HIT

We're really excited to announce our next speaker Jawanza James Williams!

Jawanza is a Black, radical Q***r, abolitionist, socialist, feminist, Christian engaged in social critique and grassroots social movement building. He has worked with the grassroots membership, harm-reduction organization VOCAL-NY for 13 years.

Book your place today!

https://2026.hit.org.uk/speaker/jawanza-james-williams/

Wonderful news that will save lives!

Approval granted for Ireland’s first supervised drug injection facility to become permanent The centre officially opened in December 2024 after it secured a temporary 18-month planning permission.

It's time to announce our next HIT Hot Topics Speaker, Kojo Koram! If you've never had the chance to hear him speak you've really been missing out. Find his bio and book your place over on the conference website today! https://2026.hit.org.uk/speaker/kojo-koram/

We are so happy to be able to announce the first of our speakers, Sarah Whipple!

Sarah Whipple is the Community Engagement Co-Director at Yuba Harm Reduction Collective, a worker-led syringe service program serving a county in rural Northern California. She is also a community organiser for the Sacramento S*x Workers Outreach Project, a Steering Committee Member of the California Syringe Exchange Programs Network, and a Board Member for the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness. In 2024, Sarah received the Jude Byrne Emerging Female Leader Award from the International Network of People Who Use Drugs and the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users.

https://2026.hit.org.uk/speaker/sarah-whipple/

Our friends at Metzineres are at risk of losing their building, please help by signing their petition and in any other ways you have

Wonderful news from HRI

We are thrilled to announce that Catherine Cook has been appointed as the Executive Director of Harm Reduction International (HRI)!

Having served as interim ED since April 2025, Catherine brings nearly two decades of expertise to the role. From conceptualising our flagship project, the Global State of Harm Reduction, to holding governments accountable for their spending, her leadership is exactly what our movement needs during these challenging times.

Catherine Cook said of her appointment: “It is an honour and a privilege to lead Harm Reduction International and its exceptional team at such a pivotal and politically challenging moment. With services closures, funding declines and civic space shrinking under resurgent punitive drug policies, HRI’s role in holding governments and donors to account is more vital than ever. I am committed to ensuring that HRI continues to support a strong harm reduction movement through our advocacy, by convening diverse partners and generating the evidence needed to challenge punitive systems and advance health, dignity and justice.”

https://hri.global/news/catherinecook-executive-director/