21/06/2018
FIIAPP and the Government Delegation for the National Plan on Drugs (DGPNSD) organized the 3rd Annual Conference of the COPOLAD II programme in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia.
Germán García da Rosa, director of the Public Administration and Social Affairs department of FIIAPP, at the COPOLAD conference
This conference, entitled “Women and drug policy: progress and challenges in the implementation of the gender approach and the empowerment of women as a cross-cutting component”, offers a dialogue in which the authorities responsible for drug policies in the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Carbibbean States (CELAC) have an opportunity to exchange informationand agree on cooperation actions between the countries of the two regions and with the multilateral organizations that operate in them.
In this edition, the programme, which is financed by the European Union and managed by FIIAPP, devoted the meeting to promoting the incorporation of the gender approach and the empowerment of women into drug policy.
For two days, 33 delegations from CELAC, 12 European countries and 10 international organisations explored the inclusion of a gender perspective in the design of public policies. This is a challenge to be addressed in practice and across-the-board, including in the area of drugs.
Some of the major international and European organisations involved in gender affairs, such as UN Women, together with the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Inter-American Commission for Drug Abuse control (CICAD) of the Organisation of American States, the World Health Organisation Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) and CARICOM, as well as the bi-regional networks, AIAMP, IDPC and RIOD, explored the best way in which to make progress in this area, which is a priority for the World Development Agenda.
The opening session was chaired by Aneliya Ivancheva, of the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Bulgaria in Brussels, and Danielle Veira, Director of National Security of the Office of the President of the Republic of Surinam. Representatives of the EU and CELAC, the DGPNSD and FIIAPP were also present.
The annual conferences of the COPOLAD programme offer an occasion for those who are responsible for drug policies in the governments of the CELAC countries and the EU to explore together action lines within a framework of bi-regional cooperation.
