25/09/2024
A commission of experts from the European Union has presented the results of the harm reduction diagnosis carried out by the European COPOLAD III Program.
With the support of the European program COPOLAD III, the Colombian Ministries of Justice and Law and of Health and Social Protection have led a meeting in Bogotá for the “Presentation of the results of the technical assistance process for the diagnosis and strengthening of Risk and Harm Reduction, within the framework of Colombia’s National Drug Policy”.
Colombia is currently developing the policy’s action plan, which includes risk and harm reduction among its key points. This policy seeks to strengthen actions to reduce the negative impact of drug use, facilitate access to care and treatment services, and promote the social inclusion of drug users.
Collaboration between Colombia and the European Union has been key to bringing together local and national authorities and civil society organizations. Together, they have been able to identify possible routes of articulation and opportunities for dialogue between public policies.
During the presentation, José Ferreira, from the European Union Delegation in Colombia, emphasized that “harm reduction is a pillar of the European Union”. “This diagnosis, carried out together with civil society, is a fundamental step to guarantee the sustainability of actions,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Vice Minister of Criminal Policy and Restorative Justice of Colombia, Camilo Eduardo Umaña Hernández, stressed at the opening of the meeting that “the drug problem is far from being solved with a police strategy, it must be solved with sufficiently coherent social strategies”.
During the event, also organized in the framework of Colombia’s preparation for the next International Harm Reduction Conference (April 2025) in Bogota, the director of COPOLAD III at FIIAPP, Borja Diaz, also intervened: “Drug policies cannot be designed without counting on the people and the organized civil society that works in the communities and that have a very direct contact with the problems. We need to achieve complementarities between the processes built from the community itself and those promoted by public institutions”.
This work has been carried out through coordination between Metzinères – shelter environments for women who use drugs – from Barcelona, FIP (Fundación de Ideas para la Paz) and Episteme Social, with the support of COPOLAD III. Civil society organizations in the territory have also participated, such as Corporación Viviendo, Teméride, Surgir, Alpharero and Consentidos, as well as Dejusticia, the entity in charge of promoting the implementation of the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policies led by, among other organizations, UNDP, UNAIDS and WHO.
