On September 29th, we, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), Colombo Plan, CICAD, Drug Free America Foundation, and Fourth Wave Foundation, organised a virtual information meeting on the youth forum for substance use prevention.

The session introduced the Youth Forums, which equip youth aged between 18-24 with the science of drug use prevention and the knowledge, skills, and strategies that enable young people to develop an action plan for substance use prevention initiatives and projects in their countries. The curriculum delivered at these youth forums – called Engaging Youth in Prevention – is part of the Universal Prevention Curriculum. It was developed by Colombo Plan and CICAD with the support of INL and peer-reviewed by a panel of international experts through UNODC. During the past years, youth forums have been held in the Caribbean, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, and Asia regions with the most recent conferences held in Abu Dhabi, Trivandrum, and the Bahamas.

During the session, we were joined by four youth leaders who presented their experiences and reflections on their participation at the Forums while they highlighted the gained skills used in projects in their respective countries.