Community led networking and advocacy for the elimination of discrimination of women who use drugs in Europe

Background
The United Nations host a human rights mechanism monitored by the Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to hold each other accountable for promoting gender equality and the elimination of discrimination. Civil society from the reporting country produce and submit shadow reports to hold their Government’s accountable. 
WWUD from Portugal  submitted a shadow report with technical support from Women’s Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN) in 2022.  This  experience was documented in EuroNPUD’s technical resource called “Women who Use Drugs Engage with the CEDAW - Portuguese Report”.
Method
EuroNPUD’s Women’s Team is building on its campaign and mobilisation efforts to support groups of WWUD in different countries to engage and hold their Governments accountable. 
A webinar was used to brief other women drug user activists and to gather and record the expertise of WHRIN, INPUD and EuroNPUD as a standing resource for women looking to use the CEDAW mechanism. Further coaching of women who use drugs from specific countries reporting to CEDAW will support the strategic use of the CEDAW mechanism.
Results
CEDAW provides an important opportunity for women who use drugs to engage and hold their Governments accountable. 
Women who use drugs have demonstrated their ability to document and present their experiences and to use this as a powerful advocacy tool, making use of community solidarity to disseminate learning about making use of CEDAW.
Women drug user activists have shown how the CEDAW engagement with Governments in Geneva can lead to ongoing advocacy opportunities at a country. 
Deploying a consistent model of shadow reporting that provides cross cutting information about the experience of women who use drugs that is documented through UN processes and received by Governments. 
Challenges:
Women who use drugs face additional level of risk and discrimination if they take a public stand and expose themselves to advocate for community needs. Women drug user activists in Europe are often involved in small drug user groups with no or restricted funding and taking part in CEDAW processes can be demanding when resources are restricted and the needs of community members are more acute and demanding.
Conclusion
CEDAW provides a unique opportunity for a marginalised group of women to record, document and advocate around their experiences within a UN mechanism allowing them to engage their government. EuroNPUD is setting its use of CEDAW within a wider mobilisation and advocacy strategy. This is key to ensuring community connectedness and the resulting legitimacy of the shadow report. It is also key to follow up advocacy at a country level that the women drug user activist are able to demonstrate wider community engagement. This ensures that CEDAW can be an effective advocacy forum as part of a wider strategy to defend the rights and promote the health of WWUD in the EU and its neighbouring countries.