UNODC Regional Capacity-building Workshop on Harm Reduction Policing and Public Health Partnerships

30^th of November and 1^st of December 2024 Pretoria, South Africa. On Saturday the 30^th of November and Sunday the 1^st of December 2024 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSAF), UNODC HIV/AIDS Section Vienna, Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association (GLEPHA), Love Alliance and South African Network of People Who Use Drugs (SANPUD) facilitated the first ever Africa regional capacity-building workshop on Harm Reduction Policing and Public Health Partnerships in Pretoria, South Africa.

This important workshop was attended by forty national police commissioners, senior law enforcement officials and senior health officials from Member States and International Agencies such as INTERPOL. The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Melissa Jardine (GLEPHA) and Ms. Julie Mc Donnell (UNODC individual consultant) together with and Prof. Stan Gilmore (Keel University and University of Exeter).

Ms Fariba Soltani, Chief HIV/AIDS Section at UNODC head office Vienna, Austria

Fariba Soltani, Chief HIV/AIDS Section at UNODC head office Vienna, Austria made a presentation titled: Intersection between Law Enforcement and reducing the spread of HIV / AIDS at the workshop. Gunasekaran Rengaswamy, Regional Adviser, Southern Africa provided opening and closing remarks.

This transformative workshop, held before the inaugural Africa Regional Conference on Law Enforcement and Public Health (ALEPH), aimed to strengthen the capacity of senior law enforcement officials on the intersection of harm reduction, policing, public health, and key partnerships.

Coordinated by UNODC in collaboration with stakeholders, it set the stage for the 2024 ALEPH conference, which was officially opened at the University of Pretoria on December 1, 2024. The workshop was crucial in sensitizing delegates to harm reduction’s role in law enforcement and public health, with content aligned with international standards.

Facilitated by experts in law enforcement, public health, and harm reduction, particularly in integrating harm reduction into policing, the workshop offered high-level technical insights. The diverse facilitators ensured delegates gained comprehensive knowledge through a mix of practical learning, theoretical content, audio-visual materials, and lived experiences. The workshop played a key role in incorporating harm reduction discussions into the ALEPH 2024 agenda, particularly on the international rules governing people living with HIV and people who use or inject drugs (PWUDs/PWIDs) in interactions with law enforcement.

The workshop was also significant because it was concluded on International AIDS day on the 1^st of December 2024 together with the official opening ceremony of the conference. One workshop delegate stated: “It was exciting and enriching to interact with senior law enforcement colleagues from neighbouring countries in the region and to bring the integration of public health and harm reduction in law enforcement in closer reach”.

Delegates were addressed by the UNODC Chief of HIV/AIDS Section Vienna, Ms. Fariba Soltani, and UNODC Regional Adviser HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Southern Africa, Mr. Gunasekaran Rengaswamy, who highlighted the need to scale up harm reduction such as Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT), Needle and Syringe Programmes (NSP) and making overdose prevention medications such as Naloxone and Naltrexone reasonably available in law enforcement services.

UNODC reminded delegates of the realities of people living with HIV and people who use and inject drugs who are often in contact with law enforcement and needing specialised health-based responses. UNODC highlighted the importance of improving a high level of health care for vulnerable populations in contact with law enforcement including facilitating referrals to services such as drug treatment, sexual reproductive health, psycho-social and mental health services.

In one of the sessions on the last day of the workshop UNODC requested for a moment of silence for people living with HIV and those that have passed on due to this health issue and their families. This innovative workshop introduced thought-provoking and pioneering practices for integrating harm reduction in law enforcement and public health and this formed a solid foundation for the 2024 ALEPH.

One of the outcomes was development of a supportive declaration on Law Enforcement support for Harm Reduction and Related Policies for HIV Prevention developed by the participants at the Harm Reduction Policing and Public Health Partnerships Workshop in Tshwane, South Africa on 30 November to 1 December 2024.

United Nations

UNODC Regional Office for Southern Africa

UNODC Regional Capacity-building Workshop on Harm Reduction Policing and Public Health Partnerships