1st Regional National Chapters Meeting in Latin America

At the end of August, ISSUP and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) held the 1st Regional National Chapters Meeting in Latin America organised as a side event of the XX Drug Demand Reduction Expert Group Meeting. Representatives from ISSUP global, CICAD and ISSUP Argentina, Brazil and Chile participated in the one day meeting. Jimena Kalawski, Chief of CICAD's Demand Reduction Unit, and Livia Edegger, ISSUP's Deputy Director, offered welcome remarks, in which they highlighted the importance of the collaboration between the two organisations in the region. The meeting provided an opportunity for the Chapters to share their workplan for the months and year ahead and to brainstorm ideas to work together on future initiatives. The meeting led to the development of a strong working committee that will hold regular digital meetings.

The Chapters in the region have been very active in planning upcoming initiatives and activities. ISSUP Mexico will be launched as part of Centros de Integración Juvenil - CIJ's annual Congress at the end of October. ISSUP Argentina plans to formally start its operations in April 2020. ISSUP Chile has started co-organising regular seminars for drug demand reduction professionals in the country and ISSUP Brazil's host organisation Freemind is busy planning its annual event.

ISSUP would like to sincerely thank CICAD for hosting the meeting and for its continuous support in the development of National Chapters in the region.