8 July 2024
World Drug Report 2024 has recently highlighted that young people remain the group most vulnerable to using drugs, reporting a higher level of drug use than do adults. In many countries, drug use levels among young people are higher today than in past generations. In fact, in 2021, young people aged 15–16 had a global annual prevalence of cannabis use of 5.34 percent, compared with 4.3 percent of the population aged 15–64. Drug use is also particularly harmful to young people. In some regions, young people are more severely affected by substance use disorder: in Africa, 70 per cent of people receiving drug treatment are below the age of 35.
The report also set forth some foundational policy implications including providing educational opportunities, vocational skills training and other prevention, treatment and care services in line with UNODC-WHO International Standards for Drug Use Prevention and UNODC-WHO International Standards for the Treatment of Drug use Disorders for children and youth that are at risk of using drugs or have been exposed to drugs at a very young age.
In line with the pressing need around the world, UNODC has been promoting a worldwide coordinated response to children and young adolescents at risk of using drugs and affected by drug use dependence through its global programme on ‘Preventing Illicit Drug Use and Treating Drug Use Disorders for Children and Adolescents’. This global programme focuses on providing technical assistance to national and local authorities working to address the needs of children and young adolescents within a planned system of integrated and mutually reinforcing activities, rather than a series of fragmented and competing initiatives. Further, this includes the implementation of CHILD (Child Intervention for Living Drug-free) curriculum, a six-course curriculum that was developed to reduce and prevent future drug use in children between the ages of 4-14 years old.
To expand this work, and with the support of U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), in 2024 UNODC re-launches the CHILD Implementation Grants to strengthen the capacity of civil society to deliver services for children and young adolescents at risk of using drugs. As the initial Call for Proposals launched in 2022 was not able to be finalized, and with many organizations being still interested, the Call for Proposals is hereby relaunched. Organizations that have submitted an application during the initial Call for Proposals launched in 2022, are kindly requested to update/adjust the documentation and re-submit their applications in line with the current version of the Call for Proposals.
The CHILD Implementation Grants Programme seeks to provide funding support to not-for-profit organisations from low- and middle-income countries working in the area of drug use prevention and treatment, care and rehabilitation, having staff trained on the CHILD curriculum and implementing activities for children and young adolescents actively using or at risk of using drugs. This call for proposal builds on past CHILD capacity-building initiatives in South American, African, and Asian countries and is therefore limited to not-for-profit organizations from these three continents.
Apply now!
Applications close on Tuesday, 27 August, 23:59 CEST.
Please see below for further information, call for proposals and application forms.
