More than 200 representatives from more than 30 European, Latin American and Caribbean institutions attended the webinar "Alternatives Measures to Imprisonment in Times of COVID-19 and Future Challenges" organised by the regional European Union programmes EL PAcCTO, EUROsociAL+ and COPOLAD II.

After four and a half years, the European programme of bi-regional cooperation between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean on drugs policies finish its second phase. 45 countries from CELAC and the EU regions, and more than 200 participants, wanted to join this closing meeting, which is also the farewell of the Director of the Programme for almost 10 years, Teresa Salvador-Llivina.

The regional programmes of the European Union: PAcCTO, EUROsociAL+ and COPOLAD II are organising a webinar to analyse alternative measures to prison in times of COVID-19 and future challenges.

High-level representatives of CELAC in the field of drugs, together with the Diplomatic Missions of these countries to the EU, assess the work of COPOLAD and its link with the EU-CELAC Coordination and Cooperation Mechanism on Drugs. The EU-CELAC Coordination and Cooperation Mechanism on Drugs is a unique platform for dialogue between the two regions, further strengthened after a decade of collaboration with the COPOLAD programme.

COPOLAD II brings together 130 drug demand reduction experts from 40 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union in Panama. Together with them, experts from PAHO/WHO, CICAD/OAS, UNODC, Plan Colombo, CARICOM and EMCDDA, among other key organizations in the sector, present at this historic conference.

COPOLAD II is presenting during 2019 an innovative tool to support the planning of programs in drug demand reduction (RDD). This is the third workshop to train professionals in the "OneStep@aTime” tool, this time aimed at the countries of Meso-America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. "OneStep@aTime” has been enthusiastically received by the CELAC countries, which are beginning to use this tool to develop more effective drug demand reduction programs based on scientific evidence.

The Cooperation Programme between Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union on Drugs Policies, COPOLAD II, led by Spain, is promoting the implementation in the CELAC region of a new "OneStep@ATime" tool for planning in the field of drug policies. The Bahamas is hosting the second edition of this series of workshops, this time aimed at fourteen countries of the English-speaking Caribbean. Step@Step" has increased the possibilities to develop more effective and evidence-based drug demand reduction programmes.

80 participants from CELAC and EU countries, together with supranational entities and bi-regional networks, gathered by COPOLAD in Buenos Aires. The Argentine Republic hosts the fourth edition of the series of annual meetings organized by COPOLAD in relation to the prevention and control of chemical precursors destined for the manufacture of illegal drugs, following its experience and significant participation in the activities developed within the framework of the programme.

COPOLAD brings together 15 CELAC countries in Brussels to address the progress made in the field of chemical precursors, within the framework of COPOLAD. Best practices and lessons learned for the control of illicit trafficking of chemical precursors, the focus of this joint meeting. Almost twenty participants have the opportunity to visit the main European institutions present in Brussels.

More than 150 high-level representatives from more than 30 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union will participate in the high-level conference organized by COPOLAD, EL PACcTO and EUROSOCIAL+ to be held in Montevideo on 19 and 20 September 2019.