Transcript Innovative Communications

Innovative Communications
IHRA Conference 2011 report back
Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU)
HCLU is a watchdog law reform organization based in
Budapest, Hungary
Provide legal aid and advocacy for vulnerable groups
They have used new media to help bring attention to:
-the failure of international drug control policies
-to mobilize people to pressurize the UN to change its drug
policies
Inspiration
WITNESS - an international human rights organisation that
provides training and support to local groups to use video in
their human rights advocacy campaigns
witness.org
Global Voices - a community of more than 200 bloggers
around the world
globalvoicesonline.org
An inconvenient question
HCLU filmed the NGO forum at the Commission on
Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna
Dutch psychiatrist, Frederick Polak, asked:
“How is it possible that the Netherlands, that allows
adults to buy cannabis in coffee shops, has lower levels
of cannabis use among young people than the US?”
Antonio Maria Costa (head of the UN Office on Drugs
and Crime UNODC) refused to give a straight answer to
the question
HCLU used this footage to create an
advocacy video and posted it on YouTube
100,000 views
Circulated among UN officials by email
As a result of the footage www.daretoact.net was created
www.daretoact.net prompted people to write to the
UN Drug Office with the same question
Working with Media
HCLU approached 18 NGOs from various EU
countries and organised a simultaneous press
conference on the occasion of the UN High
Level Meeting on Drugs
HCLU built a national media contact lists with
journalists notifying them of this
HCLU provided scholarships for 17 journalists
to travel to Vienna and report on the issue
Poster Contest
The best posters were exhibited in front of the
UN building
Protest
Drug Lords celebrate prohibition
To raise awareness of 50 years of
prohibition, HCLU filmed four actors playing
the real beneficiaries: Pablo, Mexican cartel
owner, Igor, Russian Heroin Trader and Azlan,
Taliban Leader were
Drug Lords video
SKOUN - Lebanon
Skoun is a Lebanese organisation whose
core activity is treatment
Created in 2003, it is the first walk-in
outpatient therapeutic facility in Lebanon
Approximately 120 patients a year
Drug use in Lebanon
Civil War from 1975 – 1991 caused long term
effects on social/family structure
Field workers estimate there are around 10,00015,000 drug users in Lebanon today
Law 673 (passed in 1998) stated that drug
addiction was not a crime in itself within Lebanon.
No real implementation of the policy law 673 since
its establishment (abstinence or prison)
SKOUN addresses stigma
"There is a lot of stigma involved with drug use in
Lebanon, even for those working with addicts,"
“Targeting religious figures is important because
they helped shape popular opinion in Lebanon. ”
We were surprised at how willing they were to listen
to us, they are used to seeing many drug cases and I
think they are in need of a new way to deal with
them successfully,"
-Skoun
SKOUN addresses stigma
ASUD, France
ASUD - Self-support and Risk Reduction among Drug
Users organisation
2002 Sarkozy implemented a hardline approach to
drugs
"The words 'soft' and 'drugs' will always be
incompatible," Sarkozy said. "There is quite simply no
such thing as a 'soft drug'. We are determined to fight
against drug dealers and against drugs of whatever
kind wherever, whenever and however we can."
No safe injecting facilities (SIF) in France
To raise awareness of this issue, one was opened
in Paris on World Hepatitis Day May 19th, 2009.
Many journalists came to visit the SIF
However, it was media stunt. NO drug users were
allowed to use due to French drug regulation.
The successful stunt stirred great debate
ASUD used this opportunity to build up networks
and relationships with politicians, media and key
opinion leaders
Various associations and politicians examined the
issue, spoke with experts, and visiting “shooting
galleries” in Spain and Switzerland.
ASUD - France
•Tuesday 19th October 2010 - Paris city council voted
in favour of the opening of a drug consumption room.
•“This initiative will be an experiment supported by
the state and designed in strict collaboration with the
regional health authority, the Police, neighbours and
other interested parties”.
•Paris is the first town to hold a vote on this ultrasensitive subject.
Hungary – http://tasz.hu/en
Lebanon – www.skoun.org
France – www.asud.org
www. witness.org
www.globalvoicesonline.org