Operative Dimension

Code

1.8.2

Year

2017

Component

C1 - National Drugs Observatories

Execution Level

Completed

Activity Types

• Meeting
• Training
• Root activity

Implementation

The 2nd COPOLAD II Annual Meeting of National Drugs Observatories was attended by the National Drug Observatories from 32 countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the EU countries, acting as referents in this Component. The meeting had the input and support of both, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the Inter-American Observatory on Drugs (OID-CICAD), among other institutions working in this field.

The objectives of this year’s meeting were:

1. to provide and in-depth view on the EMCDDA role and activities, as well as the work performed by the General Directorate for Intervention on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (SICAD), as an example on how organizes its activities a EU country in this field;

2. to widen the previous training provided regarding the Trendspotting methodology as a method to complement other ways of collecting information; and

3. continue developing the tasks foreseen for the ongoing working groups in Component 1, especially those focused in Early Warning Systems and National Drugs Report.

Associated operational objectives

0.1 - Establish the necessary operational bases to ensure the quality and coherence of the work to be performed and the necessary coordination and participation of all partners.
0.2 - Have adequate baseline information to: provide specificity to the contents and the actions planned in each component; meet initial expectations of each partner in relation to its participation in COPOLAD; and facilitate the programme evaluation.
0.3 - Ensure visibility of COPOLAD and its activities and disseminate the contents in the main political and professional forums in the field of drug policies to be held both internationally and in CELAC.
0.4 - Establish the necessary institutional contacts to avoid duplication with already developed initiatives and ensure synergies with ongoing initiatives, both within the EU and CELAC.
1.1 - Study and assess changes from C1 on the existing needs, to define specific final contents of foreseen activities under Component 1; adjusting them to different groups of countries, in order to establish and/or reinforce the role of National Drugs Observatories in CELAC countries
1.2 - Promote the establishment of sustainable information-sharing agreements between NAs, NDOs and other stakeholders in CELAC countries, which can provide key information to assess threats and deal effectively with the new psychoactive drugs.
1.3 - Test, develop or update evaluation and monitoring tools, processes and tasks, necessary to deepen the knowledge of the drugs situation in CELAC countries with well-established NDOs.
1.4 - Implement a sustainable bi-regional cooperation capacity building strategy focused on enhancing the reporting capacity of NDOs being in an early stage of development.
1.5 - Implement a cooperation capacity building strategy in key areas identified, with special focus on the assessment of rising trends of problematic use of specific drugs.
1.6 - Continue to develop training opportunities focused in building capacities for strategic planning and the use of monitoring methods and tools, which can be mutually complementary.

Results

Twelve key note presentations were covering the first objective of the meeting. Ten CELAC countries presented their background situation, providing the basis for developing the Trendspotting exercise. And finally, the COPOLAD’s working groups 1.3 and 1.5, provided participating countries with tools and the roadmap to progress in the implementation of Early Warning Systems and National Reports of Drugs; these two groups were supported by key documents prepared to facilitate a South-South cooperation approach between countries, having the input of five EU countries participating as referents.

Indicators

The percentage of CELAC countries having a NDO, has increased, at least a 50% (from baseline situation).

Theoretical Dimension

Approaches

• Attention to evidence
• Demand-driven
• Institutional support and reinforcement
• Best practices exchange
• Planning and evaluation
• Sustainability
• Bi-regional cooperation

Institutions

EMCDDA - European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction Supranational

Collaborator

Institution Website

SICAD - General-Directorate for Intervention on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies Portugal

Host

Institution Website

Participant Institutions

Participation

Participants

Programme

Press Release

European Drugs Agency welcomes Drug Observatories from 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries

Lisbon, 13^th of November, 2017. 2^nd COPOLAD II Annual Meeting of National Drugs Observatories (NDOs) gathers 71 leading authorities, 18 from Latin American Countries, 14 from Caribbean countries and 6 from the EU representing a great success maintaining for the second occasion so high response to the call from the region.

COPOLAD organizes this activity with the very close collaboration of the General-Directorate for Intervention on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (SICAD), the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Inter-American Observatory on Drugs (OID/CICAD/OAS). Meeting aim is to keep developing bi-regional cooperation and exchange between Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and European Union (EU) and in this case, aims to analyse the role of the National Drugs Observatories in shaping public politics as well as improve in the dissemination of the produced knowledge.

The opening ceremony was presided by João Castel-Branco Goulão, General-Directorate for Intervention on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (SICAD) from the hosting country Portugal. He was accompanied by Alexis Goosdeel, Director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), Marya Hynes, Acting Director of Inter-American Observatory on Drugs (OID /CICAD / OAS), María Sofía Aragón, Deputy Director of Institutional Relations of the Government Delegation for the National Plan on Drugs (DGPNSD) of Spain, Germán García de la Rosa, Director of Unit for Public Administration and Social Affairs of the International Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP), and Teresa Salvador-Llivina Director of COPOLAD.

The Cooperation Programme between Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union on Drugs Policies (COPOLAD) managed by the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP), promotes this activity that will be held in Lisbon from the 13th to the 17th of November.

The role of the Observatories, the key to implementing national effective and evidence-based drug policies in Latin America and Caribbean.

Consolidation of national information networks on drugs is the key to facilitate Governments to take decisions on the basis of proven effectivity, as they improve and update common knowledge about the different challenges related to drugs. In the conclusions of the 1st COPOLAD II Annual Meeting of National Drugs Observatories held in 2016 in Jamaica as well as in the exploratory exercise among COPOLAD working groups, appears the need to maintain the exchange of methodologies and experiences as a way to consolidate National Drug Observatories and ready to boost on the application of drug policies in the region.

COPOLAD encourages the exchange of best practices and professionals’ capacitation in the National Drug Observatories

The meeting intends to achieve a double objective; on one side consolidate the role of the Observatories in designing politics by increasing methodological knowledge about information gathering & analysis and outcomes' dissemination, and on the other side, include training about Early Warning Systems and National Reports on Drugs production.

European Observatories from Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Portugal and Spain also participate in this Meeting.

Gallery

Access gallery

Downloads

Open access documents

• Pre-session Documents (1)
• Background (1)

Restricted documents

Photo gallery

Related activities