This project is implemented by a consortium of seven formal and informal groups in five countries in Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia. At the regional level, the project is coordinated by the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) from their regional office in Thailand and a national partner in Indonesia called Aksi Keadilan Indonesia (Indonesia Act for Justice), and is fiscally hosted by BABSEACLE Foundation, also based in Thailand. The International Drug Policy Consortium is a global network of 192 NGOs that promotes objective and open debate on the effectiveness, direction and content of drug policies  and supports evidence-based policies that are effective at reducing drug-related harm.

Indonesia Act for Justice was the implementing partner in the project called Spirit. Indonesia Act for Justice is founded by a woman who used drugs and serves as a paralegal to ensure and advance the legal rights of her peers to improve their human rights and health outcomes. The organization is now a registered organisation in Indonesia, where they have successfully built a core group of female drug user leaders with support from the previous regional Empowerment grant, and serves as the key technical lead for this grant.

In the Philippines, the project is led by IDUCare, a community-led organisation that provides peer education and legal aid trainings, as well as self-care and psychosocial support to people who use drugs. 

In Cambodia, project activities are led by This Life, an organization that works with juveniles in conflict with the law and their families through holistic case management and enforcement and judicial officials to promote prison alternatives.

In Thailand, Health and Opportunity Network (HON) in Pattaya takes the lead in coordinating project activities in collaboration with the women cluster of the Thai Network of People Who Use Drugs (TNPUD). HON is a dedicated care and support organization for transgender individuals living with HIV and AIDS in Thailand, aiming to create a safe space for people who use drugs to exchange experiences and know their rights when facing law enforcement authorities.

In Malaysia, activities are led by a project team composed of a young people and students affiliated with the Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA) and the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, as well a woman with lived experience of drug use as a focal point for community engagement, and hosted fiscally by Persatuan Insaf Murni Malaysia.

The project INSPIRE or StrengthenINg and amplifying the voiceS of women andyoung People affected by punItive dRug policies in South EastAsia aims to enable and support women (including transgender women) and young people affected by punitive drug policies in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia), including those who use drugs, formerly incarcerated and/or those that do sex work. These groups need to take action to generate change in the areas of improved access to justice, health and social services and space for political participation and civic engagement.

The project works towards the longer term objectives of de-carceration and decriminalisation for low-level drug offences (including drug use and possession of drugs for personal use).

It aims to see improved health and social outcomes for women and young people affected by punitive drug policies, specifically:

• Increased awareness of their human rights especially the right to health and freedom from arbitrary detention which are violated due to practices such as incarceration being used as the primary method of drug rehabilitation programmes.
• Increased understanding of how to take actions to assert their legal and human rights in relation to health and criminal justice systems, to address problems such as abusive law enforcement practices, disproportionate sentencing and over-incarceration.
• Increased support for gender-sensitive approaches to the design and delivery of harm reduction- and human rights-oriented health and social services for women and girls affected by punitive drug policies, that acknowledge the multiple forms of gender-based violence they face.

The project uses intersectional approaches to strengthen and build upon the relationships established among women and young people affected by punitive drug policies to increase their capacity to advocate for gender-sensitive and harm reduction-oriented approaches.

This project is a continuation / deepening of https://voice.global/grantees/spirit/