How We Build Our Programme
Without an outstanding programme there would be no conference.
The programme of the Harm Reduction International Conference is mostly abstract-driven. This means that we ask you, our delegates, to submit your best work to be considered for inclusion in our programme. We will put out a call for abstracts in August that will detail the kind of topics that we're looking to focus on and then you have until the end of September to submit your abstract. In October and November, our committees (more on those below) work hard to select abstracts and to build sessions for inclusion in the final programme.
Speakers in our Opening, Closing and three Plenary sessions are all invited. We canvas a large group of partners and allies to set thematic priorities and then seek out exemplary speakers on those themes.
Our Committees
Online Review Committee
The Online Review Committee (ORC) undertakes the considerable task of reviewing over 1000 abstract submissions. As 80% of the programme is driven by abstracts, the HR27 ORC needs to reflect a wide range of experiences with regard to drug use, sex work, age, race/ethnicity, professional background and geographic location, so that our team of reviewers read the submissions through a variety of perspectives.
A call for abstracts is at the very core of each HRI conference and always marks a true start in its planning; the contribution of the ORC helps to ensure the quality of content to be presented at the conference.
Click here to read about and apply to join the Online Review Committee - the deadline for applications is 11 September 2026.
Programme Committee
The Programme Committee (PC) meets over three days in November 2026 to review the abstracts, taking into account the reviews of the ORC, and to build the final programme. Our Programme Committee meeting is mostly online to allow for greater geographic diversity in its makeup. A smaller group of team leaders will meet in Belfast, Northern Ireland to oversee the process. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the PC members, some of whom have to work very odd hours for the duration of the meeting.
Each year, the Programme Committee members are astounded by the high quality of the submissions, and selecting abstracts is extremely difficult.
