The ISSDP Board is delighted to introduce two new initiatives to increase global south engagement in the Society. These were announced at the 2025 ISSDP Annual General Meeting and received strong support.
The new initiatives are motivated by the Society’s recognition that 1) the traditional focus of most drug policy scholarship is on the global north, and 2) the vital importance of supporting and building more global south scholarship and research leaders to create more effective and just drug policy.
Our first initiative is the creation of an ISSDP subcommittee for Global South Engagement. It will be led by ISSDP Board Member Gideon Lasco (Philippines) and supported by Rosario Queirolo (Uruguay) and Bisi Akintoye (UK). If you would like to be involved, please contact Gideon at pdlasco@up.edu.ph.
Our second initiative is to provide 25 one-year free ISSDP memberships to Early Career Researchers (ECR) from the global south. We define ECR as someone who is studying or within five years of their last degree (e.g. PhD). We define Global South as anyone who lives in or was born in Africa, Asia or Latin America (including all Caribbean countries).
The EOI phase has now ended. Thanks so much to everyone who joined. Stay tuned for updates and initiatives with our new ISSDP Global South members.
