From September 2^nd to 7^th, 2016, Ms. Nguyen Minh Trang - Project Officer, SCDI representative attended the training courses and regional dialogue about mapping harm reduction funding advocacy in Asia. The events were held in Bali, Indonesia.

The first event was held by IDPC (International Drug Policy Consortium), titled “Train the Trainers: Drug Policy Advocacy in Asia”, from September 2^nd to 5^th 2016. Participants included 25 representatives of legal services, community and CSOs based in Asia: SCDI, International Drug Policy Consortium IDPC - organizer, ANPUD, KHANA, Malaysian AIDS council, PKNI, India HIV/AIDS Alliance, etc. . 
This program took place after the regional pro bono conference on August 31^st to September 1^st, and a meeting on the development of a regional network on legal assistance for people who use drugs on September 2^nd, organized by Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia Community Legal Education initiative (BABSEACLE) to engage legal professionals in the provision of legal assistance and drug policy advocacy in the region.

Photo credit: www.idpc.net

The TOT training on policy advocacy were interactive sessions using the IDPC training toolkit on drug policy advocacy, whereby each participant will have the opportunity to conduct a training session and receive feedback from facilitators and other participants. Participants were organized into groups of 3 or 4 to deliver sessions of a module during the workshop, based on materials sent to them at least two weeks before the workshop. Participants delivered a training segment on issues that match their field of expertise. Each expert presented the training content of the issues in line with their areas of expertise. Ms. Trang from SCDI delivered a presentation on Decriminalization: Promoting Diversion Mechanism to bring diverse alternatives in the treatment of drug addiction.

The 2^nd event, “Regional Dialogue: Mapping Harm Reduction Funding Advocacy in Asia”, organized by HRI (Harm reduction International organization) took place from September 6^th to 7^th 2016. 16 representatives of community and civil society organizations based in Asia: SCDI, Ozone Foundation, Cebu Plus, Law Enforcement and HIV Network (LEAHN), Drug Policy Advocacy Group (DPAG), No Box Transitions, etc. attended the workshop. HRI facilitated a regional dialogue on the current funding situation in South East Asia region and priorities for harm reduction advocacy in a post UNGASS (The UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs) 2016 and post- HLM (high-level meeting) context.
 

Photo credit: www.unodc.org
 

During this dialogue, representatives from Vietnam and other countries have shared their national harm reduction and law enforcement resourcing situations and from that, they have mapped regional, international processes priorities, targets, and actors in the area of harm reduction funding in the region and at national level.

Vân Anh