In many countries, spending on punitive drug control measures vastly exceeds investment in harm reduction, raising questions in relation to the impact and effectiveness of state funding.

Harm Reduction International worked with researchers, civil society and community experts to design these tools to help advocates assess national harm reduction funding, and help them advocate for harm reduction investment at the country level.

Assessing harm reduction investment: The harm reduction investment assessment guide provides a template for assessing expenditure on priority harm reduction interventions. It also includes a set of questions for key stakeholders, designed to provide contextual information on the sustainability of harm reduction financing at the country level. This tool has have been used by harm reduction advocates to assess harm reduction investment in countries in Asia, the European Union, and the Middle East and North Africa.

Assessing drug law enforcement expenditure: The drug law enforcement expenditure assessment guide provides a methodology for local researchers and advocates to analyse government expenditure on drug control and law enforcement. It also includes a survey designed to capture information on the cost of drug control and law enforcement in a country. The survey includes questions on the money spent on drug law enforcement, human rights violations related to drug law enforcement, and barriers to effective harm reduction service provision, among many others.

Guides for both tools contain step-by-step instructions for use.