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Transition management in Georgia: everyone deserves a second chance!
Everyone deserves a second chance in life. But how can you best support people who were just released from prison? What does quality support look like where it comes to the rehabilitation and resocialisation of inmates, former inmates and probationers? And what level of additional support does a person who uses drugs need in this process? A new project in Georgia intends to set the standard.
In January 2017, the Georgian Center for Information and Counseling on Reproductive Health - TANADGOMA - dived into ‘transition management’. Mainline was proud to partner with them in this important, EU-funded project.
The title of the project in Georgia was ‘Improved opportunities for psycho-social rehabilitation and re-socialization of inmates, former inmates and probationers in Georgia’. This title reflects the main objective of the project perfectly.
In the framework of the EU-supported project, the three, more specific, objectives were:
1. To provide psychosocial and medical rehabilitation and resocialisation of inmates, former inmates and probationers, including people who use drugs through Social Bureaus in Tbilisi and three regions of Georgia (Imereti, Adjara, and Samegrelo);
2. To provide psychosocial rehabilitation and therapeutic support to inmates, former inmates and probationers with a dependency on drugs;
3. Advocacy for improved transition management for inmates, including people who have drug dependence problems.
Mainlines contribution to the project fell under the third objective. We studied best practices in ‘transition management’ in Europe and the Netherlands.
The studies feeded into the Georgian counterpart study, which analyzed the current situation in Georgia. The reports will form the evidence-base for future advocacy efforts.
The Rehabilitation Initiative for Vulnerable Groups (RIVG) in Georgia is the third partner to the project.
Read about the first study results here.
Read the report More than Detention best practices Netherlands (PDF) to learn more about practices in the Netherlands.
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Egypt, Kenya, Marocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Mainline is a partner in the Love Alliance programme. The Love Alliance brings together organisations led by communities most affected by HIV and AIDS.
Kenya
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South Africa
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United Kingdom, Finland, Greece, Estonia, Serbia, Portugal, the Netherlands
Harm reduction approaches are rarely applied in a recreational sports setting. And why would we - sport equals health, right? Not always. Research shows that the use of performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs) is quite common in various recreational sport scenes. And for those people who use frequently and in high doses, harm reduction can make a big difference.
Kenya, South Africa
Young people use drugs - including minors. It's an inconvenient truth: societies usually seek to prevent young people from damaging their health and there is a big taboo on drug use among young kids. But are stigma, legislation or moral judgement keeping young people away from harm reduction services? This project aims to find and improve access to services.
Global
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Iran
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Indonesia
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Vietnam
October 2019 marked the start of a cutting edge new initiative. With the support of Open Society Foundation, Mainline and SCDI in Vietnam are building expertise to support people who use stimulant drugs. The core motivation to do so is the sharp rise in the use of crystal meth in the South Asian region and the lack of a coordinated harm reduction response.
South Africa
Together with activists and peer- and outreach workers in South Africa, Mainline worked on a practical guide about involving peers in harm reduction work.
A MAINLINE-GIZ STUDY
With the support of the Global Partnership on Drug Policies and Development (GPDPD), a project implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, a team of three Mainline researchers conducted a study into effective harm reduction interventions for stimulant users. The study includes a review of the evidence for different harm reduction strategies for stimulants and a detailed description of seven good practices in different world regions.
Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, Tanzania and Vietnam
The Bridging the Gaps programme started its second phase in January 2016 and continued until the end of 2020. The shared goal of the Bridging the Gaps alliance: to improve the health and rights of people who use drugs, sex workers and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
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