BOOST at the 68th CND: Amplifying Advocacy for Health and Rights

From 10–14 March 2025, BOOST partners took part in the 68th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna, using this global platform to advance strategic advocacy for harm reduction, health equity, and human rights in Europe and beyond. With many BOOST partners present, the team used the opportunity to hold a series of project meetings focused on coordinating advocacy priorities for 2025. These discussions were particularly timely given the start of the new European Parliament’s mandate and the upcoming development of a new EU Drug Strategy, which will shape regional policy for years to come. The week marked an important moment for the BOOST project, with civil society actors working collectively to push back against shrinking civic space, funding cuts, and punitive drug policies.

Advocacy in Action — Advancing Comprehensive Health and Harm Reduction Services

At the heart of BOOST’s presence at CND was the side event “Advocacy in Action: Advancing Comprehensive Health and Harm Reduction Services”, held on Wednesday, 12 March. This session showcased the strategic priorities of the BOOST project and illustrated the growing power of community-led advocacy across Europe. Organized by DPNSEE in collaboration with C-EHRN, EHRA, EuroNPUD, the Pompidou Group, and other regional allies, the event provided a critical space to present the BOOST Advocacy Strategy 2023–2025 and demonstrate its relevance in today’s shifting policy landscape.

Speakers outlined concrete advocacy goals, including universal access to health and social care for people who use drugs (Ganna Dovbakh, EHRA), political will and financial sustainability for community-based harm reduction (Katrin Schiffer, C-EHRN), scaling up peer-led responses (Ligia Parodi, EuroNPUD), and the path toward decriminalization and regulation (Marios Atzemis, DPNSEE). The event also featured a recorded message of support from Icelandic parliamentarian Hon. Halldóra Mogensen.

With contributions from representatives of the Czech Republic, the Pompidou Group, and Juventas (Montenegro), the session reflected the diverse, pan-European character of the BOOST network and its commitment to collaborative advocacy.

Civil Society Rising in a Shrinking Space

Beyond the side event, BOOST partners actively contributed to broader discussions on civil society’s role in shaping drug policy. In a plenary statement, EHRA delivered a clear warning about the rapidly shrinking civic space in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA), calling for sustained international support, flexible funding, and the removal of repressive legal barriers that criminalize activism itself.

These messages were echoed during the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD) side event, co-hosted by EHRA and institutional partners, which called for institutionalized civil society participation in EU drug policymaking and long-term funding mechanisms to secure their role in service delivery and policy monitoring. EHRA’s wider reflections on this political shift are further explored in their piece on defending civil society space and advancing human rights-based drug policies.

Community Voices Leading Change

Across several sessions, BOOST WP5 members emphasized the transformative role of people with living and lived experience in advocating, designing, delivering and monitoring services. At the gender-focused side event “We Are Not Invisible”, EuroNPUD spotlighted initiatives like SisterWUD and MANAS that elevate the leadership of women who use drugs and address intersecting layers of discrimination. The message was clear: community-led, peer-run interventions are not just effective—they are essential.

Public Health Policing and Rights-Based Models

Another key moment was the side event on “Strengthening Partnerships for Public Health Policing and Human Rights Protection in the CEECA Region”, co-organized by EHRA. Presentations explored new models of cooperation between law enforcement and civil society, showcasing initiatives that move away from punitive approaches and toward public health-oriented policing grounded in dignity and care.

Tracking Regional Trends

EHRA’s analytical overview of CEECA country statements during the CND plenary revealed a growing divide: while some countries reaffirmed commitment to harm reduction and human rights, others emphasized strict enforcement and rejected regulatory reforms. Meanwhile, C-EHRN’s CND recap reflected on key political dynamics and called attention to the urgent need to reverse funding cuts and support evidence-based approaches.

Looking Ahead

CND 68 affirmed both the urgency and the potential of coordinated, strategic advocacy. BOOST partners used the opportunity to promote the objectives of the BOOST advocacy strategy, ensuring that health, rights, and community leadership remain central to Europe’s drug policy discourse.

As the project moves forward, these efforts will continue to shape national and regional dialogues, strengthen alliances, and help align policy with evidence, dignity, and human rights.