Abou Mere
Chairperson (India)
Abou is the Regional Director of Kripa Foundation, an organization working on Drug use, HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Tuberculosis and is based in the North-Eastern part of India. He has more than two decades of working experience in the field of Drugs and HIV. Abou is the founding member of the Indian Drug Users’ Forum (IDUF) and has served as its President from 2012 till 2018. He still serves the IDUF as President for the current period 2020-22. IDUF got a legal identity under his leadership and got recognized as the National Drug Users’ Network in India.
aboumere2024@gmail.com
Shahed Ibne Obaed (Choton)Vice Chairperson (Bangladesh)
Choton is the Ex-President of the Network of People Who Use Drugs (NPUD) in Bangladesh. He comes with 20 years of Professional experience working in multi-sectoral developments and organizations including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria (GFATM) programmes. Choton comes with specific skills on social mobility and advocacy to increase social tolerance, for creating a conducive environment for people who use drugs in Bangladesh.
chotton007@yahoo.com
Johann Pancreatius C Nadela
General Secretary (The Philippines)
Panki is the Founder and Executive Director of IDUCARE, the only organisation in Cebu City, that caters to the various health needs of people who use drugs. Johann comes with 8 years of experience working as a Drug User Rights Advocate on access to Harm Reduction services and decriminalization of drug use in The Philippines since 2013.
johannnadela@gmail.com
Ujjwal KarmacharyaTreasurer (Nepal)
One of the prominent community leaders in the country, the General Secretary of Recovering Nepal, and the Chief Executive Officer of SPARSHA Nepal – an organization known for its one-stop model for HIV and Hepatitis services, and one of the organizations to initiate community-based ART Centre through NGO in 2005. His journey as a leader has been long in different roles and capacities. Hisexpertise lies in policy formulation and advocacy for People Who Use/Inject Drugs to promote their quality of life.He has been part of many National level Technical Working Groups including Harm Reduction. He has served as a general member as well as the Executive Committee Member in the Country Coordination Mechanism (CCM) for Global Fund Grant Cycle 6 and 7 consecutively, striving for change to promote health and human rights in Nepal.
ujjwal.karmacharya@gmail.com
Sonam C SherpaWoman Representative (South Asia - Nepal)
Ms. Sonam Choenzom Sherpa is a female activist, a leader serving for Women Drug Users who has been advocating for the voice of voiceless in Nepal. She was the former member of CCM and currently working as a Team Leader at Recovering Nepal Women (RN Women) a National Network of Women Who Use/ Inject Drugs in Nepal. First network indeed in South-East asia. Its aim is to influence the policies that improve the quality of lives of women who use drugs, reinstate their rights and create a supportive environment also promotes the provision of HIV and gender sensitive Harm Reduction Services, ending violence, stigma and discrimination. She has been working in this community for more than a decade (since 2008). Location: Kathmandu, Nepal
