We would like to thank the National Chapters for the tremendous work we have accomplished together in 2021.
Many great initiatives were delivered and this was only made possible due to your dedication to ISSUP and the hard work each one of you put in.
In this article we bring you a brief regional overview of how ISSUP National Chapters have made an impact in 2021 and brought valuable knowledge to the substance use workforce worldwide.
Europe and the Middle East
This year saw the formation and growth of the new ISSUP ‘Europe & Middle East’ region including the virtual launch of ISSUP Greece, ISSUP Italy and ISSUP UK. Promotional activities have included webinars, setting up a variety of social media channels, and taking part in collaborative work with National Chapters in other regions. A warm welcome to ISSUP Spain - our newest Spanish-speaking National Chapter - that recently held its first members’ meeting to plan activities for the year ahead.
Africa
2021 has been an exciting year for the National Chapters in Africa. Two new National Chapters were created, ISSUP Botswana and ISSUP The Gambia, and we look forward to welcoming Namibia and Côte d’Ivoire soon. ISSUP Togo engaged with Colombo Plan and ECOWAS to deliver two UPC training courses in French. ISSUP South Africa celebrated its launch in July 2021 and has continued the dialogue established during the Africa Drug Demand Reduction Conference last year by organising regular meetings with colleagues across Africa and partners from INL, Colombo Plan and the African Union. ISSUP Nigeria continued its programme of bi-monthly webinars and held its Annual Conference in October 2021 which involved government officials, including the First Lady of the country. ISSUP Kenya organised a well-attended webinar programme and has continued to engage in the training of various government entities, NGOs, faith-based organisations, and others. Their work continues to help shape policies in the country. ISSUP Uganda has been relentless in undertaking prevention activities especially relating to youth in Uganda.
Asia
ISSUP’s presence in the Asian region grew with the launch of two new National Chapters in Kazakhstan and Indonesia. Joint research into “Substance Use and the Role of Families” was developed by ISSUP Pakistan, ISSUP Kazakhstan and ISSUP Ukraine. The results were presented at the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Regional Congress in Kyiv to a global audience of professionals. ISSUP Pakistan conducted the first pilot of the Introduction to Evidence-Based Prevention (INEP Plus) course in the country. Many webinars were delivered, including events provided in local languages by ISSUP Afghanistan, ISSUP Pakistan, ISSUP Kazakhstan and ISSUP Indonesia. ISSUP India and Indonesia ran local and international events raising awareness of the important issue of alternatives to the incarceration of drug users.
Latin America
2021 was a year full of activities, collaborations, webinars, trainings, and projects. ISSUP Argentina delivered an outstanding programme of webinars and published a research paper in the Addictology Journal. ISSUP Brazil held work meetings with government authorities to support their activities, including the roll-out of an Online Education Course on Prevention in Schools and the launch of a new Prevention Pilot Project. ISSUP Chile held the first meeting of the National Network of Technical Training in Addictions, published the results of a national Study on Prevention, Treatment, and Social Inclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic, and delivered a programme of webinars on a range of topics including prevention, quality standards and evidence-based practice. ISSUP Ecuador held their 1st National Meeting of Drug Demand Reduction Professionals and collaborated with ISSUP Argentina to deliver a joint conference on workplace prevention. ISSUP Mexico held the 21st International Congress on Addictions and a Training of Trainers in UPC CORE was conducted for professionals in Mexico in collaboration with CICAD. Alongside webinars and a virtual presentation of the results of the SOGI training, ISSUP Peru provided UPC Training to 126 public school teachers in collaboration with Cayetano Heredia University.
This is only a short summary of all the work conducted by ISSUP National Chapters over the past year. Seeing what all of you have accomplished in 2021, we are incredibly grateful to be surrounded by so many likeminded and dedicated colleagues.
A special thank you goes to our International Partners for their invaluable support. We wish you all a happy holiday season and a peaceful and healthy 2022!
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