Our goal is to decrease the risks associated with drug use and sexual activity; the possible negative consequences of these behaviours (at an individual or communitarian level) can be reduced through adequate interventions. Additionally, we focus on the research of more effective ways to protect our beneficiaries – sex workers, people who use drugs and others who are in a vulnerable social situation – as well as the communities they live in. Our main concern is to promote health and defend the human rights of those we work with, through projects designed with their active involvement – in order to guarantee the well-being and health of the participants.
How we develop our activities
Lines of Intervention
APDES promotes the well-being of individuals and encourages healthier life-styles in several contexts, such as schools, local communities and prisons, resorting to intervention strategies properly adapted to the social and demographic characteristics, social dynamics and contexts of each target-group.
Since life-styles are a set of acquired habits in different areas such as eating, sexuality and physical exercise, health education resorts to strategies that enable the development of healthier habits, a better capacity to adapt to different life contexts and better mental health. APDES intends to promote an extensive knowledge on health protective factors and to facilitate the development of attitudes and behaviours that allow the individual to better structure his/her daily routine, as well as to improve his/her physical, mental and social well-being.
APDES recognises the vital role of employment as a socialising mechanism that contributes to the definition of individuals in society. With particular focus on people in vulnerable social situations – unemployed, inmates, drug users, etc. – we develop actions that promote employment, social reintegration and civic participation. For the more vulnerable populations, the access to a job with fair and adapted conditions is later reflected in the identity, social links activation and physical/mental health levels, thus contributing for sustainable social reintegration processes. It is therefore urgent to involve several participants in this process, namely employers, decision-makers and local communities. Promoting inclusion through employment is a big challenge to the current stage of development of capitalist societies, characterised by increasing unemployment, unstable employment relations and working poverty.
This line of intervention focuses on the work developed in partnership with southern countries, through projects oriented to interventions, consultancy, action-training and advocacy. We cooperate with communities interested in the implementation of interventions aimed at the integrated development in several areas: health education, citizenship education, organisational capacity building and building development of infra-structures. We are both holders and promoters of an open view on what we consider to be the development of people, perceiving it as a process of emancipation of individuals and groups. This way, the respect for communities and traditional authorities and their collaboration with local social movements, are considered to be vital for the success of an effective cooperation.