Advocacy for harm reduction scale-up

This first video of the week introduces some common challenges and opportunities in regards to harm reduction scale-up. Harm reduction implementation often depends on a range of stakeholders, all with different interests and (sometimes contradicting) objectives. This ranges from the local community in the neighbourhood, the national government and up to international stakeholders such as international donor agencies. This video will expand on some ways to work with all these complexities.

Including people who use drugs in local initiatives to the benefit of the larger community can reduce stigma and foster support for harm reduction.

Harm reduction covers a broad range of health and social issues. In most contexts, multiple ministries are involved and it can be helpful to find allies in supporting government departments to advocate for the scaling-up of harm reduction.

International donors all have their own area of interest and harm reduction programs can ensure their eligibility for such varied (and changing) grants by emphasising different components of their overall package of interventions.