A three-day program to strengthen global cooperation in the fight against addiction began Wednesday at the Turkish Green Crescent Society’s headquarters in Istanbul.

The 8th International Capacity Building Program was organized by the International Federation of Green Crescent (IFGC), an umbrella organization for Country Green Crescents founded under the leadership of Türkiye’s Green Crescent.

The program, taking place from April 30 to May 2, will bring together around 120 participants from 60 countries.

Over three days, representatives from various global organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Eurocare will collaborate to develop a joint strategy on addiction prevention.

On the first day of the event, Mehmet Dinc, president of the Turkish Green Crescent Society, noted a rise in both chemical and behavioral addictions.

"Along with Green Crescents in countries that share our mission, we must extinguish this global crisis," he said.

Referring to the statistics, Dinc added: "We lose more (lives) to addiction each year than to wars."

He also thanked members of the Country Green Crescents, saying: "You are heroes without capes, saving not just bodies but souls."

The UNODC's World Drug Report in 2024, based on 2022 data, reveals that 292 million people worldwide used drugs in 2022, a 20% increase over the past decade.

Cannabis was the most used drug, followed by opioids, amphetamines, cocaine, and ecstasy.

The report also highlights that “transnational organized crime groups” have taken control of tri-border areas such as the Golden Triangle, taking advantage of limited governance and expanding from drug trafficking into wildlife trafficking, illegal resource extraction, and financial fraud.

The second keynote speaker, Audi Kongila Muhammad, president of the Green Crescent Health Development Initiative from the Nigeria Green Crescent, said: "COVID-19 separated us, but now we are meeting in person at this event to share knowledge and fight against this 'monster' called addiction."

Esbjorn Hornberg, executive director of Movendi International and chair of the Istanbul Initiative, emphasized the role of cooperation in the sustainable prevention of addictions worldwide.

“Prevention of addictions must be systematic, inclusive, and sustainable,” he said.

Hornberg also stressed the need to resist commercialization and advocate for more public health institutions, adding that “a unified international movement for prevention” is essential.

The International Federation of Green Crescent (IFGC), founded in 2016 and based in Istanbul, gathers 97 Country Green Crescents under one umbrella to combat addictions worldwide.

Established in 1920, the Turkish Green Crescent is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that aims to empower youth and adults with factual information about drugs to help them make informed decisions against addictions such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and gambling. It operates through 24 branches and 64 representatives across Türkiye.