For a long time, online services for vulnerable groups have been in the works. The drug trade has gone online. There is now online dating, and counseling has begun to develop online in some regional locations. Unprecedently, the 2020 pandemic imposed severe restrictions on all organizations providing medical and social services including harm reduction services, forcing them all to switch to providing services remotely. The content of this workshop is developed by Youth RISE international and it is driven towards equipping young people who use drugs on how to develop and implement online-based harm reduction service provision. The workshop will show practical examples of peer-led online harm reduction service provision implemented by youth in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, and Europe: as well as staging role plays to reinforce learning among the workshop participants.

The learning of this workshop will include;
i. Understand the basics of online peer-to-peer consultations in harm reduction
ii. How to provide peer-to-peer support online
iii. Gaining the trust of the client by working online
iv. Using resources needed for peer counselors online
v. How to refer people to specialists
vi. What to consider about safety when working online
vii. Development and implementation lessons from young people who use drugs who have implemented online harm reduction service provision in their region

At the end of this workshop, participants should have;
i. confidence in training other young key populations in their region on online harm reduction service provision
ii. equipped with skills and knowledge on implementation of online harm reduction service provision
iii. developed and implement an online harm reduction service provision of their choice