familiar with the situation the advocates become, the more persuasive the future advocacy can be.

ADVOCACY STEPS 3. Strategy. Every advocacy effort needs a strategy; in this step, potential solutions to a problem are formulated and the process of arriving at these solutions is envisaged. The strategy phase builds on the analysis to direct, plan and focus on specific goals and to position the advocacy effort with a clear path to achieve these goals and objectives. 4. Action and reaction. An advocacy action plan is formulated, and support is built for changes to policies and practices. Implementation of the campaign may arouse various reactions by decision-makers and influential groups. Reacting to critics of the advocacy goals helps to keep attention and concern on the issue. 5. Evaluation. Since advocacy often provides partial results, a team needs to review regularly what has been accomplished and what more remains to be done. Process evaluation, such as assessing whether progress has been made in identifying advocacy allies, may be more important (and more difficult) than evaluating the impact on actual decisions. Evaluation should be used as the first step in reanalysis, leading to an ongoing cycle of advocacy work and evaluation.

Advocacy Group Formation Analysis Strategy Action and Reaction Evaluation Fund Rising

کار گروهی  هیچگاه برنامه حمایت جوئی را یک پله در میان اجرا نکنید !

حلقه مفقوده؟

  HIV/AIDS Asia Regional Program:Advocacy and Action Manual Component 1 Police Advocacy Level