{"id":19878,"date":"2025-08-23T18:02:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T17:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=19878"},"modified":"2025-10-21T20:58:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:58:24","slug":"youth-initiative-introducing-new-dapc-grant-funded-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/08\/youth-initiative-introducing-new-dapc-grant-funded-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth Initiative – Introducing New DAPC Grant-Funded Projects!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by UNODC – 20 August 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For over three decades, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has supported non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in low- and middle-income countries implement substance use prevention projects that benefit youth around the world. This support has been made possible through the ongoing contributions of the Drug Abuse Prevention Centre (DAPC) in Japan since 1994.\u00a0The DAPC Grants Programme enables civil society organizations to initiate and scale up prevention activities for youth and with youth aligned with the\u00a0UNODC\/WHO International Standards on Drug Use Prevention. The grants also empower young people to take active roles in supporting the health and wellbeing of their peers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the 2024 Call for Proposals, which attracted more than 500 applications (more than double the previous year\u2019s submissions), UNODC selected four new DAPC grant recipients through a multi-phased competitive process. Grantees from Cambodia, Iraq, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe will soon begin implementing their projects to support youth through locally grounded prevention efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Youth Aspire Development Trust<\/strong>, based in Zimbabwe, will be implementing their SPARK (Substance Prevention and Awareness for Resilient Knowledgeable Communities) project.\u00a0 The grantee will engage with schools and communities in the Chitungwiza region of Zimbabwe targeting students, teachers and parents. Teachers from local schools will receive training on classroom-based prevention strategies, early detection of risky behaviours, and ways to foster positive school climates. Students will also be selected as peer leaders and be equipped with life skills, refusal techniques, and resilience training to lead cascade sessions and positively influence other peers. Complementing these efforts, the grantee will also engage parents to strengthen their role in creating protective home environments for their family. And finally, to expand the reach of the programme, trained teachers and parents will conduct cascade trainings within schools and communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC)\u00a0<\/strong>in Sri Lanka will implement the project \u201cPeer Power: Youth-Driven Substance Use Prevention and Resilience Building\u201d in Colombo. Youth facilitators will be trained to mentor younger peer leaders, who will deliver interactive, skills-based workshops in local communities and schools with the support of ADIC\u2019s resource persons. The project includes a baseline survey, capacity building for youth, creation of a tailored action plan, peer-to-peer education sessions, community and family engagement activities, and social media campaigns developed by youth. By combining in-person outreach with digital platforms, the project aims to enhance youth resilience and decision-making, empower and educate youth leaders, and strengthen community support for such initiatives.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Cambodia, the grantee\u00a0Mith Samlanh<\/strong>\u00a0will implement its \u201cPeer Prevention: A Youth-Driven Project Against Drugs\u201d project by combining national and community-level initiatives. A national multimedia campaign, developed together with youth, will raise awareness about the risks of drug use through videos and prevention messages, reaching young people across social media platforms. In parallel, in-person awareness sessions will engage directly with communities in vulnerable areas of Phnom Penh, helping to bridge the digital divide and reach those who may not be active online. The grantee will also develop and integrate a Drug Prevention module into Mith Samlanh\u2019s existing soft skills training for at-risk individuals, using evidence-informed methods to build resilience and enhance life skills. Additionally, a cascade Training of Trainers modality will strengthen local capacity by preparing teachers, social workers, youth champions, and local authorities to deliver prevention messaging and trainings to support youth and families across Phnom Penh.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Iraq, the\u00a0Bestan Child Society (Bustan Association)\u00a0<\/strong>will implement the \u201cBuilding Community Power to Prevent Youth Drug Use\u201d project. The grantee will engage with community influencers such as teachers, sports coaches, youth leaders, and journalists to strengthen the local prevention capacity. Trained as prevention champions, they will integrate drug awareness and life skills into sports, arts, and peer-led activities that will be conducted in the target communities. Youth will also take part as informal peer educators through the 3S Initiative (Sport\u2013Smile\u2013Sleep), which will promote resilience and healthy lifestyles in young people.\u00a0 Also, youth co-created awareness materials will further extend the project\u2019s reach through social media and community events.<\/span><\/p>\n

UNODC is pleased to support these four new diverse projects under the\u00a0DAPC Grants Programme. Each initiative reflects a strong commitment to prevention aligned with the Standards, youth engagement, and community-level action \u2014 key elements in building healthier lifestyles and safer environments for young people to grow and thrive in. For more information about the DAPC grants projects and the programme, please visit the\u00a0Youth Initiative\u00a0website and stay up to date through the UNODC PTRS social media channels\u00a0 (X,\u00a0LinkedIn,\u00a0Facebook).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.unodc.org\/unodc\/prevention\/youth-initiative\/youth-action\/2025\/August\/introducing-new-dapc-grant-funded-projects.html<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by UNODC – 20 August 2025 For over three decades, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has supported non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in low- and middle-income countries implement substance use prevention projects that benefit youth around the world. This support has been made possible through the ongoing contributions of the Drug Abuse Prevention […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140,32,68,40,36,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-countries","category-crime-violence-prison","category-drug-use-various-effects","category-prevention-research","category-treatment-addiction","category-youth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20136,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19878\/revisions\/20136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}