Team & Governance
IDPC's governance model comprises three core elements: the Board of Directors, the Members' Advisory Council and the IDPC Secretariat's Team.
IDPC Secretariat
The IDPC Secretariat comprises staff and consultants based around the world. The Secretariat is responsible for the day-to-day work and management of the organisation, reporting to both the Board and the MAC.
Ann Fordham
Executive Director
Ann Fordham directs the work of IDPC, leading on the coordination and development of the network. Ann was appointed as Executive Director in 2011. She joined IDPC in 2008 as the first coordinator of the network and in that time has grown the network from 32 to more than 195 organisations. Ann leads on international advocacy efforts on drug policy and human rights, specifically calling for reform of laws and policies that have proven ineffective in reducing the scale of the drug market and have negatively impacted marginalised population groups such as people who use drugs and growers of illicit crops. She represents IDPC at international events and works with policy makers and civil society partners around the world to review and shape drug control policies towards more humane, effective approaches that are based in principles of human rights and public health. Ann was the Chair of the Strategic Advisory Group to the United Nations on drug use and HIV from 2017 to 2023. She is regularly invited to comment on global drug policy issues in the media. She has a Masters Degree in Human Rights from Sussex University where she specialised in human rights and harm reduction.
Jamie Bridge
Deputy Director
Jamie is IDPC’s Deputy Director, and joined the Consortium in 2012. He provides key support to the Executive Director in managing secretariat operations and finances, and coordinates the Harm Reduction Consortium project for the Robert Carr Fund. From 2018 to 2023, Jamie was the Chair of the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC), and he has also been Chair of the National Needle Exchange Forum in England. Prior to joining IDPC, Jamie has worked in Geneva as a harm reduction technical expert at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and at Harm Reduction International in London, for whom he has also served as a Trustee. Jamie started his career working in a harm reduction service in the UK, and has an MSc in drug policy and a BSc in psychology.
Chee Wen
IDPC Consultant: Asia
Chee Wen joined IDPC as a consultant for a Southeast Asia regional programme in June 2022. Specializing in programme monitoring and evaluation, she has a background in pharmacy and holds a master's degree in public health from the National University of Singapore. Recently, Chee Wen also led the baseline evaluation for another novel regional programme in Southeast Asia, focusing on drug policy reform and advocating for harm reduction approaches in the region. Her experience extends to providing harm reduction services and conducting numerous implementation research projects involving people who use drugs, incarcerated populations, individuals living with HIV, and refugees. She is based in Malaysia.
Dave Bewley-Taylor
Associate
Dave Bewley-Taylor is Senior Lecturer and Director of the Global Drug Policy Observatory within the College of Arts and Humanities at Swansea University, UK. He teaches a number of courses on various aspects of politics and international relations, including drug policy, and has published widely in both academic and grey literature on a variety of drug policy issues. Dr Bewley-Taylor is currently an Associate Fellow of the Transnational Institute’s Drugs and Democracy Programme and coordinates the Global Drug Policy Observatory. He has previously acted as a consultant for the Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme and was the founding secretary (2006-7) of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy. Since the establishment of IDPC, Dr Bewley-Taylor has published sole and joint authored reports and project managed a number of publication streams, including those involving input from many IDPC members.
Gloria Lai
Regional Director, Asia
Gloria Lai most recently completed a double Masters programme in Public Policy that was split between the Central European University in Budapest and the Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University in The Hague. Prior to that, she worked as a senior policy advisor in the Illicit Drugs Section, Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department and the Law Enforcement Strategy Division, Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. She also holds undergraduate degrees in Law and Asian Studies (Chinese). Gloria leads on IDPC’s Asia regional programme, and is based in Bangkok, Thailand. She previously worked as a senior policy advisor on law enforcement and drugs, and as a lawyer, for the Australian Government.
Juan Fernández Ochoa
Campaigns and Communications Manager
Juan Fernandez Ochoa is Campaigns and Communications Manager at IDPC. He leads on the development of the Support. Don't Punish campaign and works closely with the Head of Research and Communications and volunteers in maintaining and expanding the organisation's communication channels. Before joining IDPC, he was Policy Officer at the Beckley Foundation, carrying out research and overseeing the development of two major reports on drug policy and regulation. He previously held communications roles at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch) and DrugScience (formerly known as ISCD). He holds a double Masters degree in European Studies from the London School of Economics and Sciences Po.
Maria-Goretti Ane
IDPC Consultant: Africa
Maria-Goretti Ane is the Africa Consultant for International Drug Policy Consortium. She represents IDPC at regional events, and also serves as a focal point for IDPC networking and advocacy work in West Africa. Maria-Goretti Ane is a lawyer with special interests in human rights and drug policy reforms. She has previously worked as a Research Assistant and later became a Project Coordinator with the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic, University of Ghana. Maria-Goretti has done numerous human rights volunteer work with people who used drugs and human rights groups including representing drug users who are in conflict with the law.
Marie Nougier
Head of Research and Communications
Since 2008, Marie Nougier has been responsible for the communications and publications work stream of IDPC, and also engages in networking, civil society capacity building activities, and policy advocacy engagement, in particular at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. Marie is also supporting IDPC’s activities in Latin America, where she helps coordinate a project to reduce the incarceration rate of women for drug offences. Marie is also a member of the Core Group of the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs. Her language skills in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese have constituted a valuable asset for the development of a multilingual centre of expertise at IDPC. Marie has a Masters’ Degree in international law, human rights and the law of armed conflicts. Before working at IDPC, she worked on issues related to compulsory drug detention in South East Asia at the World Health Organisation, as well as immigration, racism and police brutality in Western Europe at Amnesty International.
Shannon Mortimer
Senior Finance Officer
Shannon Mortimer joined the IDPC team as the Senior Finance Officer in October 2022, bringing with her 20 years of experience in financial management. Shannon was born and raised in a small village just outside of Durban in South Africa, and moved to England in 2020 with her husband and two children.
Unchisa (Un) Eaimtong
Asia Programme Officer
Un provides administrative, financial and communications support to IDPC’s work in Asia and is keen to broaden her knowledge in policy advocacy. She has prior experience in development programme and refugee assistance with international organisations.
Shrutika Badgujar
IDPC Consultant: Asia
Shrutika is working as a Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Officer (Consultant) for the REFORM project and joined IDPC in March 2023. Previously, she has managed large-scale HIV/AIDS and Drug Resistant TB programmes at the state and national levels in India. Shrutika holds an MA in Public Policy and Management from the University of York, a Master in Social Work (Medical & Psychiatric Social Work) and a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology). She is also associated with NAPUD - Network of Asian Pacific People who use drugs and support in the area of Knowledge Management.
Members' Advisory Council
The MAC is elected by the IDPC membership and is responsible for the strategic direction of the organisation. This larger group also contains two Directors from the Board, to ensure coordination between the two structures. It also comprises designated representatives from the different regional and thematic constituencies within the IDPC network.
Aurélie Plaçais
International organisations (World Coalition Against the Death Penalty)
Aurelie Placais was appointed Executive Director in charge of strategic monitoring and overall coordination of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty in 2016, having joined the organization in 2008 and previously coordinating programs and international advocacy. She is passionate about human rights, international advocacy, positive communication, new technologies and being surrounded by amazing people who work together to build common strategies. Since 2023, she has also been seating on the Finance Sub Committee of Access Now.
Ardhany -Achiel- Suryadarma
South East Asia (Rumah Cemara)
Ardhany Suryadarma, aka Achiel, is a person who uses drugs, with skills in strategy development and extensive experience in community organizer and public policy advocacy – especially on the issues of HIV, harm reduction and drug policy reform in Indonesia. He has more than 15 years of experience integrating program development into Indonesia's evolving decentralized landscape. Achiel currently serves as National Policy Manager at Rumah Cemara. He is also one of the main initiators and driving forces behind the Narcotics Policy Reform Network in Indonesia, and an active member of the Criminal Code Reform Alliance. Achiel has a track record in encouraging community participation, showing political determination, building strong networks, and collaborative endeavours with government and non-government agencies.
Benjamin Tubiana-Rey
Western & South East Europe (Fédération Addiction)
Benjamin has been the Head of Advocacy and Communication for Fédération Addiction, the leading network of addiction professionals in France, since 2021. Before working in drug policy, Benjamin studied project management and international development in Aix-en-Provence and Ottawa. From 2012 to 2017, Benjamin worked in project management for an organisation focused on the history of immigrant communities in Marseille. From 2017 to 2021, he worked in communications for the CGT, France's leading trade union. I have also been involved in various political, union, and LGBT organisations. Benjamin’s work at Fédération Addiction has focused on promoting decriminalisation of drug use in France and advocating for effective prevention, care, and harm reduction services, despite an increasingly adverse political climate.
Bishnu Fueal Sharma
South Asia (Recovering Nepal)
Bishnu Fueal Sharma has worked in the field of substance dependence treatment and recovery, mental health and harm reduction since 1991. He has held progressively responsible positions in various key organizations, both in Nepal and abroad. Bishnu has also worked for the Government of Nepal under the Drug Control Program within the Ministry of Home Affairs early in his career. He currently works for Recovering Nepal, and primarily focuses on psychosocial counselling, drug treatment and harm reduction, including healthcare services relevant to HIV, TB, and hepatitis C as well as advocacy efforts. As a civil society and community leader and activist, he has been actively involved in national policy development and reform advocacy dialogues. He has closely engaged in developing programme strategies from intervention design to implementation, and has contributed to various research projects, generating evidence for action through project processes.
Ganna Dovbakh
Eastern Europe & Central Asia (Eurasian Harm Reduction Association)
Ganna is Executive Director of Eurasian Harm Reduction Association based in Lithuania and uniting 335 organizations and activists from 29 countries of Central, Eastern Europe and Central Asia for a progressive human rights-based drug policy, sustainable funding advocacy, and quality of harm reduction services responding to needs of people who use drugs. Ganna is originally from Ukraine, and holds an MA in Social Psychology and MA in Culture Studies. Ganna is a well-known community trainer, human rights activist and social programs expert. In all projects, she is keen to transform social systems to overcome totalitarian, colonial, and repressive views on people and social care in post-soviet countries, specifically in drug policy.
Lígia Parodi
Networks of People who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD)
Lígia Parodi currently coordinates the Advocacy Team of the European Network of People who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD) and works with the Women's Team - SisterWUD. She is a member of the advisory board of CASO, the Portuguese association of drug users, where she contributes to peer-led harm reduction and human rights initiatives, especially with a focus on women. Graduated in Psychology in 1997, she has worked as a psychologist, trainer and harm reduction practitioner in outreach teams and in prison.
Emily Hughes
Oceania (New Zealand Drug Foundation)
Emily is the Principal Science Advisor at the New Zealand Drug Foundation. Emily has a Masters in Psychology and over 6 years’ experience in health and research working across cognitive research, behavioural interventions, m-health tool development and project management. She has come from a role as a Senior Manager of Public Health and coordinated testing and health outreach during COVID-19. She is a champion for equity within the health system, and for harm reduction approaches.
John Walsh
North America (Washington Office on Latin America)
John Walsh is the Director for Drug Policy and The Andes, for the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). A frequent commentator on drug policy developments in the USA and Latin America, John Walsh has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, National Public Radio, and numerous television and international news outlets. He has worked extensively on the question of drug treaties with relation to cannabis, co-authoring the report “Cannabis Regulation and the UN Drug Treaties: Strategies for Reform”, as well as “Marijuana Legalization is an Opportunity to Modernize International Drug Treaties”. In addition to his congressional testimony, publications and press appearances, John has organized and spoken at numerous US and international conferences. Prior to joining WOLA, he served as Director of Research at Drug Strategies and worked at the Center of Concern on the “Rethinking Bretton Woods Project,” an effort to forge consensus on ideas for reform of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and international trade arrangements. John received a B.A. in Theology from Georgetown University (1986) and an M.A. in Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins University (1997).
Nikolas Vako
Sub-Saharan Africa (UNICO)
Nicolas Vako is the President of the Union Against HIV/Hepatitis/Tuberculosis Co-Infection (UNICO) in Côte d’Ivoire, and is also Executive Director of the Ivorian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (RIP+). He has previously worked as a delegate for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for twenty years, traveling throughout Africa and Eastern Europe. He now represents members of the LGBT community, people who use drugs and sex workers when it comes to the Ivorian media, who continue to not cover these issues sufficiently. He has also actively contributed to the establishment and promotion of a platform for dialogue and partnership with government and development partners, including UN agencies, to promote harm reduction and empowerment.
Paula Aguirre
Latin America and the Caribbean (Elementa)
Paula is a Colombian lawyer with more than 5 years of experience in human rights, drug policy and transitional justice. She participated in the diploma course on drug policy, human rights and health at CIDE in México. She is currently the director of the Elementa office in Colombia.
Róisín Downes
Youth (Students for Sensible Drug Policy)
Róisín Downes is the Executive Director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy International. In her role, she supports chapters in over 30 countries to advocate for drug policies based on human rights & harm reduction from the campus level to both national & international levels. Róisín began her involvement in drug policy in 2015 as a chapter leader, and upon graduation became the Global Program Coordinator of SSDP. In 2020 she founded SSDP International in Vienna, Austria in order to create distributed decision-making processes & to access better funding sources. During the last two years, SSDP International has developed small grants programs & countless training programs to build capacity. Róisín has led 2 delegations of young people to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, giving members from over 13 countries access to high-level decision making. She has also played a key role in the Paradigma Coalition, organising joint side events at the CND and coordinating the Decentralised E-Conference for Support. Don't Punish. Róisín has just begun a level 8 certificate in Global Youth Work & Development Education.
Sandra Bermúdez
Representative of farmers of crops deemed illicit (Viso Mutop)
Sandra Bermúdez is a sociologist and a specialist in regional development planning and administration, with a Master's degree in Interdisciplinary Development Studies and more than 25 years of experience in research, design and implementation of regional development strategies and projects. Sandra is currently leading the Viso Mutop Corporation, a civil society organization that monitors and promotes drug policy reforms (and a member of IDPC). She is also a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). During the last few years, Sandra has been a researcher, consultant and project coordinator on issues of regional development, governance, territorial planning, alternative development, and settlement in the Amazon region. She has worked in international, national and regional public and private institutions such as the Ministry of the Environment, the Amazon Institute for Scientific Research (SINCHI), the Presidential Indigenous Program, the Restrepo Barco Foundation, the National Agency for Overcoming Extreme Poverty, the Department for Social Prosperity, the District Secretariat for Social Integration in Bogotá, and USAID, among others.
Smriti Rana
IDPC Board member - Chair
Smriti Rana has worked extensively in the field of palliative care in India since 2000 and more recently in the South East Asian Region. She advocates for the ‘Principle of Balance’ especially for the Global South, which seeks to ensure safe access to essential opioids for pain relief and other medical and scientific purposes, while preventing inappropriate use and diversion.
Tatyana Sleiman
Middle East and North Africa (Skoun)
Tatyana Sleiman is a mental health and human rights advocate and psychologist. She is the Executive Director of Skoun, a Lebanon-based harm reduction and addiction treatment centre that provides support, protection, and educational services related to drug use and mental health. She has also spent years advocating for the rights of people who use drugs, individuals with mental health ailments, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people living with HIV, and displaced and migrant populations.
Ernestien Jensema
IDPC Board member
Ernestien Jensema is a social anthropologist who has been working on drug policy reform since 2002. In 2008 she joined the Drugs and Democracy Programme at the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam as researcher and project coordinator. Together with her colleagues she advocates for evidence based drug policies guided by the principles of harm reduction and human rights for users and producers.
IDPC Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is appointed to be responsible for the financial and legal oversight of the organisation, in line with the national company and foundation laws. Directors may or may not be IDPC members or individuals working in the field.
Smriti Rana
IDPC Board member - Chair
Smriti Rana has worked extensively in the field of palliative care in India since 2000 and more recently in the South East Asian Region. She advocates for the ‘Principle of Balance’ especially for the Global South, which seeks to ensure safe access to essential opioids for pain relief and other medical and scientific purposes, while preventing inappropriate use and diversion.
Jane Waterman
IDPC Board member
Jane Waterman has over 14 years’ leadership experience working in complex global organizations at senior executive level in Europe and the US, and over 4 years’ experience as an Executive Coach and Consultant. Jane began her career working with VSO and the British Council with assignments in Botswana and Tanzania. She then spent 11 years working for international NGOs focussed on the fight against HIV/AIDS, leading global teams in external relations spanning Europe, the US and Africa. Jane moved to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in 2014, where she served as Senior Vice President Europe, and Executive Director, IRC – UK and lead the development and implementation of IRC’s first Europe Strategy driving income from £100 million to £144 million in three years. Over the last 4 years Jane has worked with not-for-profit organisations in Europe and the US as a consultant on strategy leadership and fundraising, and as an Executive Coach with individuals and teams in the not -for -profit and the private sectors. She is committed as a coach to supporting clients to be the best they can, whilst working with them to develop the resilience and behaviours they need to excel. Jane holds a BA (Hons), an MA in Gender and Development, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, a Post Graduate Certificate in Personal and Business Coaching and a Certificate in Fundraising Management. She is an accredited Coach with the International Coaching Federation (ACC).Ernestien Jensema
IDPC Board member
Ernestien Jensema is a social anthropologist who has been working on drug policy reform since 2002. In 2008 she joined the Drugs and Democracy Programme at the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam as researcher and project coordinator. Together with her colleagues she advocates for evidence based drug policies guided by the principles of harm reduction and human rights for users and producers.
Rupert Markland
IDPC Board Member
Rupert Markland is Managing Director of Rutherglen Consulting Limited and a Chartered Accountant. He has an extensive range of management consulting experience across several businesses including consumer goods, travel and business services. Most recently he has specialised in developing growth strategies in the international education sector.
Tomás A. Chang Pico
IDPC Board member - Vice Chair
Tomás A. Chang Pico is a lawyer specialised in international law, human rights, and international development cooperation. Despite his young age, he has experience in providing technical, strategic, and organisational advice to civil society organisations across Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. He firmly believes that using criminal laws and the use of force by law enforcement authorities should be strictly limited when it comes to drug policies, and that the best alternative to the so-called 'war on drugs' is a radical liberalisation agenda based on human rights, democratic values, and progressive social justice.