Supporting children and youth: Reading list

To celebrate international youth day on the 12th of August 2022, ISSUP Czech Republic teamed up with UNODC to present a webinar on ‘supporting the health, happiness and safety of children’ with a particular focus on the Listen First initiative.

Here, you can find the resources linked with the webinar and some additional reading on science-based drug prevention.

1. Listen First was launched in 2016 during the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the World Drug Problem. Here you can find out more about the campaign and gain access to evidence-based prevention materials.
2. As part of the presentation a representative from Safer Youth Norway, Eva Djordjevic, shared their experience of the Listen First project. You can find out more about the vision and activities of SYN here.
3. The final part of the webinar was presented by Helena Horalek representing ISSUP Czech Republic & Charles University, Prague. They discussed the development of the Unplugged programme, which is an evidence-based curriculum for young people and parents. You can find out more about the EU-Dap (Drug Abuse Prevention) programme and Unplugged here. Further ISSUP webinar recordings on the subject can also be viewed here.
4. Applied Prevention Science International (APSI) have created a range of resources for practitioners. These include prevention nuggets (summaries of topics on prevention science and practice), prevention talks, (online discussions on the current issues within prevention research and practice) and programmes for professional development.
5. In this publication, produced by NIDA, the authors explore prevention of substance use among children and adolescents. The second edition offers updated principles, new questions and answers, new program information, and expanded references.  
6. This handbook, published by UNODC, is designed to support all decision makers in encouraging youth participation in substance use prevention with a particular focus on how to encourage peer support.
7. This miniguide, put together by EMCDDA, provides an overview of what to consider when planning or delivering health and social responses to drug-related problems at school, and reviews the available interventions and their effectiveness.
8. Also developed by EMCDDA, is the prevention toolkit, which is centred around four key existing prevention resources: European Prevention Curriculum (EUPC); Xchange prevention registry; Best practice evidence database and Healthy Nightlife Toolkit.