COPOLAD. Strengthening care programmes, social and economic inclusion and local services for people with drug use problems

Main objective:

The main objective is to coordinate international cooperation between Latin America and the European Union in the field of prevention and intervention against problematic substance use.

Summary:

COPOLAD, with funding from the European Union, provides support to Latin American countries to strengthen, expand and improve the diverse preventive and intervention policies on drugs. The main purpose of the cooperation generated through COPOLAD is to promote and defend the human rights of all citizens, gender equality, public health and public safety, among others. Within the framework of the lot awarded to Episteme, technical advice to different countries is contemplated. In this edition, Episteme coordinates, manages and/or executes assignments for the countries of Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay, and Colombia. 

In the case of Mexico, Episteme is coordinating the commissioning of technical advice to develop and implement two technical guides and two toolkits to intervene and address the use of methamphetamines and fentanyl, as well as the differential use of the sexual diversity population. Ecuador has requested support to develop a telephone assistance protocol, for which Episteme is carrying out a comprehensive training for the professional teams of the 171 hotline, as well as a diagnosis of the needs of the groups and the technical review of the protocols already approved. The country of Uruguay has required two descriptive and exploratory studies on drug use among the population in a situation of deprivation of liberty, as well as those that occur during the fulfilment of alternative measures to prison, with the aim of achieving the drafting of two new plans of approach in the country. In addition, Episteme is managing the technical and graphic revision of the Guide for Addressing Consumption among the Incarcerated Population. Finally, Colombia has requested technical advice for the development of harm reduction devices in the municipalities of Cúcuta, Pereira and Dosquebradas, Medellín and Armenia, as well as a sustainability analysis of the project, which Episteme is managing. 

Keywords:

COPOLAD, European Union, Latin America, Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, inter-institutional cooperation, international cooperation, human rights, technical assessment, technical review, best practices, public health.