The International Harm Reduction Development Program (IHRD), a part of the Open Society Institute’s (OSI) Public Health Programs, focuses on responding to increasing rates of drug use and HIV infection in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. IHRD’s primary mission is to diminish the individual and social harms associated with drug use, particularly the risk of HIV infection, through innovative measures based on the philosophy of harm reduction. This approach places an emphasis on human rights, common sense, and public health.
In conjunction with the Public Health Programs and Soros foundations, IHRD currently supports more than 200 projects in 23 countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
IHRD advances harm reduction in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union by:
- providing grants and technical support to local direct service providers
- supporting regional, population-based and topic-specific initiatives
- promoting local and regional capacity-building
- creating an enabling public policy atmosphere.
Through the Soros foundations network, multilateral agencies, NGO partnerships, technical experts and local cooperators, IHRD is active in over 20 countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.