Projects

The Partnership provides technical assistance and expertise to RCRC National Societies and other CSOs facing a problem of substance abuse in their community and willing to develop adequate interventions. This is done through the implementation of joined transnational projects co-funded by the European Commission and other international donors, and exchange of know-how and good practices in the field of harm reduction, HIV/HCV prevention and drug demand reduction. The technical assistance provided by the Partnership ranges from activities planning and implementation to project monitoring and evaluation, with the conduction of field visits and assessment missions.

A good example of this activity is the collaboration with the Kenya Red Cross, which has led to the opening of a rehabilitation centre for drug users in the country. Between December 2010 and February 2011, there was a massive heroin crisis along the Coastal belt and Nairobi regions in Kenya, which led to an estimated 26,000 PWID affected as a result of the shortage of heroin, leading to multiple morbidities arising from the withdrawal symptoms. Having any knowledge and practice in this field, the Kenya RC asked for support to the IFRC, which mobilized experts from Villa Maraini to make a local situation assessment in the country. During these years, several members of the Kenya RC (health and social workers, volunteers) have been trained on drug abuse treatment and harm reduction approaches, both in Villa Maraini and in the country. Thanks to this continuous support provided by Villa Maraini and the Italian RC, the Kenya RC has managed to open a drug rehabilitation centre in Lamu. Last November, experts of Villa Maraini have conducted a 5-days training for the staff of the centre and then, two of them have spent a month in Lamu in order to assist the staff in organizing the daily work of the centre.

Current & past projects

Project “Provision of harm reduction, treatment and care services for most vulnerable drug users in Iran” (duration 2020-2023)

The project is co-funded by the EuropeAid Programme of the European Commission and implemented by Villa Maraini Foundation in partnership with the Iranian Red Crescent Society. Goal of the project is to contribute to the implementation of evidence-based programmes for the reduction of health and social harms among most vulnerable groups of PWUDs and PWIDs in Iran, through:

Strengthening skills and capacity of the Iranian RC Society in the provision of health and social services for PWUDs
Supporting the development of evidence-based harm reduction programmes among most vulnerable drug users in Iran
Improving the quality and effectiveness of drug policies through a better collaboration and partnership between policy makers and service providers

The project activities include:

Capacity building for IRCS staff and volunteers, through the organization of training courses in Iran and study visits in Rome.
Delivery of health and social services for most vulnerable PWUDs/PWIDs in three regions of Iran, through mobile units and outreach workers.
Networking and dissemination, through consultations and partnerships with relevant public authorities, health and social services, drug abuse treatment centres, and the creation of referral systems between service providers and public health institutions.

The project was co-funded by the 3^rd Health Programme of the European Commission and involved 29 organizations (public health institutions, hospitals, NGPs, universities) from 15 EU countries. Villa Maraini Foundation was one of the four organizations nominated by the Italian Ministry of Health to join the project.

Aim of the project was to identify new strategies and tools to improve the awareness, prevention, early diagnosis and linkage to care of HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections in Europe. The broader aim was to inform best policy and clinical practice to ensure continuity of care and integrated service provision for HIV and other STIs and foster shifts from single to multi-disease approaches.

The approach in INTEGRATE has been to explore how effective tools for diagnosis and linkage to prevention and care for one disease can be used for other diseases and for multi-disease approaches; the applied methodology was to review existing tools and then adapt and pilot these tools in other disease areas.

Project “INTEGRATE - Joint Action on integrating Prevention, Testing and link to care strategies across HIV, viral hepatitis, TB and STIs in Europe” (duration: 2017-2020)

Project “Youth Engagement in Drug Policy Development” (duration: 2017-2019)

The project was co-financed by the UNDEF – United Nations Democracy Fund and implemented by

Villa Maraini Foundation in partnership with the following National Societies: Kenya Red Cross, Red Crescent Society of Kyrgyzstan, Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan.

The project aimed to promote active participation of young people in drug policy development and implementation, through:

Capacity building activities for RC/RC young volunteers in drug policy, advocacy strategies, peer education approaches;
Peer education activities and advocacy actions conducted by the trained volunteers in their communities;
Development of new tools and material on youth work in the field of substance abuse (Declaration on youth engagement for a new humanitarian drug policy, Handbook on youth engagement in drug abuse programmes).

In total, 103 youth representatives from 32 youth organizations were trained at the three Regional Workshops organized in Kenya, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. All the youth organizations that participated at the three regional workshops were involved in drug abuse related programs and organized several peer education and advocacy actions in their communities.

The project Y.A.D. was co-funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Commission and was implemented by Villa Maraini Foundation in partnership with Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies from the following countries: Uruguay, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Iran and Thailand.

The overall goal of the project was to promote and support the development of transnational cooperation activities and partnerships among Red Cross/Red Crescent young volunteers from different regions of the world, thorugh:

– building and strengthening skills and capacity of RC/RC young volunteers in drug abuse prevention and harm reduction programmes;

– improving the quality of youth work and volunteering in the field of drug abuse, through cooperation, networking and exchange of best practices;

– fostering social inclusion and active participation of young people in the society as means to promote healthy lifestyles and behaviours;

– developing specific training tools and materials for peer-education activities in the field of drug abuse prevention.

Around 7500 youth were reached by peer education activities conducted by RC/RC volunteers trained during the project. These activities contributed to increase awareness and information about drug abuse and related problems, promoting healthy lifestyles and behaviours and advocating for a change of mentality and behaviours toward people who use drugs, both among the volunteers and the youth involved in peer education activities. Many of them declared that they changed their perception about drug users, understanding that they are people in need of help and care and not criminal to be punished and marginalized.

Project “Y.A.D. - Youth And Drugs: a Red Cross and Red Crescent approach” (duration: 2015-2016)

Project “ALTERNATIVE – Promoting alternatives to imprisonment for drug offenders” (duration: 2012-2014)

The project was co-financed by the “Criminal Justice” Programme of the European Commission and implemented by Villa Maraini Foundation in partnership with the following organizations: Association Gruppo Abele (IT), SANANIM (CZ), French Red Cross, Portuguese Red Cross.

The project general aim was to promote and increase the adoption of alternatives to imprisonment for drug offenders, showing the advantages of such approach in reducing prisons overcrowding, preventing re-offending and generally improving detention conditions.

To achieve this goal, the following activities were conducted:

Exchange of information about major strengths and weaknesses of the criminal justice system and legislation on alternative measures in use in the partner countries.
Identification of best practices at national and European level and development of more effective protocols for the access of eligible offenders to alternative measures.
Capacity building activities and networking among criminal justice agencies, prison staff, social and health services, and creation of referral systems between prisons and community-based treatment services.

Implementation of supporting activities in prison for drug offenders and increase of treatment programmes as alternative measure to detention.

This project was co-funded by the Drug Prevention and Information Programme of the European Commission and was implemented by Villa Maraini Foundation, in partnership with the Red Cross National Societies from: Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia, Portugal.

The project aimed at preventing drug use, reducing drug-related harm and promoting adequate treatment approaches. The project also aimed at the creation of a multidisciplinary network of Red Cross National Societies and the expansion of knowledge base and skills.

Great importance was also given to advocacy activities, which aimed at raising awareness and promoting a better understanding of the health and social problems caused by drug use and encouraging an open dialogue with relevant stakeholders and decision makers.

Thanks to improved know-how, new harm reduction activities were implemented by the partner Red Cross National Societies in their communities; this contributed to improve the living conditions of many PWUDs and enhance the role of Red Cross and other civil society organizations as important player in the field of drug abuse prevention and control.