XXI Seminar of RIOD

Between May 27 and 29 the 21st Ibero-American Seminar on Drugs and Cooperation was held: “the intervention in drugs based on ethics, quality and methodological rigor”

RIOD seminar

It is essential that international drug policies be aligned with the sustainable development goals – Photo, courtesy of RIOD, all rights reserved

Organized by the Ibero-American Network of NGOs working on Drugs and addictions (RIOD) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the event was held in the city of Montevideo, Uruguay, at the Spanish Cooperation Training Center.

Azucena Martí Palacios (Delegate of the Government for the National Plan on Drugs, Spain), Diego Martín Olivera (Secretary General of the National Drug Board of Uruguay), Giovanni Escalante (Representative of the Pan American Health Organization in Uruguay), Alfonso Abarca (Specialist in demand reduction. Inter-American Commission for the Control of Drug Abuse – CICAD), Margarita María Sánchez Villegas (RIOD’s President) attended the inauguration.

The Seminar was also possible because of the participation of representatives of the different organizations in Latin America and Spain that make up the network, among which Association Dianova Spain, represented by Andrea Rios. The parties met in order to exchange ideas about the realities and experiences regarding their programmes and projects, and to join efforts in improving interventions and in promoting advocacy actions.

Focusing on these objectives, the experts debated on drug interventions, Human Rights, evidence-based experiences, comprehensive care focused on the person, harm reduction, community approaches, regulatory framework policies, international drug policies and their alignment with the 2030 Agenda.

Likewise, a round table was dedicated to the presentation of good practices that the social entities carry out in their respective organizations and which result in the publication of the “VI Edition of the identification of projects of orientation to good practices.”

A meeting space was created for the four nodes that make up RIOD; South Node (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay), Andean Node (Colombia, Peru, Venezuela), Central America and Caribbean Node (El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica) and Spain Node.

The week ended with the Assembly activity, where the work carried out during the previous period was presented and the plan for the following year was projected. Among this, the commitment of the Thematic Work Commissions stands out, where the guide “The reduction of damages in the intervention with drugs Concept and Good Practices ” was presented. The publication has been elaborated by the work of the Commission of Reduction of risks and damages.

The activity was successful, in the words of the President of the RIOD, Margarita Sánchez, who recognized many exchanges and great challenges.