Summary of organization’s strategic orientation
One of the main strategic goals of the organization is to improve the national drug policy and create a humane and efficient drug policy. This project is also in that direction, which through several activities will enable the achievement of this strategic goal of the organization.
Summary of the supported project:
The national drug policy of the Republic of North Macedonia is based on one document – the National Drug Strategy. The current strategy for drugs is for the period from 2021 to 2025 and the Action Plan is for the first 3 years of the strategy 2021-2023. According to the strategy and Action Plan for 2023, it is planned to conduct an external evaluation of the Strategy and Action Plan and to prepare a new Action Plan for 2024-2025. Through this project, we plan to conduct an independent evaluation of the Strategy and Action Plan, as well as to create a new Action Plan for the period 2024-2025. In this way, we will enable continuity in the implementation of the strategy as well as the improvement of the national drug policy, and we will also ensure the participation of the civil sector in the development of the Action Plan. The representatives of civil society organizations during the development of the Action Plan will represent the needs of people who use drugs as one of the most marginalized groups in North Macedonia and will advocate for an increase in financial resources intended for civil society organizations that work in the field of addictions. The final version of the Drug Action Plan 2024-2025 will be promoted at a special event attended by all relevant institutions and civil society organizations, and a media conference will also be held. The new Action Plan will be presented at the one-day National Drug Policy Conference that we plan to organize within the framework of this project. This will be the second National Drug Policy Conference. This National Conference will cover the topics given in the National Drug Strategy 2021-2025, i.e. reducing the demand for drugs as well as reducing the supply of drugs and will discuss the good sides of the national policy as well as what needs to be done in order to create a humane and effective national drug policy. About 30 experts, professionals, politicians, representatives of relevant ministries and institutions, professors and representatives of the civil sector will participate in the conference. Conclusions will be made at the conference, which will then be delivered to all participants as well as to all competent institutions. Through this project, cooperation will be established with the justice sector, i.e. the judiciary and the prosecutor’s office and with the police, which are institutions and authorities responsible for the implementation of the two key laws through which the national drug policy is implemented: The Law on the Control of Narcotic Drugs and the Criminal Code. Our knowledge and analysis show that often judicial and police practice is inadequate in the implementation of legal provisions related to drugs and sentences are imposed that are inappropriate for the crime, regardless of whether it is an organized crime or an organized sale of illegal substances or for possession of substances for personal use. At the session of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia held on February 13, 2023, Article 215 of the Criminal Code, which regulates the illegal sale, production and possession for the purpose of sale of psychoactive substances, was finally changed. This novelty in our legislation will be the reason for us to hold working meetings with the justice and police sectors, the purpose of which is to establish cooperation with these institutions for the further steps required for the proper implementation of the laws. The third important issue that we want to work on through this project is the lack of professional staff to work with people who use drugs. Namely, the faculties that should prepare professional staff for this, do not treat the issue of drug use in a structured and quality manner. In the absence of a department of addictology, the relevant faculties that create staff to work in the field of drug use and crime related to drug use: Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Social Work and Politics, Faculty of Psychology, Faculty of Law, as well as the Faculty of Security, this topic is treated with a small number of lectures during the year. This situation has been going on for a long time and HOPS started organizing a summer school on addictions for young staff from these faculties since 2011.
With this project, we will continue with the addiction school, which is designed to last 7 days and will be intended for 15 final year students from the above faculties, postgraduate students, as well as young professionals under the age of 30. The lecturers of the school will be experienced practitioners, experts as well as faculty professors who will try to compensate the knowledge of students and young staff for work in the field of drugs in the following areas, prevention, treatment, harm reduction, resocialization as well as security. It will also be possible to visit the resocialization program in Strumica, implemented by the citizens’ association Izbor and financially supported by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy
Project goal(s):
The general goal of the project is to improve the national drug policy of the Republic of North Macedonia.
Specific objectives are:
- Increased participation of the civil sector in decision-making processes
- Maintaining a constructive partnership with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia
- Improving the knowledge and skills of young professional staff for work in the field of drug use and drug-related crime.
Beneficiaries
Several target groups will benefit from this project: People who use drugs and their families, students, postgraduates and young professionals who work or will work in the field of drug use and crime related to drug use, the civil sector working in the field of drug use and crime related to drug use, Government, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Education and Science, Academy of Judges and Public Prosecutors, Association of Criminal Judges, Association of Public Prosecutors and Training Center of the Ministry of the Interior. However, people who use drugs and their families should benefit the most. All activities in the project aim to improve the national response to the use of drugs and to enable the improvement of the national system for solving this issue. People who use drugs are the most affected party because they daily face the lack of appropriate solutions at the level of policies that directly affect the respect of their rights to treatment, resocialization and reintegration into society. With the participation of representatives of people who use drugs in the development of the new Action Plan for Drugs 2024-2025, it will be possible to propose activities in the plan that are of greatest interest to them. We expect it to improve not only the national drug policy but also the daily problems of this community, which will lead to an improvement in their health, social and economic condition, and thus a reduction in drug-related crime.
Main activities
To achieve the goals of the project, several activities are planned, the most important of which are:
- Evaluation of the Drug Action Plan of RNM 2021-2023.
- Creation of the Drug Action Plan of RNM 2024-2025.
- Promotion of the Drug Action Plan of the Republic of North Macedonia 2024-2025 through the publication of a promotional video, holding a promotional event and a conference for the media.
- Holding a one-day National Conference on Drug Policies.
- Making a short video of the National Drug Policy Conference
- Holding meetings with the Government of RNM, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Academy of Judges and Public Prosecutors, the Association of Criminal Judges, the Association of Public Prosecutors and the Training Center of the Ministry of the Interior.
- Holding a seven-day summer school on addictions
