Neftaly: Empowering Communities to Advocate for Harm Reduction
Building the Voice, Power, and Capacity of People Who Use Drugs
At the heart of any effective harm reduction response lies a simple truth: people who use drugs are experts in their own lives and essential partners in shaping the services that affect them. Yet too often, they are excluded from decision-making processes and face stigma, criminalization, and neglect.
Neftaly is committed to changing this by investing in the leadership, skills, and advocacy capacity of the community of people who use drugs. Our goal is to ensure they can meaningfully advocate for the availability, accessibility, and sustainability of harm reduction services that meet their real needs—safely, respectfully, and effectively.
Our Vision
A world where people who use drugs are not only beneficiaries of services but powerful advocates who drive policy change, shape service delivery, and hold systems accountable.
Key Objectives
1. Capacity Building for Advocacy and Leadership
We deliver structured training programs to strengthen knowledge and skills in:
- Harm reduction principles and practices
- Policy analysis and advocacy strategies
- Human rights and legal literacy
- Public speaking, media engagement, and community organizing
2. Supporting Community-Led Organizations
Neftaly provides technical assistance and mentorship to networks and organizations led by people who use drugs. We help build strong governance systems, sustainable funding models, and effective advocacy platforms.
3. Creating Safe Spaces for Dialogue
We convene community forums, town halls, and peer-learning exchanges where people who use drugs can engage with policymakers, service providers, and donors on equal footing.
4. Promoting Meaningful Involvement in Policy Processes
We advocate for the inclusion of people who use drugs in all stages of harm reduction policy and program development—from national strategy design to service delivery and monitoring.
5. Documenting Voices and Impact
Through community-led research, storytelling, and monitoring, Neftaly supports people who use drugs to generate data and evidence that demonstrate the gaps, needs, and successes in harm reduction programming.
Why This Matters
- Community-led advocacy works. It leads to better services, increased trust, and more sustainable outcomes.
- Harm reduction saves lives. But it must be informed by those most affected to be truly effective.
- Inclusion is a right. People who use drugs deserve dignity, voice, and meaningful representation.
Impact in Motion
- Trained over 200 peer advocates in harm reduction advocacy across Southern Africa
- Supported the establishment of three new drug user networks advocating at local and national levels
- Partnered with community-led organizations to co-author shadow reports for UN human rights reviews
- Enabled peer-led dialogues that influenced policy shifts in harm reduction funding allocations