The objective of this conference was to present and evaluate the overall results and outcomes of the project and discuss about possible future plans and activities.
The opening ceremony was held by representatives of the Iranian RC (Mrs. Mansooreh Bagheri, Director General, International Operation and Humanitarian Programs; Dr. Habibi, Head of IRCS Youth Organization).
Dr. Massimo Barra, who welcomed the participants and explained objectives and expected outcomes of the training
Mrs. Nadia Gasbarrini, Project coordinator, gave a general overview of the project, recalling objectives, implemented activities and expected outcomes and each partner organization made a presentation of all the activities conducted by the trained volunteers, including estimates of all people reached.
After all the reporting, the draft of the training manual was presented and a copy was given to all participants for review and comments.
On Friday, 19 February the morning was dedicated to a round table discussion about the role of RC/RC Societies in the response to drug abuse at national and international level.
Two representatives from Pakistan and Tajikistan RC NSs were invited to the meeting, in order to disseminate the project results among other organizations in the region and discuss with them possible ways of cooperation and replication of the project.
The rest of the day was dedicated to group work, with the aim to collect feedback from participants on the following points:
- Overall evaluation of the project
- Best practices/experiences to be replicated
- Plans for future joint actions and projects
On the last day 21 of February, a round table was organized with representatives of other local organizations, with the aim to exchange experiences and information on the work done in the field of substance abuse and strengthen networking and cooperation.
General consensus was reached on the need to improve the collaboration between RC and other NGOs, combining the experience of these organization in managing drug abuse treatment and harm reduction programmes with the huge resource of RC in terms of youth volunteers.