On International Recovery Day, the World Federation Against Drugs celebrates people in recovery and the efforts of individuals, families, communities and organisations supporting recovery worldwide. Today is an opportunity to acknowledge the work being done and highlight the importance of ensuring that recovery is recognised, supported, and sustained.

Recovery is a long-term process that requires continued effort, resources, and support. Progress is not always linear, and there is no single pathway. Each person’s experience is shaped by their individual circumstances, as well as the relationships, resources, and environments surrounding them. Supporting recovery therefore means ensuring access to appropriate treatment, continued care and opportunities to rebuild relationships and participate in society.

An important part of this is strengthening recovery capital: the personal, social, and community resources that people can draw upon to initiate and sustain recovery. These include individual strengths, supportive relationships, and access to services and opportunities within the community (Best & Hennessy, 2025). Understanding recovery capital can help identify the resources people need and the conditions that can support them throughout recovery.

Throughout September, WFAD, together with the Recovered Users Network (RUN), has highlighted different aspects of recovery. Through our Recovery Around the World campaign, we have shared examples of community-based and peer-led support, as well as initiatives creating pathways into employment and social participation. These initiatives demonstrate the important role of civil society in strengthening recovery support and creating opportunities for people to reconnect with their communities.

We have also explored how recovery capital can take different forms throughout life. Research on recovery capital among adolescents highlights the importance of recognising age-specific needs, including school engagement, family and peer relationships, and access to recovery-supportive communities (Hennessy, Cristello & Kelly, 2019; Hennessy & Ivers, 2026). Recognising these differences is important for ensuring that recovery support responds to people’s needs and circumstances at different stages of life.

Recovery does not happen in isolation. While individuals, families, and civil society organisations play important roles, their efforts need to be supported by policies and institutions that recognise recovery as a long-term process. This means embedding recovery support within healthcare, education, housing, employment, and social services, ensuring that support extends beyond treatment and into everyday life.

Institutional commitment is essential to ensuring that recovery is recognised and supported across different areas of society. During Recovery Month, we highlighted recent legislation in Italy introducing a therapeutic alternative to conventional prison detention for eligible people with drug or alcohol dependence who participate in rehabilitation programmes (ANSA, 2026). This provides one example of how treatment and rehabilitation can be incorporated into institutional frameworks. More broadly, supporting long-term recovery requires policies that connect treatment, continued care, and opportunities for social inclusion, backed by adequate resources and cooperation across sectors.

Building recovery-supportive societies also requires addressing stigma and discrimination. People seeking treatment and those in recovery should not face additional barriers to healthcare, employment, housing, or social inclusion. Reducing stigma requires challenging discriminatory practices, promoting social inclusion, and recognising the value of lived experience. People with lived experience should have meaningful opportunities to contribute to the development of the services and policies that affect them.

Supporting long-term recovery requires coordinated action across society. Evidence-based and person-centred approaches, informed by lived experience, should guide the development of treatment and recovery services. At the same time, community initiatives need sustained institutional support to ensure that their work can continue and reach those who need it.

On International Recovery Day, WFAD calls for continued investment in accessible, evidence-based treatment, and long-term recovery support, stronger efforts to reduce stigma, and greater integration of recovery into policies and institutions. Together, we must work towards societies where people have the resources, opportunities and support they need to initiate and sustain recovery. As many stories have already shown, recovery IS possible, but no one should have to navigate it alone.

References

ANSA. (2026, 29 July). Law to enable addicts to serve jail terms under house arrest approved.

Best, D. & Hennessy, E. A. (eds.) (2025). The Handbook of Recovery Capital: Understanding the Science and Practice. Bristol University Press.

Hennessy, E. A., Cristello, J. V. & Kelly, J. F. (2019). RCAM: A proposed model of recovery capital for adolescents. Addiction Research & Theory, 27(5), 429–436.

Hennessy, E. A. & Ivers, J.-H. H. (2026). Editorial: Understanding recovery capital for addiction recovery in adolescence and young adulthood. Frontiers in Adolescent Medicine, 4, 1937519.