Advocacy
Challenging structural injustice and standing beside people who use drugs
Rights, not favours
Advocacy is a core part of UISCE’s work, both in challenging structural injustice and in providing direct support to people who use drugs.
Each year we receive requests for advocacy support from across Ireland, and the issues people face are strikingly consistent: barriers to accessing basic services, exclusion and difficulty in accessing emergency accommodation and housing, and problems with social services, healthcare providers, local authorities, clinics, mental health services and the criminal justice system.
In many instances people are discriminated against, stigmatised and denied their rights because of their background or their drug use.
Three streams of advocacy
Self-advocacy
We support people to advocate for themselves by understanding their rights, knowing how to recognise unfair treatment, and knowing how to address it.
Navigating services
We support people to access services and state agencies and to navigate a journey through them that people tell us can be stressful and at times traumatising.
Structural change
The issues people bring to us are rarely isolated. They are rooted in systemic failures, so we work on the structures as well as the individual case.
What peers told our researchers
Rooted in a structural analysis
This work is underpinned by a structural understanding of inequality and discrimination. The majority of people we work with come from marginalised communities facing discrimination covered by the nine grounds recognised in the Equal Status Act, alongside class-based discrimination and poverty.
Much of the work happens informally, through advice, information and supporting people to navigate systems they are often excluded from. Many people are reluctant to engage in formal complaints processes, fearing repercussions or further exclusion from essential services.
While UISCE remains deeply committed to this work, resources for advocacy around the country are limited. There is a clear need for a national framework for independent, peer-led advocacy for people who use drugs, and UISCE is developing a business plan to address exactly that.
Well for me, it tells you that people who take drugs aren’t stupid. And they can be brought back and taught. And they’re not dead ends, and they’re not just lesser than. They can contribute, if you let them. And if you make the spaces.
Niall, Peer Support Worker
Bringing peer analysis into the room
From the Ground Up
Our position paper on transparency, meaningful representation and community-led responses to Ireland’s drug policy. It argues that reform must be grounded in state-recognised community development principles, not generic “community engagement”, and sets out seven recommendations including ring-fenced core funding for independent organisations and full transparency in consultation processes.
How to Reduce Drug-Related Deaths
Our position paper setting out clear, practical actions to reduce overdose deaths in Ireland and respond to the risks posed by a changing drug market, developed on the back of the 2023 overdose prevention strategy.
Explore our other activities
View all activitiesIf your rights aren’t being respected
We are here to support you, to make sure your voice is heard. Free, confidential advocacy from people who understand.