From the 2024 Global Conference held in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Author: Boro Goic
The Global Position Paper on Recovery (GPPR) is a collaborative effort, bringing together civil society organizations, institutions, researchers, and individuals engaged in grassroots, national, regional, and global initiatives who have created this paper, committed to advancing the science, practice and policy of addiction recovery.
Our shared goals were to facilitate a cohesive approach and contribute to the development of a unified approach and global position on addiction recovery. Also, for us it was important to unite voices and raise awareness about the significance of investing in recovery organizations and systems and to have commitment to work together to create an international platform for shared addiction recovery practices and policies.
This paper evolved through a collaborative process based on fostering co-production and adopting a coordinated, evidence-based, and comprehensive approach to defining and understanding recovery. The methodology involved a survey distributed to key international groups, networks and actors. This resulted in 49 completed surveys that were analyzed using a thematic approach, reviewed and ratified by a team of senior academics. The initial draft was reviewed and refined by a core group of members at an international meeting in Madrid, in October 2023. Subsequently, it was subjected to rigorous review and disseminated globally for comment and amendment.
Presentation will explain the basis for our future action plan, because we were able to identify a global consensus around the goals and meaning of recovery, conceptualized in three pillars: 1) strengths; 2) barriers; and 3) systems needed to optimize the positive effects of strengths on individuals and communities while simultaneously reducing barriers.