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Harm reduction was introduced in many countries of Central and Eastern Europe after 1995. The need for communication and sharing of experience and ideas was obvious. In April 1997, in Paris, delegates of the International Harm Reduction Conference from Central and Eastern Europe decided to figure out a way to unite harm reductionists in the region.
Immediately after the Paris conference some of the delegates discussed the idea with Jean Paul Grund, then the director of IHRD. With lightning speed, a founding meeting was set up in June 1997 in Warsaw, Poland. The 18 participants of the meeting formed a mission statement and elected Steering Committee of 9 members. Outstanding individuals in the harm reduction field from many countries attended that meeting. Grund, Glenn Backes, Marek Beniowski, Karl Dehne, Judit Honti, Lev Khodakevich, Dmitri Ostrowski, and others full of great ideas met in a hot, cramped room, excitedly talking all at once and trying to come to consensus. By the end of the three days, the network and its internet list server with its initial name, Central and Eastern European Harm Reduction Network (CEEHRN), was born.
In June 2000, a new Steering Committee was elected for the period of two years. All network members took part in the elections. In September 2000, Dr Emilis Subata was elected as Coordinator of the network and replaced Dr Judit Honti who was Coordinator in 1997-2000. He was followed in this position by Anya Sarang, Catalina Iliuta, Kaleria Lavrova, Dasha Ocheret and current Coordinator David Otiashvili.
In 2001, the Steering Committee established a stable Secretariat which runs the technical and administrative activities of the network. Lithuania was selected as a transit and rather small country between Central Europe and the territory of the former Soviet Union.
In 2005, the CEEHRN Secretariat was granted a Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
In 2007, CEEHRN changed its name to the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN) in order to reflect its work in Central Asia. |
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