Penal Reform International (PRI): Meaningful participation of people with lived experience in the EU and UN spaces is not a “nice extra” – it is the only way to make drug and prison policies genuinely people‑centred, effective and rooted in the realities of those most affected. For people like me, who have depended on peer‑run harm reduction to literally stay alive, receive treatment and stay connected to the community, this is not an abstract principle but the fabric of everyday life.

From being spoken about to speaking for ourselves

In many regional and international spaces, discussions still too often happen about people who use drugs, about people in prison, rather than with us. Entering these spaces as someone with lived experience of drug use, contact with criminal justice systems, and navigation of frequently hostile services, I am acutely aware of both the progress that has been made and the fragility of the space that has been created.

When I share stories of friends lost to overdose or preventable infections, I am not “adding colour” to a policy debate; I am filling in what neat indicators leave out. Hearing lived experience directly changes the “temperature” in the room: officials who are used to speaking in technical language suddenly start asking grounded questions.

Like the research highlighted in other PRI blogs, my experience confirms that co‑producing policy with those most affected does not just feel more ethical – it produces better evidence and more honest conversations about harm.

Representation without tokenism

Over the last years, I have been part of drafting committees, multi‑stakeholder consultations and advocacy spaces linked to the Pompidou Group, the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) of UNAIDS and the Global AIDS Strategy. These moments showed me the difference between being included as a mere token and being engaged as a genuine partner.

Read the full article on Centering lived experience: bridging drug policy and prison reform through peer‑led care