ID: HR19-650

Presenting author: Brun Gonzalez

Presenting author biography:

Brun Gonzalez is currently the chair of the board of INPUD, the regional representative for LANPUD, he is still engaged with the youth lead international platform Youth RISE and he works in Mexico City on different harm reduction initiatives such as the Universe of Drugs and Lugo and Drugs.

New Developments of the International Network of People who Use Drugs and the new Regional Model

Brun Gonzalez

For the past two years, the International Network of People who Use Drugs has traversed a series of changes and transformations that try to aim towards a more consistent global representation and capacity to influence the current paradigm by, for and from the perspective of people who use drugs.

The new regional model is designed so that the inclusion and participation of the different regions, through their regional networks, ensures a closer proximity to the local realities that our diverse communities experience at ground level under prohibition, criminalisation and human rights violations justified by the war on drugs.

Join to learn about the current structure of INPUD, the ideals behind it and the general approach that the network is having towards the agenda and work plan based on its first ever 3 year strategic plan that is close to be completed (2020), opening the door to a review of challenges and successful learning experiences.

The engagement of key affected populations and community participation is of uttermost importance to guarantee effective harm reduction strategies and any sort of public policy programming and this is the reason why INPUD is looking to adapt to be an effective and valuable resource to the local, national and regional groups in order to bring all of this knowledge, experience and community wisdom to the high level dialogues and the international panorama.

We need to start deconstructing the barriers that divide and separate, even among our communities, so that we can start bringing real change and new enabling structures that allow new understanding; instead of aiming to get rid of anything, we should all be looking to celebrate diversity and the ever-surprising human ingenuity that has maintained different kinds of practices related to psychoactive substance use alive since time immemorial and up to our present days.