National strategy - National action plan
In the summertime and after a big pressure that reached till the Prime Minister's office, we were given the possibility to send our comments upon the draft of the National Strategy and the Action plan on drugs, prepared by the official commission chaired by the National Coordinator on drugs, mrs Diamantopoulou - Papoutsopoulou. At the beginning all greek 6 NGOs working together in the civil society platform on drugs we have provided the National Coordinator with a common statement, which you may find in greek here.

Furthermore we have agreed that each organization that wishes so may give seperately some detailed comments. PRAKSIS underlined the following:

• the need to stay alert concerning new diagnoses on HIV, Hepatitis and TB among PWUD, as prevalence remains in high level,
• the need to evaluate and adjust the prevention programs and strategy taking under consideration that Greek REITOX recent data show increase of cannabis use among young people,
• the need to open the dialogue upon the upcoming trend in some countries concerning the legalizastion of cannabis,
• the adoption of the comprehensive package proposed by the 3 more important international organizations (WHO, UNODC, UNAIDS), concerning harm reduction,
• the need for legal coverage for the drug consumption rooms,
• the need to change the legal frame in order to support volunteer, free of charge and anonymous testing for HIV and other STIs,
• the participation of the civil society in a 2 years european program concerning monitoring and reporting of New Psychoactive Substances in collaboration with the greek REITOX focal point and greek drug users.

Charter rights of dependent individuals
Through a totally different procedure, and daring to say learning from previous errors made, the General Secretary of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights put from the very first moment the draft document in public consultation. The draft was prepared by Professor Meni Malliori and Lawyer Danai Papachristopoulou.

PRAKSIS had the opportunity to comment twice, the second time together with the International Drug Policy Consortium.
The main parts underlined were:

• the need for a more participatory role for PWUD in every level through which policy is shaped and concerns people who use drugs,
• the need to state all written commitments that our country has signed in different agreements,
• the more systematic reference concerning harm reduction rights in order to be equally recognized within the document to the rights in treatment and care.

We are now waiting for the final version of the documents hoping to see if not all our comments at least some of them incorporated. Through this procedure civil society proves that wants to be among the active stakeholders because can state its point, some views, proposals and ideas.

ECRI is a human rights body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts, which monitors problems of racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, intolerance and discrimination on grounds such as "race", national/ethnic origin, colour, citizenship, religion and language (racial discrimination); it prepares reports and issues recommendations to member States.

In ECRI's scheduled or special reports PRAKSIS participates in every step of the procedure is proposed by the body. Therefore concerning the upcoming fifth monitoring cycle of Greece which is expected within 2014, we have sent our own report, which you may read in english here. You may also read the ultimate ECRI's report here.

PRAKSIS' Advocacy Officer has collaborated with Diogenis association in order to elaborate and publish a report concerning what has happened in Greece with the HIV epidemic outburst among injecting drug users. In the document you may find a seria of facts, reasons that led Greece to face this epidemic, interventions on behalf of the state, governmental institutions, academics, civil society and some proposals that they must be adopted in a national strategy in order to combat the negative effects of the unsafe use of injected drugs.
You may download the full report here:
http://www.diogenis.info/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Briefing_Paper_No_4_HIV_2014_doc.pdf

According to official figures[1], following the closure of the Balkan route and the enactment of the EU-Turkey agreement in March 2016, around 58.000 asylum seekers are currently stranded in Greece. Approximately 38% of those seeking protection are children, including a growing number of unaccompanied children (UAC) who have arrived in Greece without a parent or guardian and are extremely vulnerable to various forms of abuse and exploitation. However, the volume of UAC being identified in the country has exposed the limits and gaps in the protection framework and supporting services in place for UAC – and points to a failure in addressing their needs for international protection, including appropriate shelter and access to fundamental human rights.

Read our advocacy note in english HERE

[1] Ministry of Migration Policy

While the last decade has seen a growth of support for harm reduction around the world, the availability and accessibility of quality harm reduction services in prison settings is uneven and continues to be inadequate compared to the progress achieved in the broader community. This article provides a brief overview of harm reduction in prisons in Catalonia (Spain), Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland, and Portugal. While each country provides a wide range of harm reduction services in the broader community, the majority fail to provide these same services or the same quality of these services, in prison settings, in clear violation of international human rights law and minimum standards on the treatment of prisoners. Where harm reduction services have been available and easily accessible in prison settings for some time, better health outcomes have been observed, including significantly reduced rates of HIV and HCV incidence. While the provision of harm reduction in each of these countries’ prisons varies considerably, certain key themes and lessons can be distilled, including around features of an enabling environment for harm reduction, resource allocation, collection of disaggregated data, and accessibility of services.

Read the entire publication HERE in english.