As announced during the Rome Consensus Europe Conference in March this year, the Rome Consensus for a Humanitarian Drug Policy has entered its second phase, focusing on training, concrete information exchange and scaling-up of best practices through the entire network of the Red Cross-Red Crescent in Europe. To mark this important next phase, a first two-day Seminar entitled Drug Prevention, Treatment and Harm Reduction: Scaling-up of Red Cross-Red Crescent Best Practices was be held in Rome on the 14th and 15th of December, 2009.

Supported by the European Commission and the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS), this Seminar brought together practitioners from all European National Societies to tackle three concrete drug policy interventions in the fields of prevention, treatment and harm reduction and discuss how these best practices could be implemented throughout the wider network of the Red Cross-Red Crescent.

Programme (EN)

Presentations (PPT):
• British Red Cross: Community Based First Aid Work With Drug Users (EN)
• Rome Consensus Coordination Team: Update on the EU Strategy and DPIP (EN)
• Fabio Patruno: The Network ERNA (EN)
• Macedonian Red Cross: Harm reduction Programme - Overdose, A Major Cause Of Avoidable Death (EN)
• Bulgarian Red Cross and Bulgarian Red Cross Youth Experience and Practices: Peer Education in Drug Prevention (EN)
• Portuguese Red Cross Youth: Overview on Activities in the Drug Field (EN)
• Elizabeth Sαenz: UNODC-WHO Joint Programme on Drug Dependence Treatment and Care: an Update (EN)
• Spanish Red Cross: Attention and Treatment for Persons with Drug Dependency Problems in Penitentiary Centers (EN)
• Villa Maraini (IT)

Speech (PDF):
• Dr. Massimo Barra (Co-chair Rome Consensus for a Humanitarian Drug Policy)

• Download the full report here
• Download the Pictures from the event (Zip, 48Mb)

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Red Cross – Red Crescent Movement, the Rome Consensus participated to the activities of Solferino 2009. The Consensus coordination hosted a workshop on youth and drugs on the 25th of June and a round table on a Red Cross and Red Crescent Humanitarian Response to stigma and discrimination linked to drug use, on the 27 of June. The Rome Consensus and its European initiative Rome Consensus Europe were presented as effective means to promote and implement humanitarian approaches to drug policy in the Red Cross movement - Red Crescent Movement and especially among the youth.

Report (EN)

The Rome Consensus Europe Conference, Rising to the Challenge of Drug Use in Europe hosted in Madrid by the Spanish Red Cross on the 26-27 March 2009 is an initiative of the Rome Consensus supported by the European Commission and the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS).

The Rome Consensus Europe Conference, Rising to the Challenge of Drug Use in Europe brought together National Societies of Red Cross and Red Crescent in Europe, European Union (EU) institution representatives and other leading practitioners to exchange best practices in prevention, treatment and care, and explore concrete ways for National Societies to contribute to drug policy responses in Europe.

• The Declaration EN

• The Programme EN - FR - ES

• The Youth Meeting Programme EN - FR - ES

• The Participants List EN - FR - ES

• The Presentations at the Meeting – 26 March

• The Presentations at the Meeting - 27 March

• Download pictures from the event (50 Mb)

The Rome Consensus Coordination presented Rome Consensus Europeat the 12th Conference on HIV-AIDS, European Red Cross Network - Belgrade, December 2008. Twenty-four European National Societies attended and twelve youth leaders. During the conference delegates stressed the importance of overcoming stigmatization and discrimination of intravenous drug users living with HIV-AIDS, of building partnerships between NS and other organizations to fight the spread of HIVand TB among drug users and to involve the youth in the planning and delivery of HIV-AIDS programme. Mr Oscar Zuluaga presented Rome Consensus Europe, the EU Drug Policy’s objectives and actions and ways the Rome Consensus can catalyse synergies between EU drug policy and Red Cross – Red Crescent work in drug services in Europe.

The Rome Consensus was presented at The European Cooperation Meeting (ECM), held in Tuhelijske Tolpice – Croatia between the 22 and the 27 April 2008. The ECM is a bi-annual meeting of the Red Cross- Red Crescent Youth of the Europe Zone (EU Countries, Balkan Region and Eurasia) and involved representatives of 48 National Societies. The Rome Consensus Coordination team presented humanitarian drug policy to the Youth during the plenary and a workshop, where a key youth issue such as drugs was discussed.

• Read The Rome Consensus Presentation at the Plenary – EN

The Red Cross- Red Crescent World Congress on Humanitarian Drug Policy was hosted by the Spanish Red Cross with the support of The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) in Barcelona on 5-7 March 2008. The Congress, with the participation of over sixty National Societies of Red Cross and Red Crescent, aimed at engaging the whole RC/RC movement in the formulation and implementation of humanitarian approaches to global drug policy.



Read the Speeches

• Dr Juan Manuel Suarez del Toro Rivero, President, IFRC, President Spanish Red Cross - EN - ES

• Dr Massimo Barra, President, Italian Red Cross - ES

• Ms Norine MacDonald QC, President, Network of European Foundations’ Mercator Fund - EN