News and Announcements

Call to action COVID-19 - Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

31 March 2020

The COVID-19 emergency poses unprecedented challenges, creating new vulnerabilities and exacerbating existing ones. In this context, people who use drugs have unique needs and face unique risks due to criminalisation, stigma, underlying health issues, social marginalisation and higher economic and social vulnerabilities, including a lack of… Read more

Harm Reduction International Statement, CND 2020

05 March 2020

Thank you Chair for the opportunity to make this intervention on behalf of Harm Reduction International. In the 2019 Ministerial Declaration, Member States noted with concern that the rate of transmission of HIV, HCV and other blood borne diseases associated with drug use remains high in many countries, and resolved to strengthen initiatives and… Read more

Executions for drug offences increase after years of consistent decline

04 March 2020

New report finds Saudi Arabia to be top executioner for drug offences for second consecutive year, while state secrecy in China and Vietnam clouds official figures Executions for drug offences increased by 31 percent in 2019 for the first time since 2015. At least 122 people were executed on drug charges in 2019, according to new data released… Read more

Harm Reduction International is thrilled to be holding our HR21 conference in Melbourne

18 February 2020

Harm Reduction International is thrilled to be holding HR21 in Melbourne, Australia, at the Melbourne Conference and Exhibition Centre on 1-4 December 2021. We would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we will meet, and pay respects to the five tribes of the Kulin Nation. We pay respects to the Elders of the… Read more

Over 100 human rights groups urge the UN to intervene to stop executions of drug offenders in Bahrain

03 February 2020

Harm Reduction International, the International Drug Policy Consortium and the International Network of People Who Use Drugs published open letters today calling on the United Nations’ major human rights and drug control bodies to take all necessary actions to prevent the executions of two individuals convicted of drug trafficking in Bahrain.… Read more

International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD) and Harm Reduction International (HRI) Joint Statement Agenda item 1.4, Report by the NGO representative 45th UNAIDS Programme Committee Board

12 December 2019

The International Network of People who Use Drugs and Harm Reduction International welcome the NGO Representative report focused on Universal Health Coverage. We fully support decision point 4.6 calling on the UNAIDS Joint Programme to continue supporting Member States in ensuring all elements of comprehensive HIV programming – such as harm… Read more

We’re not there just yet: A joint statement on harm reduction and the Global Fund Sixth Replenishment

16 October 2019

History was made last week in Lyon, when governments, philanthropic donors and the private sector pledged US$14 billion for the Sixth Global Fund Replenishment, more than any other global health institution has ever raised. Harm Reduction International, Eurasian Harm Reduction Association, International Network of People Who Use Drugs and the… Read more

Harm Reduction International Condemns Porto Mayor’s Support for Reintroducing Criminal Penalties for Drug Use in Public Spaces

10 October 2019

Comments by Porto’s mayor represent step back in Portugal’s drug policy, risking decades of progress in public health Read more

Over 100 human rights groups urge UN to demand Sri Lanka halt executions of drug offenders

27 June 2019

Open letters to top drug control bodies follow Sri Lankan president’s signing of execution warrants for four people LONDON [27 JUNE 2019] – Harm Reduction International and almost 120 human rights organisations from around the world – including Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists – published open letters today… Read more

Harm Reduction International Statement on the Death Penalty - CND 2019

24 March 2019

Harm Reduction International calls upon Member States at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to express their opposition to the death penalty for drug offences, and urges all states applying the death penalty to immediately halt executions, commute death sentences, and abolish the death penalty for drug-related offences as a first step towards full… Read more