In March 2024, the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), in its 67th session, voted for the first time in its history to introduce the concept of harm reduction in a Resolution. A year prior to that, the United Nations Human Rights Council had supported harm reduction in its documents. National and local governments have been providing an array of services to people who use drugs for decades. It was time that the UN recognised the importance of harm reduction.

The Global State of Harm Reduction 2024 reminds us that harm reduction is an effective means to save lives, protect human rights and improve public health. Harm reduction is also one of the most cost-effective ways to do so. In Colombia, we receive the latest edition of this report with cautious optimism. We celebrate international normative advances in harm reduction, the inclusion of harm reduction in 108 countries’ policies, and the increase, albeit minimally, in the diversity of services at national level. Yet, we are fully aware of the challenges ahead.

At the United Nations in Vienna, the epicenter of global drug policy, a backlash on harm reduction based on the denialism of science is looming ahead. In a post-truth world, the principle of scientific-based evidence that United Nations Member States so dearly embraced in a number of CND official documents appears to have become hollow. So many national policies that make harm reduction available continue to criminalise and stigmatise people who use drugs, or lack commitment to cultural change towards people who use drugs.

Contradictions produce ineffective public policy here, there and everywhere, and, when the matter in question is drug use, ineffectiveness endangers lives. The tightening of public finances at the national level leads to funding shortcuts for services whose beneficiaries are vulnerable populations that are distant from the priorities of national political agendas. Or governments provide funding only to public health providers, keeping community organisations from becoming first responders in harm reduction services. Harm reduction is more than a health intervention.

The lack of participation of people who use drugs, their families and their communities in the formulation and implementation of policies is concerning. People who use drugs are full citizens with the right to establish a dialogue around their needs, their expectations and the decision making around them.

Despite our efforts, Colombia remains in debt on so many of these fronts. Thirty years after personal use has been decriminalised, people who use drugs still face police action, human rights violations and suffer discrimination. The first drug consumption room opened in Colombia in 2023, yet naxolone can still only be provided by medical professionals, and funding for NGOs involved in drug checking and other services remains low. Still, if we speak honestly, that is because our commitment to harm reduction is firm.

In 2025, the Harm Reduction International Conference will be held in Bogotá, Colombia. We invite governments, national and local, civil society, researchers, and, of course, people who use drugs to join forces to ensure that harm reduction becomes a priority for all.

Laura Gil
Ambassador at large for global drug policy,
Republic of Colombia