IOGT-NTO: Policy Work and Community Actions for a Drug-Free Society from Mundo Madou

IOGT-NTO is a Swedish organization which aims to reduce issues caused by alcohol and drugs from policies and prevention campaigns to social work. Through international activities, they offer advice and support to people affected by alcohol and drug addiction and promote a healthy and drug-free lifestyle. They also raise the issue in the political debate. IOGT-NTO’s team at Mundo Madou works on policies on the EU level; «At the moment, we are working on strengthening labelling requirements for alcoholic beverages » explains Emil Juslin, European Policy Officer. “Consumers should have the right to know what ingredients are in wine products and beers, as well as their nutrition value, just like any other products”

Organizing community actions such as support groups and safe space for people struggling with addiction or for their relatives is more efficient when everybody can attend physically. Physical encounters are obviously essential for social workers at IOGT-NTO. On a political level, contact-based meetings are also quite important to lead important touchpoints with politicians: « we need to establish good contact with decision-makers. Attending conferences or seminars, makes it way easier to meet and to have quality discussions with politicians. ».

IOGT-NTO team also quite appreciates the meeting spaces in Mundo Madou: «We invite a lot of organizations to Mundo Madou, it is a nice atmosphere to have a meeting; we can host informal meetings at Tandem and formal meetings in the meeting rooms; ». Being at the office allows also to express good ideas more easily in group thanks to the whiteboard and the meeting spaces.