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The European Union Drugs Agency( EUDA) was established in 2024, replacing the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction( EMCDDA). Based in Lisbon, they issue health and security alerts and
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‘ Employers, policymakers and communities need to invest and listen. Lowthreshold employment is essential.’ TONY DUFFIN
of trauma. Co-production and co-design of services with the people who used them was central to Ana Liffey’ s ethos, he said, as was making sure they were paid for their time.‘ That reduces stigma and validates people’ s contributions, which is really important. We’ re working with people with multiple complex needs, who have very often given up on themselves and perhaps don’ t see themselves as worthy of looking for employment.’
High levels of structural and systemic unemployment, particularly affecting young
people, were a perennial problem for Spain, said Oriol Esculies of the Spanish NGO Proyecto Hombre. An ongoing project for the organisation was Programa INSOLA +, he said, which was designed to help people who were‘ at risk of social exclusion’ because of their drug problems.
Job reintegration was a key part of the recovery process, his colleague Manuel de la Cruz Rodríguez told the webinar, and one main objective was to develop personalised plans that boosted employability and promoted‘ integration in all areas of their lives’. The project had four phases – motivation, orientation, skills development and training, and finally more specialised guidance such as preparation for interviews, with the aim of providing‘ full autonomy,’ he stated.
It was a‘ huge project’, with a budget of € 29m over six years, he said, including from the EU’ s European Social Fund. But the impact was also huge – for every euro invested, there was a‘ social return’ of € 5.19.‘ There’ s value for the clients, their families, the public administrations. But there’ s also an impact that we can’ t measure – someone recovering their life.’
BUILDING TRUST When it came to lessons learned so far, among the main challenges for projects such as these was building trust, said Morales.‘ Many young people in these situations don’ t trust institutions or programmes’, which meant it was vital to‘ meet people where they are’ and support them as they moved forward at their own pace. Trust also had to be built with the partner organisations, of course,‘ so we keep the process simple’, he said. Securing funding for TAPAJ was an inevitable challenge, with money coming variously from businesses, local authorities, NGOs and European programmes.
‘ The important thing is that things are achieved – so professionals mustn’ t let people down,’ Duffin stressed.‘ One of our peers was explaining to me how they’ d recently lost a friend and had gone in on themselves, removed themselves from the outside world. But this work was bringing them back out, and they were feeling valued. It’ s small steps – I’ m talking about paying people for a day or two, not full-time employment – but it’ s really important.’ Crucially it also diverted people away from‘ high-risk strategies’ for getting money, whether sex work or drug dealing, he said.
‘ In an ideal world companies would come to us offering the jobs our people need,’ said Esculies.‘ But it’ s not the case, so we must go to them and convince them that they have a social responsibility – but also that they’ ll gain from this.’ This meant having a proactive strategy that required time, resources and the ability to properly engage with companies – a task for which Proyecto Hombre had now created a specific post.
LONG-TERM PROJECTS Any project of this size required a huge amount of administrative work, he continued. This was particularly the case when accessing EU funding streams, and the fact that much of that money could arrive long after the work had been completed inevitably favoured larger, credit-worthy organisations that could absorb‘ cash-flow tensions’. So sustainable longterm projects would need either strong organisations or strong networks, he stated.
Low-threshold employment schemes, however, were flexible models that were always adaptable to the economic and social systems of other countries, said Morales.‘ But you have to maintain a harm reduction principle. Start with a strong pilot project, and after that you can focus on flexibility and scalability.’
Getting more businesses on board meant investing in‘ educating employers and the public in terms of campaigns that challenge stigma,’ said Duffin.‘ Coproduction is not unique to Ana Liffey – there are models across Europe and further afield – it’ s just that it’ s difficult to get it right.’ While sustainable funding for long-term project development was again a challenge, involving and paying people who use drugs was‘ creating healthier and safer communities – because people are engaging in a prosocial way’, he said
COMMUNITY OPPOSITION There was also the significant issue of managing negative reactions from the community, delegates heard.‘ People who use drugs face stigma every day and are portrayed as criminals in the media – of course you have people who don’ t want to work alongside them,’ said Duffin.‘ That’ s not true of everybody, but it is a challenge. And the way to deal with that is to engage with people, that’ s how you move things along. Being good neighbours and good work colleagues are all very important.’ If any municipalities were concerned that initiatives like TAPAJ would‘ attract more people in precarious situations to their area’, the best way of addressing this was always through open communication and demonstrating the longterm benefits, Morales added.
It was vital to recognise not just the value that someone brought to a job, but also the‘ profound impact it has on the person,’ said Duffin.‘ Their wider life, their family life, their housing situation, just reducing risks in their life. Employers, policymakers and communities need to invest and listen. Low-threshold employment is essential – for people who use drugs, people who are stable, and people in recovery.’
‘ So let’ s make it happen,’ said Morales. DDN
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