The association between drugs and evil has dwelled in the collective conscious for many decades. In practice, many approaches were taken from governments in an attempt to combat the harmful effects drugs left on societies but so far these efforts, some sensible and some not so sensible, have never been enough.
Operating away from governments’ influence, NGOs took the initiative to lead a different approach making the best of their involvement with members of civil society. However, the socio-political make up in each country added more pressure to the work of these organizations. So, how successful have they been?
Why are NGOs important?
Every drug consumer has a treatment scheme that is planned according to the seriousness of the disease. But the so-called ‘treatment’ has a different understanding when it is applied by the government. “There should be a separation between the work of public health institutions and law enforcement,” says Daniel Wolfe, Director of International Harm Reduction Development program. “In Armenia for instance, when a patient is sent to a public health institution, the police interfere after a while to register the name of that patient. This will result in major distrust in any medical program set by the government,” Wolfe adds.
The multitude of experience NGOs have with civil society members has proved to be more efficient. When more members participate with the aim of alleviating the dangers of drugs they can build the trust between the organization and the patient.
Shared responsibility
One aspect of the CND (Commission for Narcotic Drugs) vision is to take a shared responsibility between member states from all over the world. Malaysia-based International Federation of NGOs for Prevention of Drug and Substance Abuse (IFNGO) has operated actively in the field of combating drug consumption for almost thirty years.
However, their determined work which is carried out single-handedly could be conducted in participatory approaches with others. Head of the organization, Mustapha Haji Mustapha Ma thinks that putting words into practice is needed to achieve success, “We are trying our best to conduct efficient work but what about the concept of shared responsibility that the UN reinforces? We are not waiting for financial assistance from anyone but at least some spiritual support and cooperation with sister organizations from the other countries could help us share ideas and experiences for better results” he says.
Many challenges
Reaching a wider spectrum of civil society doesn’t solve the myriad of problems that NGOs face during their everyday work from finances to social challenges.
Gaining a financial support from the government is essential to administer their organizational work. The Harm Reduction Coalition promotes the health and dignity of individuals and communities impacted by drug use in New York. The organization managed to receive government support: “We receive a mixture of funding such as federal money and corporate money,” says Allan Clear, the organization’s executive director. In the wake of economic crisis, however, many similar organizations have lost the funding of federal government.
The Abu-Dhabi based National Rehabilitation Centre receives public funding which has helped them to enlarge the scope of activities and services offered to the patients. However, another problem appears on the horizon. Amongst other issues, societal barriers challenge their activities.
Society and tradition are major impediments. “Embarrassment and social stigma is what patients feel when they think of the treatment program. Added to these are gender issues that ascribe drug addiction to men rather women. In the Emirati society, we discovered a fair portion of women drug addicts hiding behind the curtains and these women would never think of approaching us,” says Hisham AlArabi, the Institute’s president. “Currently we have 50 patients out of many more cases who are blocked by social barriers when attempting to get any treatment for their ailing bodies,” he added.
NGOs have done their best to reach better results but perhaps further support and an understanding of their important role by public institutions could help achieve more success.
