Africa Policy Week Speaker Interviews
Here are some of the interviews done during Africa Policy Week 2023. We are producing more video content that will be added here and on our YouTube Channel. Featured here are Zintle Tsholwana, Gunasekarn Rengswamy, Andrew Scheibe, Klaas Mtshweni, Aditia Taslim, Wangari Kimemia and Jason Eligh.
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Participant Video
A video-making workshop run by Drug Reporter with funding from IDPC was run in the week prior to APW. This video by Michael Tetteh is the first output from one of the trainees.
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Shaun Shelly
Introduction to APW23 Shaun Shelly is the Drug Policy, Advocacy, and Human Rights lead at TBHIV Care and the founder of the SA Drug Policy events. He brings academic, programmatic, research, clinical, and lived experience together into a 360 degree-view of the complex issues that inform our understanding and response to the use of certain drugs and the people that use them. He has published more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.
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Zintle Tsholwana
Zintle Tsholwana serves as the Advocacy Officer for Sisonke National Movement for Sex Workers and is an Alternate Sector Leader on the Gauteng Sex Work Sector. She coordinates a health and human rights project under the Gauteng AIDS Council and was the 2022 National Coordinator of South African grantees through the Love Alliance grant. A committed feminist, Zintle advocates for the decriminalization of sex work and champions human rights for vulnerable populations.
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Gunasekarn Rengswamy
Gunasekaran Rengaswamy is a Regional Programme Officer in HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care in Southern Africa, based in Pretoria. With a Commonwealth Fellowship and 30+ years of experience, he has worked with the UN and NGOs across South Asia, West Africa, and the Middle East. He specializes in programming for drug users and prison populations. Previously, he served as a Regional Advisor for HIV and AIDS in West Africa and South Asia.
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Andrew Scheibe
Dr Andrew Scheibe is a medical doctor by training who works in key population programmes and policy in South Africa and the region. His work focuses on the intersections between infectious diseases, determinants of health, and rights, with a particular focus on substance use and harm reduction. He is a technical advisor for TB HIV Care, a researcher at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Family Medicine and does consultancy work for the South African and the International Networks of People Who Use Drugs.
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Klaas Mtshweni
Klaas is a professional, committed, organised and determined individual with focused work experience within the healthcare, substance use, civil society and psychosocial sectors. Klaas has exceptional knowledge and experience managing harm reduction projects through the application of evidence-based practices. This is inclusive of psychosocial, advocacy and biomedical project components.
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Aditia Taslim
Aditia serves as the Advocacy Officer for the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD) and has lived with HIV for 20 years. Involved in harm reduction since its early days in Indonesia in 2005, he initially worked undercover to distribute safe-use supplies. Currently, he advocates for the rights of drug users at global platforms like the UN and the Global Fund, translating global commitments into community-focused language and actions.
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Wangari Kimemia
Wangari Kimemia is a Kenyan who works as an international consultant in research, training and advocacy in harm reduction and drug policy. She holds Bachelor of Education, Master of Arts and is pursuing PhD in Sociology. She is the Advocacy and Capacity Building Officer with Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN). She is the author of the Eastern and Southern African Chapter of the Global State of Harm Reduction 2022 by Harm Reduction International.
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Jason Eligh
Jason Eligh is a senior expert and the thematic lead on drugs for the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime. He is an illicit drugs trade and policy reform specialist focused on understanding the characteristics and structures of drug trade environments, particularly as these factors relate to the emergence, growth and resilience of illicit markets.
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