Alexei Kurmanaevsky, an activist and human rights activist, emigrated from Russia to Israel four years ago. Alexei Kurmanaevsky is known to everyone in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. He was always in the public eye, but disappeared after he moved to Israel. We did not manage to arrange an interview with him for a long time. And just recently he wrote that he was ready to talk.

The lives of people who use drugs mean death, prison, disease, stigma and discrimination, lack of access to treatment and employment, destroyed families, and children taken away. This is the story of human rights activists and RuNPUD (Russian Speaking Network of People Who Use Drugs) from the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region, from the series of “People by Right” videos.

On February 10 the deputies of the Russian parliament adopted, in the third and final reading, a bill to increase the sentence for “inciting use of drugs” on the Internet to 15 years.

The Rights Reporter Foundation (Drugreporter) and the International Network of People who use Drugs (INPUD) produced this documentary film series that aims to document how the movement of people who use drugs have formed around the world, how they maintain momentum and mobilise, and how they undertake their work and show resilience in a context of criminalisation, marginalisation and oppression. This is the main summary page of all the 10 episodes.

In today’s episode of the oral history of the movement of people who use drugs, we travel to three Eastern European countries, where activists fight very restrictive drug policies.

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) is the largest international drug policy decision making forum in the world. This year, at the 63rd session of the CND, our video advocacy team produced four short video reports to inform the public about some of the major developments.

‘Nonexistent? We Exist!’ is a documentary film about the communities of people living with HIV in Russia. It tells the story of how the members of the most vulnerable communities affected by the HIV epidemic, such as drug users, sex workers, and LGBTQ people, struggle for survival and dignity in a hostile cultural and political environment.

Drugreporter and Harm Reduction International co-organises the International Harm Reduction Film Festival next week in Porto, sponsored by Elton John AIDS Fund. There is an incredibly strong selection of movies – browse the programme and watch some trailers below!

A new education video series, a training for activists in Bangkok, filming the Canadian drug policy conference and advocacy at the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs – 2018 was an eventful year in the life of the Rights Reporter Foundation and its drug policy website, Drugreporter. Please explore our activities in our new annual report! You can either download the report by clicking on this link, or you can read it online with ISUU below!

In Portugal, Harm Reduction plays a crucial role when the needs of people who use drugs are at play but there are still a lot to advocate for. Article by Ximene Rego from APDES (Portugal).