Guide to good practices and intervention models
Experiences from the territory
Context
An approach changed after UNGASS 2016: human rights, development, and gender approach from the territories
Aligned with the guidelines established by the UNGASS on Drugs 2016, the Agenda 2030, and the current European Union strategy on drugs 2021-2025, COPOLAD III gives centrality to policy improvements related to human rights, gender equity, public health, and other dimensions of sustainable development to improve the design and implementation of policies related to drug demand and supply reduction in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. One of the focuses of COPOLAD III is the most vulnerable populations, to develop systems and interventions to support the population in vulnerable situations and with more difficulties in accessing care services.
The community approach to the drug issue facilitates responses in, with, and from the territories. Community empowerment is an essential element for sustainability and comprehensive development.
CONCEPTUALIZATION
Understanding social vulnerabilities associated with drugs on the territory
Vulnerability / Resources
In addition to identifying the vulnerabilities of the territory, it is essential to also analyze its resources, that is, the assets, capacities, and networks available in a community that can be mobilized to strengthen it and improve its resilience. These resources may include social capital (people-to-people relations and networks), human capital (people’s skills and knowledge), local infrastructure, institutions, and access to basic services such as education and health.
Access
Physical and geographical availability of services, as well as their economic affordability and cultural acceptability. Adequate access means that barriers, whether economic, geographical, or cultural, do not prevent people from obtaining services essential to their well-being and development. The universality of services is not equality; it is equity, giving support to those who have greater vulnerabilities. Promoting equitable access to services is critical to achieving fairer and more inclusive societies.
COMMUNITY / COMMUNAL
Understanding the Community not only as a group of people who have common characteristics or interests or share a common origin but as a set of social networks that define, organize, give life and meaning, and encourage a territory. The Communal would be all that concerns this Community. The work done with and in the Community is an indispensable indicator for talking about territorialization.
NETWORKS
Subjective community networks (RCN): members of the team have friendly relations with the members of these networks.
Operative networks (ON): RCN nodes that participate along the team implementing actions and processes. The operative network is formed by people with friendly and cooperative relationships who desire to participate, offering all their skills and knowledge to implement actions within the Community Treatment.
There is a third type of network: the nonformal opinion leaders’ network (OLN), where the team confers informally with these networks whenever it is needed or simply because their point of view is useful to think, make decisions, and know what is happening (Milanese, Efrem. 2023).
Formal / nonformal
Formal networks are understood as those that are formally constituted as such and are recognized by their institutionality, as opposed to the nonformal ones that spontaneously arise at the initiative of the population.
Nodes
A term used to indicate all the elements (people, objects, streets, animals, etc.) that can compose a network. Being an actor with a network perspective, regardless of the context in which one acts, implies being a “node” in those networks, an agent linked by informal and also, in this case, formal relationships. (Milanese, Efrem. 2023).
ACTIVE MINORITIES
Networks with a high degree of density in relations among their members focused on improving the living conditions of the Community. Active minorities are deviant groups that transgress social norms to generate alternative solutions.
Team
Following the ideas put forward, the team has to work together with people in the Community, with community promoters, also with people who are living in situations of social suffering (street drug users, victims of sexual exploitation…). Heterogeneous mixed teams, where there is a representation both of the promoters and also of the dissident elements of diversity, of the alterity of that Community.
Integration-inclusion-insertion
Integration focuses on bringing people into existing situations, and people are expected to adapt to the norms and practices established by society; inclusion focuses on creating an environment that embraces diversity; and insertion refers to the incorporation of persons in specific situations, such as situations of social vulnerability, and involves participation in specific programs to address their particular needs, such as job placement programs, educational or Community.
Territory / Territorialization
While territory refers to the physical space of cultural significance (street, city, building, square, etc.), enabling the organization, meaning, and logic of social relationships; the second is related to the process of creating territory, identifying resources, and existing connections. Metaphor of territory as meeting places.
Tactical / strategic
The strategy is a plan to achieve an objective, and the tactical actions that are carried out to achieve that objective; the tactical objective is that if, for example, we organize a party, it must be well organized, fun, and participated, and the strategic objective would be, for example, for people in the Community to connect with each other, to get group to have friendly relations with the highest possible number of participants.
Services / Process
A process can create, identify, run, stop, and delete a service. Seen from the point of view of the most well-known approaches in the topic under consideration, the work process begins with a phase of diagnosis (assessment), mobilization and capacity building, planning, implementation, and evaluation.
POLICY / DEVELOPMENT FROM TOP→DOWN - BOTTOM → UP
Working from the bottom-up means starting from the bottom up, involving people and communities directly affected by a problem. This is in contrast to top-down policies that originate from higher levels of authority and are implemented without necessarily taking into account the voices and experiences of local communities.
MODELS
Proposals to address social vulnerabilities associated with drugs on the territory
INTEGRATED MULTIDIMENSIONAL INTERVENTION MODEL
IN HIGHLY VULNERABLE AREAS TO IMPROVE THE DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THOSE AREAS.
Integrated multidimensional intervention models in highly vulnerable areas to improve the different dimensions of sustainable development in those areas. It is, for example, a comprehensive development plan in a neighborhood or an alternative urban development model in which the drug field represents one of the different areas of intervention. They are policies more focused on other elements of development, such as education, health, employment, urban planning, and the environment, being altogether integral interventions. We work together with the communities, multiple elements of vulnerability simultaneously, trying to convert the neighborhoods in serious situations of vulnerability into areas with access to services, observing their value chains, and generating alliances and processes.
As an example of this approach dimension, we have the experience of the community-driven human settlement planning and management model implemented by the UN-Habitat team in ten territories in the State of Pernambuco (Brazil) located in the Northeast Region of Brazil.
THE COMMUNITY TREATMENT MODEL - ECO²
The Community Treatment Model – ECO² implemented by the American Social Suffering Intervention Network (RAISSS) is specially developed to intervene from and with the communities themselves in areas of high vulnerability with drug problems; understanding the Community Treatment (CT) as Methodology of intervention in situations of social suffering in contexts with high vulnerability, which seeks to reach where institutional proposals do not usually do. It is a model that arises from and with the Community. Its working mechanism is constituted by a system of networks of informal relations in the Community, such as natural leaders of the territory. These are articulated with community service networks and formal actors (private sector or institutional). The CT proposes that the work be developed with the Community where the person is, not removing them from the environment in which they are developed, promoting actions that improve their environment, and modifying the networks of relations with other members of the Community. It also works to improve living conditions in the local Community where users are housed.
The Community Treatment – ECO² is supported by the American Social Suffering Intervention Network (RAISSS), a transnational network of networks including civil society organizations from 15 Latin-American countries who share the same multidisciplinary ECO² metamodel, supporting in the process of implementing Community Treatment – ECO².
MODELS OF ARTICULATION OF INTEGRATED LOCAL NETWORKS
Models of articulation of integrated local, territorial networks of services to address the various vulnerabilities associated with drug use, which address health and also social problems through an articulated network that involves the collaboration of various stakeholders, both from the public and private sectors, such as government agencies and local institutions, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, educational institutions, the private sector, local government, and the media. As in the other models, the drug issue is only one part, but not the only one. Other issues are addressed, such as gender violence, poverty, children, etc., creating an integrated information, referral, and counterreferral system.
We have here as an inspiring example the Triple I Care Model, proposed by the Ibero-American Network of NGOs working on Drugs and Addictions (RIOD), based on comprehensive, integrative / community, and integrated care for drug use and addictions. The model has more examples of its application in Europe. We can highlight the experience of the Catalan Drug Addiction Federation, which has been creating a co-responsibility network between government and civil society for 40 years.
The Common and the Specific
what characterizes each one
In the three proposals presented: a model of integral multidimensional intervention in areas of high vulnerability, a model of Community Treatment – ECO² and a model of articulation of integrated local, territorial networks of services, we have found common elements, we also observed some individual characteristics that make each of them specific inspiring proposals.
The three models share some points in common that support actions, processes, and approaches to territorialization:
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These approaches set their sights on highly vulnerable territories, seeking to address social vulnerabilities linked to drugs in territories, reducing the suffering of people and communities, with a focus on the defense of human rights, without focusing exclusively on drugs.
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All operate in a defined and concrete territory, some based on institutions and others based on people.
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All are linked in one way or another with what already exists in the communities, observing and respecting their value chains.
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They all agree on the importance of working with the Community and Networking, whether they are formal networks (private, public, or third sector), nonformal, or both.
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In addition, there is some type of community protagonism, in some in a participatory and leading manner, such as the CT - ECO² Model, and in others, such as the integral multidimensional intervention models in highly vulnerable areas, a degree of participation is observed, albeit more timidly, but in terms of impact it produces a change in the way of seeing and acting of the population to which each program is applied.
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They include a developmental approach. Some of the models are more strategic than others, but all three present a comprehensive development approach, which implies a non-exclusive view of drugs or health.
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They are a transformative approach in which actions are aimed at achieving structural transformations linked to the improvement of equity along the lines of rights and development. They also act to improve living conditions in the local Community where the users are housed. They carry out processes of social transformation in and with the Community with indicators of social vulnerabilities. In this way, the subject of the intervention is not the individual, but the Community and its networks.
Each one has its specific inspirational strengths, which give richness innovatively and creatively to these territorialization processes:
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Thus, the multidimensional/integral intervention model in areas of high vulnerability focuses on processes to improve different dimensions of sustainable development in these areas. It is an integral intervention model that requires a multi-stakeholder exercise involving government, Community, and civil society organizations, as well as a long-term investment.
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The CT-ECO² Model, more developed in Latin America, is applied in very deteriorated territories, reaching where the formal institutional model does not reach. It focuses on a particular community with particular dynamics around which community mechanisms are built, relying on nonformal networks. It is the Community itself that has the leading role in solving its own needs since it is the one that best knows its resources. It is born from a very pragmatic view of the communities to articulate their resources, whereas Networking also considers the informal relationships of the territory. It is based on a bottomup approach, complemented by a top-down perspective. It works with a methodology that facilitates shared work. Its great strength is the opportunity offered by Networking, which at the same time implies its fragility due to the challenges in management and in the adherence and continuous participation of community actors in the systematization given during the community intervention process. It is presented as a very practical and achievable model.
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The Model of integrated service networks, which has more examples of its application in Europe, articulates resources between the public and civil society and relies mainly on what formally exists. The Triple I Care Model involves working in a specialized drug network between existing governmental and non-governmental entities, giving more strength to the institution. It focuses on an organized network of services in a wider territory and an effective network coordination system. It is based on a bottom-up and top-down approach, where communities and public administrations work in an organized manner. It is presented as a theoretical model to be developed, which allows articulating actions that already exist and the drive to create others that may be necessary.
OTHERMETHODOLOGIES
and/or practices to intervene within the community
More significant examples of community approaches have been adopted apart from these three models. These are territorial development experiences that are not specifically ascribed to one of these models but rather concretize their work with contributions from the different models in a constant exercise of self-analysis of the intervention in the search for those theoretical bases that best fit the territorial reality and the institutional goals. These are community-based practices, approached from the communities through service networks articulated with programs that are widely linked to the idea of community and territory, to the idea of a comprehensive view of vulnerabilities that is, in turn, integrative, that enhances the agency capacity of people and their environments, actively encouraging their participation. Most of them are bottom-up models, which are born and adapted according to the idiosyncrasies of their reality. Several of them can be consulted in the publication prepared by the partner organizations of the Ibero-American Network of NGOs working on Drugs (RIOD) ¨Community-Based Approach in the Field of Drugs and Addictions¨ 2023.
Also noteworthy are some of the experiences of community preventive approaches, where the focus goes beyond the health perspective of protective factors and risk factors. They lead to a cultural grounding and a focus on opportunities, existing resources in the community, and processes that can be implemented. They require a grounding in the context in which they are going to work. We can find an interesting example of a preventive approach in Colombia: the Comprehensive Psicoactive Consumption Prevention among black, afroamerican, raizales and palenqueras (NARP). Also, the Community Coalitions, with its own model clearly defined by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), the Communities That Care (CQC) preventive system, which is an adaptation of Communities That Care (CTC), or the examples on the website of the European Monitoring Centre of Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), such as the Communities That Care Model or the Icelandic Planet Youth model, among others.
Other examples located in the community
Finally, there are other examples, which are models of treatment or intervention in communities that are not community-based. To highlight the limits, the EMCDDA and its partners use the term community-located interventions (i.e., referring only to location) rather than community-based interventions (which would involve active community participation). We have some examples, such as certain community intervention programs, or assistance programs aimed at addressing social vulnerability. These are valid and necessary services, but territorialization goes beyond them.
TERRITORIALIZING
Territorializing implies understanding the community and the dynamics of people living in that space, their singularities, complex aspects, conflicts, strengths, power tensions, resources, and the many networks that existed before the intervention. It is impossible to bring a foreign practice to a territory without dialoguing with the community: this will only lead to an unsuccessful, unseasonable, and rootless output. Joining forces with the community to design and develop the initiative will guarantee better acceptance and range, as well as being more affordable.
Alive processes: model evolution and coexistence
If there is territorialization, there is movement. The limits between one model and the other are neither closed nor defined, nor are they intended to be. In any case, these models are not mutually exclusive but complement each other, so the interesting thing is that they can coexist. They are live movements that advance and widen their scope and they tend to adapt themselves to the needs of each country, culture, and territory and, therefore, develop themselves together with the territory.
The models provided are presented in their most complete version, as they are intended to serve as a guide and inspiration, but it should be emphasized that their partial application does not make them any less effective. The important thing is to have a clear direction and to advance little by little, developing the initiative according to the possibilities of each reality. There are different stages of development and evolution of this transformative process of comprehensive intervention in territories.
INDICATORS
Understanding the social vulnerabilities linked to drugs in the territory
The practice, initiative, or policy includes low threshold mechanisms and street work strategies.
We understand by low threshold mechanisms that are not challenging to access. For example, open community mechanisms are different from high-threshold mechanisms that need a protocol and a formal structure to be followed. We include inside the street work all the activities that take place in the streets, parks, and nonformal places of the community’s daily life.
The practice, initiative, or policy is connected formally with other stakeholders, networks, services, and operating teams in the same territory of the community.
Activities must not be developed by a unique institution. Territorialization requires network actions with different community stakeholders: networks (in person or online), practices, services, teams operating in the same territory, formal and nonformal community leaders, citizens, and (organized) groups.
The practice, initiative, or policy is part of a policy that strictly requires a territorial approach.
Deciding to build public policies from the communities, promoting the construction of processes bottom-up and from top to bottom. This must be mentioned clearly, p.eg, in the framework of a national plan or programs where the policy is applied (activities, actions, or strategies).
The team has a great diversity of people, with at least one member of the community or the vulnerable population (peer operator) and professionals from the psychosocial area (psychology, social work, anthropology, ethnography, or sociology).
A peer operator is a member of the community or the vulnerable population. The policy is conceived, programmed, and implemented for him/her. He/she has been trained to implement actions within the community. Building a team is also part of a process that is developed in the meantime, and therefore, the initial conditions of the team are not the same as in the end.
The team has a network of at least 30 people.
The team knows at least 30 people who belong to the same territory and know the work/social relations between each other. Knowing the cooperation, work, or friendship relations of the people living in the network allows the team to work with that network.
There is an operative network formed by people belonging to the territory or the community.
An operative network is formed by people of the territory who are interconnected with the team who is cooperating to implement the activities and community stakeholders who can be a useful resource for the activities. It means a community doing something for itself.
The team is skilled enough and sensitive to genders, rights, vulnerabilities, and territorialization.
Encouraging community empowerment as civil society collectives as bearers of rights.
At least 30% of activities are implemented outside the teamwork mechanism
It may be an office or a center where the team develops their activities. However, at least one part of the activities is carried out outside to facilitate access to services.
- Prevention/organization of the community [social integration point of view]
- Basic assistance/harm reduction [restoration of rights]
- Education/rehabilitation [public health view]
- Psychological/medical care [public health view]
- Employment [sustainable development view]
We include productive economy programs that aim to change people’s reality. - Leisure, games, arts related to games and leisure [well-being]
Identifying and including resources within the community
The community resources can be human, material, resources regarding relations among citizens, organization resources, a multi-stakeholder point of view, etc.
Actions respond to each gender’s needs
Specific activities according to the gender, multi-gender activities from an integration point of view.
Including practices from the past, their outcomes, and capacities offered by them
Making the most of local experiences and recognizing experiences of civil society in community intervention. There are practices, experiences, and stakeholders that need to be validated, taking positive effects and community capacities into consideration.
Representation of the community through its actors
Social representations of the population in situations of vulnerability, cultures, stereotypes, etc. Making efforts to ensure equitable participation, guaranteeing the active involvement of the entire community with a gender and intersectional perspective.
A highly vulnerable community (vulnerability related to drugs).
We mean contexts of daily life where we find the characteristics described in section nº 3 Vulnerable communities.
Community members participate in the elaboration of policies and proposed practices.
The community/territory is clearly defined from the geographical/virtual point of view and as a communication structure.
It may be a well-geographically defined neighborhood or a group found in a social network with a defined identity.
It is a top-down process.
It is a process coming directly from policymakers, from technical boards all the way down to “the territory”.
It is a bottom-up process.
It is a process that comes from the community actors, citizens, and their representatives, and from there takes the form of a proposal that is recognized by the political decision-makers and subsequently discussed and elaborated in technical roundtables with the presence of the community’s installed capacity (see device and equipment).
It is a mixed process.
Communities or populations excluded from the enjoyment of fundamental human rights.
Communities or populations excluded from the enjoyment of fundamental human rights.
Gender equity is considered.
Ensuring the inclusion and empowerment of all genders, such as promoting female participation in leadership and decision-making roles, ensuring equitable access to resources and opportunities, specifically diagnosing the situations of women and nonbinary populations, and addressing the prevention and response to gender violence.
The action considers the issue of sustainable development.
Sustainable development is understood as a process that seeks to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development is based on the idea of balancing economic, social, and environmental aspects: promoting a robust and healthy economy that generates employment, opportunities, and economic well-being for society; at the social level, the action implies respect for human rights, equity, social justice and the promotion of a decent quality of life for all people, leaving no one behind; and at the environmental level, responsible management of natural resources, environmental conservation and mitigation of negative impacts, so as to preserve the health of the planet for future generations.
Intersectionality.
That is, the participation of various thematic areas of public drug policy is contemplated
Drugs
A group of drugs that have important effects on psychological processes, such as thought, perception, and emotion. Understanding the term in a broad sense, which includes those categorized by agencies as licit drugs, non-licit drugs, or any other substance, i.e., a new psychoactive substance (NPS), glue, bath salts, etc.
Human rights
It is a set of fundamental rights and freedoms for the enjoyment of human life in conditions of full dignity, and which are defined as intrinsic to every person by the mere fact of belonging to the human race, but which, in certain populations, are violated, limited, or even denied.
Vulnerable communities
Whether they are understood as vulnerable, vulnerable, or vulnerable, Communities, but in any case, they are communities in a situation of vulnerability and social suffering.
Situations of high vulnerability or high exclusion are those territorial contexts of daily life in which are observed: dynamics and processes of impoverishment or extreme poverty; very low or non-existent school levels with processes of distancing from formal education; lack of work or decent work; precarious forms of sustainability (casual work, poorly paid, outside the law or in clear violation of the law); serious processes of community violence (physical and psychological violence, segregation, guerrilla, war); street life and life on the street; sexual exploitation and sexually transmitted diseases, HIV-AIDS; forced displacements and migrations; impossibility of access to basic health, education, security and social protection services; absence of the rule of law; systematic violation of fundamental human rights; sale of drugs on the street, or territories dedicated to drug trafficking, human trafficking, etc.; communities that are shelters for illegal trafficking (illegal trafficking), etc. ; refuge communities for illegal trafficking (drugs, arms, human beings, children, women), cheap labor for work in subhuman conditions.
Sustainable development
It is understood as the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the capacity of future generations, ensuring a balance between economic growth, environmental care, and social welfare. To this end, it is recommended that at least one person in the team has skills in sustainable development.
Micro-trafficking
Referring to people who traffic small amounts of drugs, taking into account that in some countries, possession of the minimum amount of drugs is criminalized as microtrafficking, which leads to the criminalization of mere consumption.
Service network
They involve the connection and collaboration between different service providers, organizations, institutions, or individuals working together to address the needs of a specific community or group. It focuses on coordination and cooperation among various entities.
Service system
Service systems refer to broader organizational structures that encompass all services related to a specific area. A service system addresses the delivery, coordination, and regulation of services as a whole. It focuses on the organization and management of services on a broad scale.
Nonformal networks of community actors
Nonformal networks are understood as those that arise spontaneously on the initiative of the population, as opposed to those that are formally constituted as such and are recognized by their institutionalization. Thus, for example, a group of neighbors would be a nonformal network, while a group in the psychology area of a health center would be formal
Genders
Social intervention with a gender perspective is understood as that which implies a political position in the face of gender oppression and is aimed at ensuring that the special needs of girls, women, and non-binary genders are respected and attended to.
Social integration
Following the definition of the French sociologist Emile Durkheim, it refers to “the acceptance of minorities and disadvantaged groups in society, with the aim of improving their dignity and standard of living. In a broader sense, other authors have defined social integration as the dynamics of societies that are stable, safe, and just, based on the promotion and protection of all human rights, as well as on non-discrimination, tolerance, respect for diversity, equal opportunities, solidarity, security, and the participation of all, including disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and individuals (Schindlmayr, Huber and Zelenev, 2006).
Indicators application
What kind of products we already have and which ones we want to conquer, or what actions we have already done and which ones we want to add
The territorialization indicators presented above facilitate the construction of goals and processes to be followed and ensure that each proposal is articulated according to its reality. In considering these indicators, we are encouraged to reflect on existing products and the objectives we seek to achieve. The purpose is to clarify some practical elements that can serve as anchoring elements of the process. Therefore, it is important to consider what kind of products we already have and which ones we want to conquer, or what actions we have already taken and which ones we want to add.
In order to know whether or not we are on the right path, it is good to reflect by translating these indicators into questions:
Where does the experience presented come from? Why does the need arise in this context, and who is requesting it? Does it come from an external project or because the community identifies a need?
Has any participatory diagnosis or community mapping been carried out, allowing us to work at the pace of the needs and take advantage of the resources and opportunities that the community itself has, in addition to knowing the existing networks?
In what way does the experience count on the active participation of the community in decision-making and the search for solutions?
What vulnerabilities do you want to impact? If resources that exist in the community have been identified, in addition to vulnerabilities, how are these community resources included in the actions?
What would be the installed capacity you want to generate? Are past practices, their results, and installed capacity included?
What is the composition of the work team? Are there people from the community within it? And people involved in the problem being addressed, in addition to professionals in the psychosocial area or other areas of knowledge interested or with the potential to contribute to the process? Is the team trained and sensitized with respect to gender, rights, vulnerabilities, and territorialization?y territorialización?
In what way is the experience a bottom-up process, meaning that it starts from the grassroots, involving people and communities directly affected by a problem, betting on scaling up to public policies from the communities themselves? Or is it a process that starts from the top down?
Or is it a circular process, from the bottom up and from the top down, involving the effective articulation of the community and civil society with the State and public policies? Is the articulation of bottom-up and top-down processes promoted?
Is there a system of networks at work?
What is the fundamental role played by the methodology in the processes of the published experience?
How does the experience foster the emancipatory and economic empowerment of communities, promoting productive inclusion and the development of a community economy?
In what way does the experience involve a process of social transformation, focusing on the potentialities of people and communities for the transformation of processes and their lives?
How does the experience incorporate a gender and intersectionality perspective that guarantees the active participation of women and other populations that are usually excluded and/or discriminated against due to factors such as race, gender, culture, age, economic, physical, mental health condition, and other characteristics?
Is there a process evaluation mechanism in place prior to policy development?
Is the practice in, initiative, or policy part of a policy that explicitly provides for a territorial or community approach? Does the practice, initiative, or policy provide for a community approach based on the relationship between different actors to achieve its purpose? Does the practice comply with the indicator of intersectionality and participation of various thematic areas of public drug policy?
Steps towards Territorialization
Initiating action with minimum objectives and indicators
It is also important to be clear that it is not necessary to meet all the indicators from the beginning. A process is required. Action can be initiated with minimum objectives and indicators, and as the community is incorporated into the process on the one hand and institutional support is committed on the other, the scope and field of action are expanded.
The challenge is to make this initial move and then establish what exists in the community as installed capacity.
KEY ELEMENTS
to construct the pilot proposal
There are simple ways of moving towards territorialization. The important thing is to understand that it is possible to start with a small device and, from there, generate alliances and create networks to increase the scope of the service.
An idea
An idea
One of the main advantages of this approach is that it is based on participatory community diagnosis, so that work is done at the pace of needs, taking advantage of the resources and opportunities that the community itself has. This, in turn, makes it possible to develop specific solutions adapted to the moment, resulting in more effective and relevant responses to the challenges faced by the communities.
WITH WHOM?
WITH WHOM?
The first step consists of making visible (when they exist) or building (when they do not exist) the networks of non-formal relationships (friendship, belonging to the same territory, having common interests and opinions, using the same means of transport, wrong social networks, living in the search, sharing the same playground, etc.), successively formal (kinship relationships, work relationships, relationships linked to trade, respect for the authorities, etc.) in the community, because these networks are the community, they produce, maintain and transform the community.
HOW AND WITH WHAT?
HOW AND WITH WHAT?
Once the above points have been identified, it is possible to define how it will be done, with which resources from the community, and with which external resources it will be possible to define the actions to be taken. This can be part of a process, starting with some proposals and some resources and, little by little, widening the scope of the project.
WHERE AND WHAT?
WHERE AND WHAT?
As already indicated, a territory is a product of a network of social actors (individuals, formal and non-formal opinion leaders, civil society organizations, institutions, etc.), but it is also characterized as a geographical space with one or more languages, organizational processes, social functions, conflicts, and their solutions, cultural interests, etc. (Massimi 2001). With the team, we must identify this geographical space.
EXPERIENCES
Understanding social vulnerabilities associated with drugs on the territory
Argentina
(Convivir)
Portugal
(PORI-ICAD)
Spain
(Regional Government of Andalusia)
Spain
(ABD)
Bahamas
(Act Now)
Colombia
(Surgir)
Colombia
(Viviendo)
Brazil
(NuPop)
Brazil
(Empodera)
Brazil
(Casa da Sopa)
Costa Rica
(Home of Hope)
Costa Rica
(FPU)
Chile
(La Caleta)
Guatemala
(MOJOCA)
Honduras
(CRSL)
Jamaica
(NCDA)
Mexico
(PrevenCasa)
Peru
(CESPEJU)
Dominican Republic (COIN)
Trinidad and Tobago
(ASMA)
Uruguay
(Aleros)
Uruguay
(Encare)
Networks
Establishing Global Strengths
The work within networks, whether local, regional, or international, can offer significant advantages: they allow for greater coordination and collaboration between different actors, resources mobilisation, knowledge sharing, the possibility of incorporating diversity of perspectives, a platform for policy influence, scalability, and outreach. In short, participation in networks is not only a practical collaboration strategy but also an effective way to elevate and strengthen the voice and action of territories on the national and international stage.
Some examples of successful experiences of this networked work have been found. Without being an exhaustive list, we mention:
CADCA - Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America
It represents more than 5,000 community coalitions involving people from key sectors such as schools, law enforcement, youth, parents, health care, media, tribal communities, and others. They have trained more than 14,000 prevention professionals, and their members work to create safe, healthy communities in every U.S. state and territory and in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay).
CVC - Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition
CVC, based in Jamaica, is a coalition of community leaders and NGOs of different Caribbean countries that advocate for the cause and provide services.
These groups of particular vulnerability include men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, people with disabilities, people who use substances, orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV, migrant populations, incarcerated and released prisoners, and young people in especially difficult circumstances. These groups are subject to high levels of stigma and discrimination. They also lack the social and legal protection afforded to other members of society and are socially excluded because their behavior may be considered delinquent, deviant, or criminal.
FCD - Federació Catalana de Drogodependències - Catalan Drug Addiction Federation.
Born in 1985, when the organizations in the sector decided to join forces and pool the knowledge acquired in their daily work of caring for people with problematic drug use and their families. The aim of the union was to develop their vision, to be the interlocutor with the public administrations and thus guarantee quality and adapted assistance, working together with the community, with co-responsibility in the face of this phenomenon. The FCD is made up of 26 entities working in a coordinated and articulated network that operates as an inter-sectoral service system, which is considered part of a broader whole, allowing for a comprehensive approach to work. It is the articulation of integrated local and territorial networks of health and social services. Objectives are shared, and an active, complementary, co-responsible, and proactive presence is maintained, with the aim of influencing, escorting, and being accompanied.
LANPUD - Latin America and Caribbean Network of People Using Drugs
It functions as a regional support and reference point to manage, influence, promote, and influence public policies and programs, laws, and cultural paradigms for the elimination of stigmatization, discrimination, and criminalization of people who use psychoactive substances, through the promotion and defense of their human, social, cultural, economic and political rights. Its member countries are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia and Uruguay.
RAISSS - AMERICAN NETWORK OF ORGANIZATIONS FOR INTERVENTION IN SITUATIONS OF SOCIAL SUFFERING
It is a transnational network of networks of civil society organizations from 15 Latin American countries working with the same transdisciplinary ECO² metamodel. RAISSS is a network of national networks that brings together social organizations that intervene in situations of social suffering (drugs, HIV, prisons, street situations, vulnerable children, etc.) in local communities. RAISSS has been formed as a commitment to reduce various situations of social suffering in Latin American countries, and to achieve this, it has developed processes of:
- Training and research in action
- Creation of bridges between practice and science
- Advocacy in public policies
- Articulation of network organizations
- Articulation with other networks
RIMUF - INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF WOMEN RELATIVES OF PEOPLE DEPRIVED OF THEIR LIBERTY
It is a network that operates in several countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Catalonia, Mexico, and Ecuador). It accompanies persons deprived of their liberty and their families. Although each local context has its own particularities, women and their families experience the same difficulties regardless of language, country, culture, or religion. The organizations thus recognize that they can accompany us from a distance and support each other in the face of the impact that imprisonment has on the lives of the families of Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL).
COMMUNITY BANKS
collective community economy models
Community banks and other models of community-based collective economy development in Latin America represent initiatives that seek to strengthen the economic autonomy of local communities. These models focus on collaboration and solidarity, allowing financial resources to circulate internally for the benefit of residents. Community banks, in particular, stand out for their focus on financial inclusion and the active participation of community members in economic decision-making. These practices not only promote economic sustainability but also strengthen social ties and foster local empowerment.
Banco Palmas (Brazil)
Based in Fortaleza, Brazil. Banco Palmas is a benchmark in the creation of community financial systems, being the first community development bank. It focuses on local development, offering financial services to low-income residents and promoting local economic projects.
Banesco (Venezuela)
It is a commercial bank in Venezuela, has implemented community banking initiatives to support local projects and small businesses. It works in partnership with communities to promote economic development.
Bankomunal (Argentina)
Of the Asociación Civil Andar de Argentina: this small Argentinean organization, managed by people with disabilities, offers and facilitates loans to its members and shares and commits to what each member decides to undertake.
CONCLUSION
Although the journey is challenging, empowered communities demonstrate that by working together, they can overcome adversities and generate sustainable changes. The benefits of this approach for society and government are manifold.
In line with this, we propose that governments and communities implement these recommendations, prioritizing public policies that cover drugs, territories, and social vulnerability and incorporate human rights dimensions, development, and gender equity.
