BRIEF
ASIAN CENTER FOR DRUG POLICY Co-Create. Deploy. Disseminate
08 October 2018
ACDP Consortium MOU Signing
1. What is the event all about?
On October 8, 2018, six organizations will sign a three-year Memorandum of Understanding that signifies their agreement to formally come together as a consortium named ASIAN CENTER FOR DRUG POLICY, and the organizations’ authorized representatives shall comprise the Conveners’ group. The six co-conveners will be responsible for bringing stakeholders to collaboratively address issues, problems, and opportunities within the complex milieu of the multi-factorial drug problem.
2. What is the Asian Center for Drug Policy: A Consortium?
The ACDP is (currently) a loose grouping of mostly academic institutions, civil society, and private organizations that have been at the forefront of the efforts at providing solutions to the complex situation brought about by the unexpected surge in drug surrenderers since 2016 when the Philippine war on drugs was launched. The consortium is an attempt to defragment the many efforts to address the problem, and the local and national drug policies, providing space for collaborative work in a highly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment.
The ACDP envisions itself as a coalition of academic institutions, civil society organizations, government agencies and private organizations that promote objective and open dialogue on the effectiveness, direction, and content of drug policies at the national and regional levels. It shall collaboratively address issues, problems, and opportunities through co-creation, deployment, and dissemination of evidence-based, comprehensive, adaptive and integrated solutions to the complex and multi-factorial problem of substance abuse -- in particular illicit drug use -- in the Philippines and Asia.
3. Parties to the MOU
The co-convenors are the following, each of which has been implementing training, research and other programs even prior to 2016, especially on community-based drug recovery and support services:
·Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP)
o Signatory: Atty. Engelbert C. Caronan, Jr., MNSA (President and CEO)
·Galing Pook Academy (Galing Pook);
o Signatory: Edicio de la Torre, MA (Dean)
·University of the Philippines Manila TWG on Drug Addiction (UP Manila);
o Signatory: Armando Crisostomo, MD (Chair, TWG on Drug Addiction)
·Ateneo de Manila University, Department of Psychology (Ateneo Psych);
o Signatory: Maria Isabel Melgar, PhD, RP, CCP
·Ateneo de Manila University, School of Government (ASOG)
o Signatory: Dr. Ronald Mendoza, PhD, MPA, MS (Dean)
·Civika Asian Development Academy (Civika);
o Signatory: Elmer S. Soriano, MD, MPA (President)
The following are organizations that support or are involved in the discussion spaces but not / not yet signing the MOU: Lost Sheep Initiatives (CBCP); Dangerous Drugs Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program (DOH); Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB); World Health Organization (WHO, Philippines Office); United Nations Office of Drug and Crime (UNODC, Philippines Office); Integrative Competitive Intelligence Asia (ICI Asia), Palawan Provincial Government, and DOH MIMAROPA.
4. Contact Details
The Secretariat of the Consortium is hosted at the 7F Development Academy of the Philippines, DAP Building in Ortigas Center, Pasig City (Phone number: 02.631.0921 to 30 local 106, look for Ms. Marie Legaspi, head of the secretariat).
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