12 Dec

NGO International Conference 2016

Paris (France) – Monday, 12 December 2016 – 10:00 am to Wednesday, 14 December 2016 – 6:00 pm

NGO International Conference 2016

The 2016 Conference will focus on the theme “The challenge of the digital revolution for NGOs” and will be organized around four subthemes: “The digital revolution and its impact on the diversity of cultural expressions”; “The challenge of access to digital information”; “Does e-learning address challenges of education systems worldwide?”; and, “Science and the digital revolution: which ethical implications?”.

The Conference is a key forum in which UNESCO’s official NGO partners meet to review the state of cooperation with UNESCO. This year’s Conference will provide a welcome opportunity to examine collective NGO action carried out in 2015 and 2016, and will adopt the main lines of collective cooperation for 2017-2018.

More information on the NGO Liaison Committee website

30 Nov

5th WFTC Institute in Mallorca

Mallorca (Spain) – 30 November – 3 December

WFTC Institute 2016

We are looking forward to the WFTC institute that will be held in Mallorca, Spain, from November 30th to December 3rd. Like the very successful institute held in Genoa, Italy the number of participants will be limited to 250 representing a cross section of member programs. The Genoa Declaration will be the basis for our review of the state of the art in the field of recovery.

We are witnessing a quickly changing world. The changes range from breaking down accepted social norms and agreed upon behavioral expectations to redefining old alliances. There are times when accepted norms seem to have been lost due to a surrender to the siren call of immediate gratification. The increase in addictions from new and old drugs, the internet, gambling and violence makes the presence of Therapeutic Communities more necessary then ever. Once again it is time to review our ability to respond to these changes so as to widen our effort to help the people who come through our doors.

The door was the symbol of Progetto Uomo in Rome. A light came from inside the room as a young person looked in deciding whether to enter or not. The light in the room cast a long shadow behind a person entering. The opportunity to move from shadow to light is an apt symbol for the Therapeutic Community.

We look forward to seeing you in Mallorca, where we will be greeted by one of the legends in our field, Tomeu Catala.

Anthony Gelormino, President WFTC

Go to website

07 Nov

Geneva Peace Week

Geneva, Switzerland – 7 – 11 November, 2016

Why Geneva Peace Week?

Geneva is home to a large number of international organizations, including more than 40 United Nations entities, a thriving community of non-governmental organizations and renowned academic and research institutions. Together, all these actors work for peace, rights and well- being, touching the lives of individuals across the world. Geneva Peace Week offers an opportunity to connect and highlight the work of these actors and to expand the space for dialogue about building peace and resolving conflict.

What is Geneva Peace Week?

The third Geneva Peace Week will be held from 7 to 11 November 2016 and is a collective action initiative facilitated by the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies (IHEID) and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform with the support of Switzerland. By synchronizing meetings on different topics related to the promotion of peace during one week, Geneva Peace Week maximizes synergies between organizations in Geneva, focused on the cross-cutting nature of peace.

Geneva Peace Week underlines that each and every person, actor and institution has a role to play in building peace and resolving conflict. It also highlights that peace promotion occurs in many different contexts and cuts across disciplines and sectors. In this sense, Geneva Peace Week highlights the importance of working outside the silos, that all-too-often characterize the international community, to enable more creative responses.

Programme

Geneva Peace Week 2016 has two programme tracks.

• Main Programme developed collaboratively between the UNOG, the founding Partners of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, organizations hosted in theMaison de la Paix, and the University of Geneva.
• Programme of Side Events open for events organized by Permanent Missions, International Organizations, and non-governmental organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC.

View the full programme here.

03 Nov

Sixth International Forum of NGOs in Partnership with UNESCO

Querétaro, Mexico, 3-4 November 2016

The Sixth International Forum of NGOs in official partnership with UNESCO, on the theme “From promoting to building peace with NGOs” will take place in Querétaro, Mexico on 3 and 4 November 2016.

The theme of this Forum, organized by the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee in close cooperation with UNESCO Secretariat in accordance with the Directives concerning UNESCO partnership with non-governmental organizations lies at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate and is expected to highlight meaningful experiences of promoting and building peace by NGOs.

More information on the ONG UNESCO Liaison Committee web site

6th Forum Pre-registration, before Sept. 19, 2016

22 Sep

XVI International EWODOR Symposium

This year’s EWODOR Symposium will focus on better understanding the process of empowerment which is promoted by the therapeutic community (TC) model of treatment for substance abuse and addiction.

Location: Rome (Italy)

Organisers: Dianova Italy, Dianova International and the Department of Special Needs Education at the University of Ghent, Belgium

Objectives

The aim is to examine the underlying driving forces of the empowerment process more closely through six different experiences: specialized therapeutic communities for migrants, children, the prison population, patients with dual disorders and patients with non-substance-related addictive disorders.

Participants

The EWODOR symposium is open to those carrying out quantitative or qualitative research. Historical, philosophical and social contributions which relate to the subject from a theoretical perspective are also welcomed.

The symposium is for researchers, post-graduate and PhD students, addiction professionals and  those working in the criminal justice system.

Further Information

XVI International EWODOR Symposium (in English and Italian)

23 May

2016 World Humanitarian Summit

The first ever World Humanitarian Summit is an opportunity to face up to global challenges and improve global leadership and political will in order to put an end to conflicts, alleviate suffering and reduce risk. It will take place in Istanbul (Turkey)

United Nations Secretary, Ban Ki-moon, has called for a global response to alleviating the suffering of millions of women, men, boys and girls affected by the humanitarian crisis.

Objectives

• Reinvigorate and reaffirm the commitment to humankind and the universality of humanitarian principles.
• Create a set series of actions and agreements designed to allow countries and communities to be better prepared, to respond to crises and to become more resilient to adverse events and situations.
• Share innovation and best practice which could help save lives across the globe, put those affected at the centre of humanitarian action and alleviate suffering.

Key Themes

The summit will address key themes such as the political leadership required to prevent and put an end to conflict, the fight for standards in the preservation of humanity, racial equality, forced displacement, natural disasters, how to move away from simply delivering humanitarian aid towards helping people resolve their own needs and provide humanitarian funding.

Participants

More than 5,000 participants are expected at the summit. This includes Heads of State and Government, the communities affected by the crisis, private sector leaders, the heads of multilateral organisations, national and international non-governmental organisations, youth leaders, and representatives from civil society and the academic community.

Further Information

World Humanitarian Summit ’16

04 May

International Forum on Healthy Nightlife

Recreational venues play an important role in the life of a city and of its young people, but they are closely linked to the undermining of healthy lifestyles and are associated with a variety of risk factors (sexuality, violence, alcohol and other substances, traffic accidents, etc.). As a consequence, the health and wellbeing of city’s residents is negatively impacted.

How we see or perceive our city as a living space, share leisure, work or safety depend on how much we know and how we live, and what we do contributes to creating community ties.

The International Forum on Healthy Nightlife has been organised to help prevent or overcome the problems related to late-night recreational venues and nightclubs.

Participants

Taking part in the event will be sector experts, national and international institutions and researchers in the field.

Location

Main auditorium of the Coimbra Hospital and University Centre (Portugal)

Further Information

International Forum on Healthy Nightlife (in English and Portuguese)

19 Apr

United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs, 2016

This Special Session, which is the year’s most important drug-focused event, will take place in New York. But, what is it intended for? The United Nations Special Assembly can call Special Sessions (UNGASS) on particular issues when requested to by member states. In 1998, a UNGASS was held during which member states have agreed on a Policy Statement on the global control of drugs.

Ten years later, member states met in Vienna to discuss progress and to agree on a new Policy Statement and Action Plan for international cooperation towards an integrated and balanced strategy for overcoming the global drugs issue. The next session of the UN General Assembly will take place in April, 2016.

Preparation Process

Many events have been organised and consultation processes carried out to prepare UNGASS. As an example, the Dianova network has taken part in the Informal Interactive Stakeholder Consultation ahead of the UNGASS session.

Civil Society Participation

There are many ways for NGOs to be involved in preparations for the UNGASS. They can:

• Support and work together with international organisations to strengthen their influence on the international community and on the UN, and also to learn about the process.
• Join the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC) and/or the New York NGO Committee on Drugs (NYNGOC), as these committees will likely provide the formal mechanism through which civil society can participate in the UNGASS.
• Inform public opinion on the framework of international drugs policy and the decision making process.
• Encourage their governments to pursue more progressive drugs policies during the international debates.
• Send a presentation to the UNODC, for publication on the civil society page of their official UNGASS web page.

Further Information

• Official page
• About the UNGASS 2016, by the International Drugs Policy Consortium (idpc)
• About the NY NGO Committee (idpc)

22 Mar

CSW60 Parallel Event: “Women, Drugs and Development”

Dianova is organising a parallel event to the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW60 – United Nations) in New York, entitled “Women, drugs and development”.

Objective

The event hopes to highlight the need to adopt a gender-based approach to policy on the treatment and prevention of drug addiction. This is also a step forward in Dianova’s political advocacy activities.

Participants

A variety of different sector actors will take part and will present a range of perspectives relating to women, drugs and development including: patterns of consumption amongst women, access to treatment, the need for further research, women’s involvement in illegal trafficking.

• Lucía Goberna, Dianova International representative, will give the opening address.
• Yu Ping Chan, from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in New York, will give an update on preparations for UNGASS and will talk about the profile of women drug-users as well as what needs to be taken into consideration in formulating drug policies.
• Pervin Tuba Durgut from Yesilay, the Turkish Green Crescent Society, will present current trends in drug taking and access to addiction treatment for women in that country.
• Cynthia Abrams, an expert on health and addiction on the General Board on Church and Society of the United Methodist Church, will focus on the importance of religious communities in providing enabling environments for the treatment of addiction and the importance of acknowledging the stigma that women who abuse substances must face.

Partners

The event will be organized jointly with the following NGOs: Kethea, Proyecto Hombre, RUN, San Patrignano and WFAD.

17 Mar

Parallel Event to CND59: “Addiction Treatment in Southern Europe, Providing Solutions in Times of Crisis

Dianova will participate in the event entitled “Addiction treatment in southern Europe: providing solutions in times of crisis”, which is being organised to coincide with the 59th Session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND).

Dianova’s participation in events parallel to the CND has become an established practice. This will be the fifth consecutive year in which Dianova presents the activities of its network and its best practices in addiction treatment.

Venue

The event will take place at UN headquarters in Vienna, which is also where the member countries will be holding the main debate on the global drug situation.

Content

The event will focus on the impact of the economic crisis on the voluntary sector in southern Europe and how organisations have adapted their services to respond to emerging needs.

Participants

Dianova’s contribution will focus on how to maintain the quality and plurality of treatment models developed by voluntary sector organisations. It will share the platform with two other organisations specialising in addiction treatment: KETHEA (Greece) and Asociación Proyecto Hombre (Spain). Dianova International will be represented by Elena Goti, KETHEA by Phaedon Kaloterakis and Asociación Proyecto Hombre by Oriol Esculies.

The event will be moderated by Dr. Gilberto Guerra, Chief of the Drug Prevention and Health Branch at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The event will be attended by representatives of the national delegations – Spain (represented by Sofía Aragón from the National Anti-Drugs Strategy), Greece, Hungary and Kenya – and by representatives of civil society in countries such as Slovenia, Romania and Indonesia. The organisation Drustvo Up, (Slovenia) an associate member of the Dianova Network, will be represented at the event by Robin Turk.

10 Feb

Informal Stakeholder Consultation ahead of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS)

The United Nations Informal Interactive Stakeholder Consultation is the most significant high-level consultation to take place ahead of theUN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the global drug problem, to be held in New York in April 2016.

Participants

All interested parties will be consulted: Member States, civil society, the academic and scientific community and youth groups.

Dianova has been selected from among hundreds of candidates to represent the voice of grass roots organisations on the panel on drugs and health. María de los Ángeles Lobos, Director of Dianova Chile’s treatment centre for women in Viña del Mar, will be representing the Dianova network at this event, along with Ms. Elena Goti.

The United Nations will be represented by its highest office holders, including:

• Mr Mogens Lykketoft, President of the UN General Assembly
• Mr Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General
• Mr Khaled Shamaa, Chair of the Board, UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs
• Mr Yury Fedotov, Executive Director, UNODC (UN Office on Drugs and Crime)

Key Issues

The consultation will take the form of an opening panel and two thematic round tables. The first of these will discuss the issues of “Drugs and health” from the perspectives of experts at the grassroots level and the second one will address “Drugs, human rights, community and development” and how to create synergies between member states and civil society to empower communities. Each round table will include representatives of civil society from different countries.