Home - Diensten - Onderzoek - Get Organized - Part 1
1. Mission, vision and aims
“A vague sense of discontentment is not enough to set up a users’ organization and keep it going.”
(Trautmann, 1994)
A users’ organization usually does not start on paper. You want to do something and have no time for philosophical ruminations. But no matter how trying the situation might be, once the decision has been made to launch a change, it can’t hurt to take a moment to stop and think. There are a couple of reasons to do so.[i] Various organizations, the police, individuals, the press and potential funding agencies all have to be convinced there is a reason why there should be a users’ group. There has to be a clear story to convince them. In addition, there has to be a group of supporters and staff members, and they want to know exactly what they are working towards. And in the course of time, you yourselves will need an evaluation: Which of the goals have been attained?
In many countries, a special interest group for drug users is viewed as a criminal organization. This is why so many users’ groups are formally self-help organizations with the emphasis on the help they provide. The fact that in day-to-day practice, they also promote the political and social rights of drug users is not cited emphatically in the Articles of Association. In other words, it can be important to formulate the mission, vision and aims very cautiously.
To insure your users’
organization’s right to exist, the mission, vision and aims need to be
very clear.[ii]
In this first part of the manual, the meaning of these concepts is
illustrated using examples from day-to-day practice.
What and whose interests do you want to represent? Why do their interests need to be promoted and how are you planning to do so? The answers to these questions are your mission.
The users’ organizations in the cities Voronezh and Nikolaev put the emphasis on self-help. The people who started them are employed as outreach workers at local harm reduction projects and supplement the facilities there with group sessions focused on giving each other emotional support and help in coping with drug use. The group in Voronezh also publishes its own prevention and information material as alternative for the material of the established agencies, which is not very popular.
Barely anyone goes to the needle exchange in Zagreb. There is so much of a taboo that drug users do not want to be seen anywhere in its vicinity. The facility simply doesn’t work. An ex-user started distributing needles at spots where drug users congregate. A comparable situation was observed in Kislovodsk.
In Poltava the emphasis is on self-help. It is the users of psychedelic substances who support each other in coping with drug-related complaints, provide information about harmful effects, and monitor the use of these substances. One unusual aspect is the recreational nature of the group. Its members stimulate a positive approach to the effects of psychedelic substances by organizing evenings of poetry and music and jointly analyzing their trips.
Now that the distribution of methadone has been introduced in the cities Vilnius and Sofia, drug users no longer have to score heroin and have some time and energy left for other things. The harm reduction project does not provide any facilities, so drug users have taken the initiative to organize their own activities. They also serve an important function in helping ex-users find jobs. The group in Vilnius is now mainly focused on advocacy work
Once the mission has been formulated, the next point to think about is your vision. What would the ideal society for drug users be like in say ten years? To have a mission means making choices: What are the priorities?
Regardless of the emphasis of their activities, all the organizations work towards the acceptance of drug users by the public health care and justice systems, their relatives, the rest of society and the world of politics. Once drug use is no longer taboo, there will be more chances to help and the harm drug use causes to the health of the user will be reduced. At any rate, that is the idea. Many organizations are working towards a dialogue between drug users and the rest of society. This kind of dialogue would automatically make the criminal justice approach a thing of the past.
Another main item in formulating your vision is to make choices. What aims are realistic to fight for in the near future and what items we leave aside for the moment? Solely fighting for decriminalization of all drugs seems to be a very unrealistic vision, especially in countries were drug users are regarded still as criminals. Working according to a list of priorities is necessary
A bit has been said above about the aims many of the organizations have in mind. We would like to list the most important ones. Most of the aims are related.
· Improving the quality and accessibility of the harm reduction projects
· Decriminalizing drug use
· Ending the drug use taboo
· Creating political and social rights for drug users.
The sub-aims are the tools needed to reach the main aims. As you will see, they consist of concrete activities and everyday work.
· Improving the quality and accessibility of harm reduction projects
Outreach work (needle exchange, guidance towards care, and the distribution of brochures on safe drug use) and self-help are important for all the organizations. Several of them distribute alternative brochures because the material of the established agencies is not effective. The harm reduction project in Odessa consults the users’ organization about formulating information brochures. In Omsk there are special self-help groups for HIV positive drug users. The idea is that since this group has a double stigma to cope with, extra attention is called for.
The groups in Sofia are part of the Methadone Coalition, which coordinates the nation-wide distribution. In Vilnius, the high threshold of the methadone distribution is consistently debated. The users’ organization tries to eliminate the distrust about distribution on the part of drug users and their families, and in the supervising committee it debates the strict admission criteria.
The organization in Sofia is working towards a walk-in centre for homeless drug users (the city is to pay half the expenses). In Zagreb and Koper, the users’ organizations are active regarding shelters and walk-in centers. The organization in Koper manages a large shelter for ex-convicts and people discharged from drug rehabilitation clinics. The woman who started the organization in Zagreb has a walk-in centre at her home.
· Decriminalizing drug use
The Moscow organization has contact with the Ministry responsible for the drug policy. The War on Drugs won’t stop, but policy-makers are now aware of the influence their policy exerts on the daily lives of drug users. The Vilnius organization is working on a brochure at the moment [1] to inform officials and politicians about the less repressive drug policy in European Union countries.
· Ending the drug use taboo
Humorous campaigns are organized in Odessa, Omsk, Sofia and Moscow to draw attention to the plight of drug users and create good will. Odessa had a Clean City campaign to clean up needles and plant trees. There was a comparable one in Moscow on AIDS Memorial Day.
The organization in Vilnius holds evenings for addicts’ parents, helps drug users find jobs and enables them to take computer courses. A Moscow organization tries to enable drug users to fit into society better by raising their cultural level. They make it clear what anti-social behaviour is unacceptable in public and introduce drug users to higher culture by taking them to museums and concerts.
· Political and social rights for drug users
Some organizations criticize the police treatment of drug users, and their efforts are sometimes successful. Outreach workers in Odessa are no longer searched at work. IDUMS conducted a questionnaire among 304 drug users about violations of their rights. This investigation was presented last August in a popular Lithuanian weekly magazine "Veidas". Also they produced a booklet about this issue. This booklet teaches drug users how to behave in detention, search, inquest cases, how to defend their rights. Some IDUMS members take part in court trials, as public defenders. Up to now, they took part in 8 courts and in all cases they reached that imprisonment was not inflicted.
Some organizations guide drug users towards free legal aid and provide information about their rights if they are arrested and detained.
TIPS in formulating the mission, vision and aims
· It is no secret what can be improved about the position of drug users in your own city. After all, you did not get the idea of setting up a special interest group out of the blue. But it is still a good idea to have as many drug users as possible involved at this first stage. This is how commitment is created and support is gathered and you will know for sure you are not only promoting the interests of a small group of people. This is why you should formulate a short questionnaire and approach people and ask them to fill it in. Or organize a meeting where drug users can have a say.i
The users’ organization in Moscow inventoried the most important problems of drug users by using a questionnaire. They also asked whether or not they were willing to do something themselves about solving their problems. A total of two hundred questionnaires were filled in. The problems were divided into four fields: legislation, health, public opinion and the drug economy. The activities of the organization were based on the results. A coordinator was appointed for each of the fields.
· It is a good idea to also present the mission and vision that have already been formulated to a larger group of drug users.
· Work together with others to list the most important aims on the basis of the information that has been gathered. Specify your priorities.
· By now you have given rise to certain expectations on the part of the drug users. Make it clear to them that changes are going to take time. And perhaps that it won’t be possible for you to devote your efforts to certain issues because they do not bear enough of a link to the mission that has been formulated.
· Keep the drug users who are your target group informed about everything that happens and make it clear to them that you are just taking the first step towards actually exerting any influence on the policy.