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the Dianova network

Situated in 12 countries of Europe and the Americas, the Dianova network is composed of non-profit member organizations that are dedicated to providing social programs and developing innovative initiatives in the fields of addiction prevention and treatment, education and youth development

Visit Dianova Photo Albums on Flickr: member organizations, events, people and more

february 2010: opening of "second chance school" in dianova's "la quintanilla" center (spain)

Dianova's therapeutic and education center for youth with psychosocial disorders recently opened a "second chance school" within the center's premises, under the guidance of the regional board of education's catch-up program.

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january 2010: methadone patients in the therapeutic community: a test of equivalency

Several organizations, members of the Dianova network have successfully integrated patients in methadone maintenance treatment in the therapeutic community setting. A scientific study sheds new light on the specificity of this approach while emphasizing the additional supervision-related and training-related costs it requires.

"Methadone patients fared as well as other opioid users in TC treatment. These findings provide additional evidence that TCs can be successfully modified to accommodate MMT patients."

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january 2010: uruguay: addiction, gender and decentralization holistic program

During year 2009 a European Union commission in Uruguay launched a request for proposals to grant projects of nongovernmental organizations and local authorities engaged in development issues.

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december 1, world aids day

Knowledge about HIV infection epidemiology is being refined on an ongoing basis. Beyond scientific knowledge on the very nature of the virus and the various means of fighting it, we understand better and better the dynamics of contamination risks. We are now able to identify which groups are most at risk in a given area, and how such risks may change and reach other population groups, or even the general public.

However, despite this understanding of the virus's transmission modes, we are still unable to slow down the epidemic's devastating consequences in the world's most vulnerable areas, such as sub-Saharan Africa, although there is now better access to antiretroviral therapies. Africa is not doomed to fail; nor is any other area. In some regions of the continent specifically targeted prevention activities have proven effective in reducing the number of new contaminations.

Read complete editorial
Read The Network NewsBriefs, special World AIDS Day

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november - "education is the best prevention"

Portugal launches a "Leisure & Learning Center" dedicated to youth developement - Solid family ties and a close involvement of parents in their child’s education: these are two factors that significantly reduce a child’s risk of becoming involved with drugs. The creation of a space which allows for educational activities for both parents and children acts in the very root of the issue of substance abuse.

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November - new project "social values stock exchange" launched

On November 2, was launched at the Museum of Electricity (Lisbon) an original social initiative called "Social Values Stock Exchange". This initiative was developed by "Attitude" a non profit organization in partnership with famous Euro-American for-profit corporation Euronext, and supported by the EDP and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundations. (...) Starting today, you'll be able to buy part of the 200 000 shares and invest in Dianova's project "Education is the best prevention", a project dedicated to personal development and cross-generational education.

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november - dianova granted training certification in portugal

The ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity granted Dianova an official accreditation as a training center dedicated to designing, promoting and implementing educational training activities in the following fields: personal development, training of lecturers/trainers in educational sciences, social sciences and behavioral sciences, organizational developement (...) Read complete newsbrief

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november - "innovation & leadership in the digital society", training in palma de mallorca

It has become a very beneficial practice every year to take advantage of the annual meeting of  the representatives of Dianova member organizations, formally known as “The Assembly of Delegates, to organize training seminars led by recognized authorities in the fields of corporate and NGO strategies, learning processes, web-based technologies, management of motivation. This year's session appears to have been of a very good vintage, as evidenced by the following profiles of seminar leaders and summaries of their philosophies:

Establishing Genuine Participation Processes in Organizations - by Eugenio Moliní
Learning Challenges - by Magí Almirall
My Life, my Job and the Digital Society - by Marc Cortés
Leadership and Commitment - Together, Building the Future - by Carlos Sánchez

Special Thanks
View photos on Flickr

Video

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"las marias" center to affiliate unesco's associated schools project network

Las Marias center has initiated an accreditation process to UNESCO. The deputy secretary for the nicaraguayan cooperation commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Mrs Claudia Valle says: "Las Marias center meets the requirements of UNESCO and can therefore join the associated schools project network".

Dianova "Las Marias" center is dedicated to providing an education and prevention program to 320 children and adolescents from low-income families, coming from every region of Nicaragua.  "The center will be presented to UNESCO and accreditation will be solicited through the theme of environment, because since it was created, it's been committed to promoting environment protection and respect for natural resources", states Ninoska Mejía from Dianova's communication dept. in Nicaragua. Read more

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the "bosc animat" a social project of dianova

The Bosc Animat social development project was launched jointly by Dianova International, GrupActiva and the well-known attraction, Catalunya en Miniatura. The proceeds from the project benefit the various social programs of the Dianova network.

Bosc Animat is located in a beautiful, dense woodland, where the trees are utilized to anchor the various challenge course “elements”, offering a total of 45 different activities. These activities are available throughout the year and under all weather conditions. The park is located inside the Catalonia in Miniature theme park, which, for 25 years, has been offering an entertaining, cultural journey for tourists and local residents alike in a genuinely Catalonian atmosphere.

http://www.elboscanimat.com

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world drug report 2009

“I appeal to Member States to pursue the goal of universal access to drug treatment as a commitment to save lives and reduce drug demand”, say Antonio Maria Costa. -Extracts -

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our "best practices" selected by un-ngo website

The Residential Program for Women with Dependent Children developed by Dianova in Chile has been selected as "best practice" by the United Nations Nongovernmental Organizations Informal Regional Network (UN-NGO-IRENE).

Project description is now featured on the site's home page in English language, whereas Spanish and French versions are available on Dianova.org.

This project is the second one to be published online after the Educational & Therapeutic Residential Program for Adolescents, presented last year by Dianova in Spain, and it further stresses the Dianova Network capability to try out new ideas and put forward inventive solutions.

Congratulations to our team in Chile !

http://esango.un.org/irene/Index (UN-NGO-IRENE web site)

es/events/0906-best-practice-chile.html (Spanish version)
en/events/0906-best-practice-chile.html (English)
fr/events/0906-best-practice-chile.html (French)

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OPINION, by jonathan caulkins and kevin a sabet

In reviewing the case for the "failure" of the UN's drug prohibition framework, many groups reiterate some of the classic logic errors of the drug reform movement.

Recent events at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs offered an opportunity for many drug policy groups, including Wood et al.'s (2009) recent article in the Lancet, to espouse the superiority of certain favored policy recommendations as scientifically established. The reality is that our ability as scientists to predict how policy changes will affect drug markets, drug use, and related problems is quite limited. Furthermore, most policy alternatives generate incommensurable outcomes (e.g., more dependence but less crime), and judging whether those trade-offs are favorable or not in the aggregate inevitably involves value judgments, not just dispassionate science (MacCoun & Reuter, 2001; Reuter & Caulkins, 1997).

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dianova international conference in santiago

On April 3rd Dianova hosted an international conference in Santiago, Chile, designed to benchmark and promote best-practices among public institutions and community-based, non profit organizations in the field of addiction treatment and prevention. Many local and international experts were attending the meeting and shared a broad diversity of experiences in front of an audience of 270 people reunited in the lecture hall of the Catholic University of Chile.

Video

The objective of the meeting was to bring some responses to the various challenges public institutions and nonprofit organizations have to take up, through an analysis of the differences and similarities of public policies and social development initiatives in South America and in Europe.

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Download video (full version)

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unodc launches "pro health" drug campaign on world health day

"Do drugs control your life? Your life. Your community. No place for drugs" On occasion of World health Day, April 7, UNODC has launched a pro-health, drug control campaign that will run until June 26, which is the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The slogan emphasizes since 2007 a specific aspect of drug control issues: drug abuse in 2007, crop monitoring in 2008 and illicit trafficking in 2009.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) leads the international campaign aimed at raising awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society and especially to young people. The goal of the campaign, which runs from 2007 to 2009, is to inspire people and mobilize support for drug control.

The international campaign "Do drugs control your life? Your life. Your community. No place for drugs" communicates that the destructive effects of illicit drugs concern us all. Their use harms individuals, families and society at large. Drugs control the body and mind of individual consumers, the drug crop and drug cartels control farmers, illicit trafficking and crime control communities.

Read more on the UNODC web site