Under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova, the Council of Europe, through the Pompidou Group Technical Assistance and Support (TA-S) project, supported the organisation of the second workshop dedicated to the development of the National Drugs and Addictions Strategy for 2026–2032, held on 12 and 13 March in Chisinau.

Over one and a half days, the national Working Group - comprising representatives from national authorities, civil society and international partners - met to discuss and refine the draft of the future Strategy. The discussions were supported by the Pompidou Group national and international experts.

Participants also had the opportunity to review good practices from Czechia, Ireland, Lithuania, Portugal, and Romania, covering both the development of national policy frameworks and a range of interventions covering different aspects of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, as well as supply reduction. Particular attention was given to mainstreaming gender equality, protection of children, youth and vulnerable groups, data collection, as well as establishing effective mechanisms for national coordination, multisectoral co-operation, monitoring and evaluation and financing of the new policy document and its future Action Plans.

“”(…) we need to create a strategic framework, laws and regulations that underpin our activities in the drugs and addiction field and allocate the necessary budget for their implementation,” stated Angela Paraschiv, State Secretary of the Ministry of Health.

The Ministry of Interior, key partner in the Strategy development, stressed the importance of coordinated institutional response to the complex drug and addiction issues, and that of the shift of organised crime activities through the online environments.