2023-12-31-accounts

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Company number: 3223265 Charity number: 1117375

Harm Reduction International

Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 December 2023

Harm Reduction International

For the year ended 31 December 2023

Reference and administrative information ...................................................................................... 1 Trustees’ annual report .................................................................................................................. 2 Independent auditor’s report ....................................................................................................... 14 Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account) ................... 18 Balance sheet ............................................................................................................................... 19 Statement of cash flows ................................................................................................................ 20 Notes to the financial statements ................................................................................................. 21

Harm Reduction International

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 December 2023

Company number 3223265 Country of incorporation England & Wales Charity number 1117375 Country of registration England & Wales

Registered office and operational address 61 Mansell Street, London E1 8AN, United Kingdom

Trustees Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

Lucy Burns Chair John Porter Treasurer Kojo Koram Secretary (until September 2023) Alexander Stevens Olga Belyaeva (until September 2023) Oluseyi Kehinde Raminta Stuikyte Fany Pineda Miranda (appointed September 2023) William Pick (appointed September 2023) Key management Naomi Burke-Shyne, Executive Director personnel Anne Taiwo, Finance Manager Colleen Daniels, Deputy Director Bankers NatWest Aintree Black Bull, Cedar Rd, Liverpool L9 0EG Solicitors Bates Wells 10 Queen St Pl, London EC4R 1BE Auditor Sayer Vincent LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor 110 Golden Lane LONDON EC1Y 0TG

Harm Reduction International

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

The trustees present their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023.

Reference and administrative information set out on page 1 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association, the requirements of a directors’ report as required under company law, and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

Objectives and activities

Purposes and aims

Our vision is a world in which drug policies uphold dignity, health and rights. We use data and advocacy to promote harm reduction and drug policy reform. We show how rights-based, evidence-informed responses to drugs contribute to healthier, safer societies, and why investing in harm reduction makes sense.

The objectives of Harm Reduction International (HRI) are to promote evidence-based and human rights compliant public health policy and practice by:

a) undertaking research into drug use, drug related harm and evidence-based public health responses to drug use, drug enforcement and public health,
b)undertaking research on human rights issues relating to drug use, drug enforcement and public health,
c) promoting policies and strategies to reduce the negative health and social consequences associated with drug use,
d)educating the public, national and international agencies involved in reducing the negative health and social consequences associated with drug use,
e) disseminating and sharing information with national and international agencies involved in reducing the negative health and social consequences associated with drug use, and
f) supporting the involvement of civil society, including the perspectives of people who use drugs within national and international policy and decision-making on drug related issues.

In 2023 Harm Reduction International undertook the following main activities to further the charity’s purpose:

a) convening at Harm Reduction International events for learning, sharing and activism, and building solidarity within the harm reduction and drug policy movements.
b)fostering new allyship with health and social justice movements, and collaborating to promote shared advocacy aims
c) using data, analysis and advocacy to double the amount of funding available for harm reduction and drug policy reform.
d)strengthening technical and normative support for harm reduction through strategic engagement at international level and partnerships at regional and national level.

Harm Reduction International

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

e) using international human rights standards to challenge the use of drug control to justify rights violations, and promoting the rights of marginalised groups.
f) documenting and challenging the use of drug control where it has a disproportionately negative impact on Black, Brown, Indigenous and ethnic minority individuals and communities.

The trustees review the aims, objectives and activities of the charity each year. This report looks at what the charity has achieved and the outcomes of its work in the reporting period. The trustees report the success of each key activity and the benefits the charity has brought to those groups of people that it is set up to help. The review also helps the trustees ensure the charity's aims, objectives and activities remained focused on its stated purposes.

The trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set.

In line with HRI’s 2022-2025 strategic plan, HRI’s objectives and activities are designed to contribute to three key outcomes:

Outcome 1: The harm reduction and drug policy reform movements are characterised by solidarity and equity, informed by evidence, and allied with health and social justice movements.
Outcome 2: Harm reduction approaches and services are widely accepted, community-led and sustainably funded.
Outcome 3: Drug policy is aligned with international human rights standards and advances equity, racial and social justice.

HRI focuses on these outcomes to advance our overarching vision of a world in which drug policies uphold dignity, health and rights. We organise our work across four teams: conference, public health and social policy, sustainable financing, and human rights and justice. HRI’s resources – staff and financial – are divided relatively evenly across teams.

Our conference team convenes more than 1000 delegates from more than 80 countries around the world via the biennial Harm Reduction International Conference. The conference supports the growth of the movement, catalyses new ideas through exchange, and supports acceptance of harm reduction approaches. Hosted in a different city every two years, the HRI Conference has been held in almost every region of the world since the first conference in Liverpool in 1990. In 2020 and 2021, the conference team organised virtual convenings - Constellations: An Online Festival on Drugs and Harm Reduction.

Our public health and social policy team conducts original research and analysis to track developments in harm reduction and ensure that people who use drugs have access to the health and social services they need. We also engage on technical matters with community and civil society partners, governments and UN agencies.

Harm Reduction International

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

Our sustainable financing team works to increase funding for harm reduction services around the world by monitoring the funding landscapes for harm reduction, collecting and communicating evidence, providing strategic analysis and developing tools for advocates. We engage in strategic processes and dialogues with the major international funders of harm reduction, emphasising the catalytic effect of funding community-led work and advocacy.

Our human rights and justice team monitors rights abuses committed globally in the name of drug control, and advocates to promote the human rights of people who use drugs and their communities. We advance this work through advocacy with UN agencies, governments and human rights mechanisms, in partnership with community and civil society partners.

Partnership work is critical to Harm Reduction International; from time to time, this involves making sub-grants to national partners with shared objectives. HRI is guided by its Sub-Granting Policy (2022) and the HRI Finance Manual for such processes, which supports implementation of our commitment to fairness, integrity, transparency and value for money in sub-granting. HRI's preferred approach is to run an open tender process, from time-to-time our sub-grants are the result of grant applications developed with partners. Harm Reduction International made more than £300,000 in sub-grants in 2023, these are captured under ‘project expenses’ in Note 5 of the accounts.

HRI’s cross-cutting commitments (articulated in our 2022-2025 strategic plan) are advanced through all our work streams. The cross-cutting commitments are:

to centre the expertise and leadership of the community of people who use drugs, reflecting on power dynamics within our partnerships, and structurally (re)balance power;
to highlight the negative impact of criminalisation and the compounding effects of intersectional vulnerabilities; specifically, how drug policy interacts with gender, ethnicity, race, poverty and socioeconomic status.

Achievements and performance

All HRI’s activities contribute towards reducing the negative health, social and legal impacts of drug use and drug policy; and are undertaken to further Harm Reduction International’s charitable purposes for the public benefit.

HRI hosted the Harm Reduction International Conference in Melbourne, Australia from 16-19 April 2023 (HR23). HRI conferences have helped to put harm reduction on the map and to coordinate advances, innovations, evidence, and advocacy in this field for more than three decades. The conference theme, Strength in Solidarity, highlighted the importance of our strength – as people, as a community, as a global movement – in sticking together.

Over four days of presentations, workshops, films, and networking events, the conference continued its history of providing a dynamic forum to share the latest research and discussions. HR23 brought together over 1,000 people from around the world and awarded over 60 scholarships to people from low- and middle-income countries, Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Harm Reduction International

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

Islander people and people who use drugs. The conference showcased HRI’s commitment to the re-structuring of unequal power dynamics and recognition of the relationship between racism, colonialism, global health and international drug control.

The conference attracted a diverse group of delegates and speakers including front-line health workers, academics, researchers, policy makers, politicians, UN representatives, people who use drugs, sex workers and people working in criminal justice. HRI secured an excellent line-up of plenary speakers, including: The Right Honourable Helen Clark, Former Prime Minister of Aotearoa New Zealand; His Excellency Kgalema Motlanthe, Former President of South Africa; The Hon. Gabrielle Williams, MP, Minister for Mental Health of Victoria; The Hon. Rachel Stephen-Smith, MLA, Minister for Health of the Australian Capital Territory; The Hon. Rose Jackson, MLC, Minister for Mental Health of New South Wales; The Honourable Geoff Gallop, Former Premier of Western Australia; and, Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp. Media coverage of HR23 was the most extensive for at least 15 years, with wide-ranging media coverage on the national, regional, and international level and dozens of pieces across online and print media, radio and podcasts, and leading media outlets in Australia and Southeast Asia.

The conference was co-hosted by local organisations, Harm Reduction Victoria (HRVic), the Australian Injecting & Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL), the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) and the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU).

HRI continued its leadership in the area of public health , publishing global mapping on the availability of harm reduction services and highlighting the disproportionate impact of punitive drug laws on the health and rights of Indigenous peoples, people of African descent, women, children, and young people. In partnership with the World Health Organization, HRI hosts the Viral Hepatitis Data Repository; this data supports the efforts of HRI and experts around the world to strengthen access to viral hepatitis prevention, treatment and care for people who use drugs.

In 2023 HRI launched the Divest/Invest campaign , calling on governments and donors to divest from the unjust drug war and invest in programmes that prioritise community, health and justice. The campaign builds upon HRI’s research, which reveals that over USD100 billion is spent on drug law enforcement each year, while only USD131 million is invested in harm reduction in low- and middle-income countries.

HRI experts worked with partners in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, Mauritius, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda to make the case for national and sub-national government investment in harm reduction services. In addition, HRI provided in-depth technical support to partners for strategic engagement in grant applications for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the largest international donor for harm reduction).

In 2023 HRI scaled up efforts to challenge the harms of incarceration and advocate for the rights of people who use drugs in prisons and those who are detained in other settings. We conducted

Harm Reduction International

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

research which revealed that measures designed to curb transmission of COVID-19 in prisons (including extended lockdowns, preventive quarantine, and restrictions on visits) – have had farreaching health and human rights implications and called for member states to ensure the specific vulnerabilities of people deprived of liberty were included in pandemic prevention, preparedness, response. During 2023, we worked with the European Prison Litigation Network as well as partners in Kenya, Moldova and Mexico to share advocacy approaches to uphold human rights standards in places of detention.

HRI called for governments to abolish the death penalty for drug offences at UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the UN Human Rights Council, amplifying HRI’s latest research which revealed there were at least 285 executions for drug offences around the world in 2022 (a 118% increase from 2021). UN Secretary General drew on HRI’s research for his 2023 report on the question of the death penalty and in his call for states to refrain from using the death penalty for crimes not involving intentional killing, such as drug-related offences. We collaborated with the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) the Transformative Justice Collective for urgent responses to executions.

We continued efforts to strategically connect national and international human rights advocacy, and to ensure normative progress at UN level has an impact on the ground. In 2023, we increased our work on economic, social and cultural rights and drug policy. We also engaged with the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, the UN working group on arbitrary detention, and the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

We presented evidence related to public health and human rights standards to governments at the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs. HRI made the case for investing in rights-based harm reduction with governments at the Global Hepatitis Resource Mobilization Conference (Switzerland), Brandenburg Forum for Drugs and Development (Germany), and with EU member states via the Horizontal Drugs Group (Belgium). We contributed to drug policy reform dialogues at the Drug Policy Alliance Reform Conference (USA), the 11th International Conference on Health and Hepatitis Care in Substance Users (Switzerland), meetings of the UNITE Parliamentarians for Global Health (online), via the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (Malaysia), with the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs (Belgium), and at the Healing Our Spirit Worldwide Conference (Canada).

These strategic points of engagement supported progress against our three outcome areas: a movement characterised by solidarity and equity; wide acceptance of harm reduction approaches and services; drug policy advances equity, racial and social justice.

It remains a challenging environment for harm reduction and drug policy globally – with areas of progress balanced by regression and widespread political preference for the prioritisation of punitive approaches to drug use. In this context, HRI’s voice, perspective and Divest/Invest campaign remain essential contributions to efforts to achieve a world in which drug policies promote dignity, health and rights.

Harm Reduction International

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

Beneficiaries of our services

The ultimate beneficiaries of Harm Reduction International’s work are vulnerable people who use drugs and people who are impacted by drug policies around the world; our 2022-2025 strategic plan we highlight the negative impact of the criminalisation of drugs and the compounding effects of intersectional vulnerabilities including gender, ethnicity, race, poverty and socioeconomic status. Harm Reduction International measures how its convening, research and analysis catalyse and contribute to change, and how our work is used by advocates and policy makers to support reform of laws, policies and programming (at national, regional or international level). Our global monitoring work provides insights into shifting trends, the uptake of evidence-based services or international human rights standards in drug policy and practice.

Financial review

HRI’s financial position at the end of the reporting period was stronger than in the past two years. The major driver of the increase in income and expenditure is the 2023 Harm Reduction International conference. Modest further additions to HRI’s income arose as a result of HRI taking on more technical assistance work with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and HRI’s contribution to a Unitaid funded initiative to improve access to diagnosis and treatment for hepatitis C in low- and middle-income countries. Now that the impact of the pandemic has subsided and travel is unrestricted, it is anticipated that HRI income patterns will resume the steady pattern associated with hosting a biennial conference (i.e. with conference year income and expenditure being higher than non-conference year income and expenditure).

In line with the 2022-2025 strategic plan (organisational objective: to continue to strengthen HRI’s sustainability, governance and systems) HRI continues its practice of continuous improvement in financial controls and good governance. This is achieved with support from the board of trustees, most significantly the treasurer, John Porter. In 2022, HRI completed five5roject audits, in addition to the organisational audit. HRI is committed to achieving value for money across its activities, this is codified within our finance manual.

Based on our 2023-24 forecast, cash flow, existing commitments from donors, active pursuit of new funds, we have basis to believe the organisation can continue to operate and meet its debts as they fall due in the coming 12-24 months; i.e. continue as a going concern. HRI’s income pipeline and forecast expenditure support HRI’s plans for work against its strategic objectives.

In line with its fundraising goals, HRI staff continued work to diversify and increase funding in 2023. HRI strengthened its position against its target of holding three months’ operational costs in reserves for the year. HRI raises funds through grant applications to institutional and philanthropic donors, and applies on invitation or in response to calls for proposals. All grant applications and fundraising activities are undertaken by the HRI team and focus on activities designed to advance overall charitable objectives. HRI has no specific or material expenditure on fundraising.

Harm Reduction International

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

Principal risks and uncertainties

HRI maintains a risk register, tabled at board meetings and reviewed by the trustees. The risk register prompts the trustees to assess risks and decide upon mitigating actions across five categories: governance, operational, financial, environmental/external and compliance (law and regulation). In late 2023, the trustees decided to remove the specific assessment for pandemicrelated risks (incorporated in the risk register in April 2020 in the context of COVID-19).

Broadly, we are currently working to mitigate the following key risks:

Governance risks: Trustees with diverse skills and experience are critical to the effective governance of the charity. We mitigate this risk by drawing on a board skills and diversity framework for board appointments, advertising on broader charity websites for our trustees, and regularly contributing ideas for a potential board candidate pool.
Operational risks: in the context of HRI’s small size and specialised focus, our staff are our greatest assets. The cost-of-living crisis and inflation in the UK, along with a tumultuous global environment make for uncertain conditions. HRI continues its efforts to support staff resilience and create a supportive work environment (the latter is an organisational objective under the 2022-2025 strategic plan).
Financial risks: in the context of an extremely limited pool of donors funding international harm reduction and drug policy work, HRI must stay alert to shifts in donor priorities and work to make the case for the continued relevance of its work. HRI has a commitment to continuous improvement in financial controls and financial management systems.
Environment/external risks: HRI works to mitigate the impact of the rapidly changing external environment by strengthening our external communications, and developing clear messages which allows us to demonstrate harm reduction is a social justice and public health issue closely connected to many other complex issues in society.
Compliance risks: in the context of HRI’s small size/limited human resources, we rely on a network of external experts to assist us to remain compliant with relevant policy and legislation.

Reserves policy and going concern

At the end of 2023, HRI held a total of £533,329. Of these funds, £147,061 are restricted funds and not available for the general purposes of the charity at the end of the reporting period.

Of the unrestricted funds, the trustees have designated four sums:

Firstly, funds earmarked for human rights and justice projects
Secondly, funds designed to support [HRI’s corporate structure and sustainability – i.e. for the purposes of continuing the technical advice started in 2023 on HRI’s structure and interrogating questions on the sustainability of the organisation]
Thirdly, funds to manage foreign exchange volatility (forex volatility fund)
Fourthly, funds to support conference operations for the 2025 conference (GBP100,000)

Harm Reduction International

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

It is anticipated that with the exception of the forex volatility fund, the activities associated with these designated amounts will be completed in 2024, and that the designated amounts will be spent by 31 December 2024.

HRI does not have material funds in tangible fixed assets or investments.

At the end of 2023, taking into account restricted funds and the designated amounts noted above, HRI holds the amount of £165,908 in free reserves.

This strengthens HRI’s work towards its goal of holding three months’ operating costs in reserve (a goal which is reviewed annually by the trustees). HRI calculates one month of operating costs (including salary for the team, essential operating costs, and basic liabilities) is £65,000. A restrictive definition of one month of operating costs is £55,000. Using the former definition, three months of operating costs is £195,000.

HRI attributes its ability to maintain reserves to be related to active fundraising and prudent financial management.

HRI will continue its efforts to bring its reserves in line with the target set by the trustees.

Fundraising

HRI key management personnel lead on fundraising for the charity. HRI does not engage professional fundraisers or commercial entities in fundraising.

Plans for the future

HRI adopted its 2022-2025 strategic plan and re-energised its vision for a world in which drug policies promote dignity, health and rights. The strategic plan takes into account the rapidly evolving global environment and HRI’s leadership role at the intersection of harm reduction, drug policy and human rights. Across all work HRI focuses on centring the expertise and leadership of the community of people who use drugs, reflecting on power dynamics within our partnerships and structurally (re)balancing power. We highlight the negative impact of criminalisation and the compounding effects of intersectional vulnerabilities; specifically, how drug policy interacts with gender, ethnicity, race, poverty and socioeconomic status.

In advancing the strategic plan, HRI has redefined its concept of ‘team’ – this has involved a shift from a (predominantly) London office focus to a dispersed group of committed experts. These changes have evolved organically, driven by our need to work closely with experts around the world, and were consistent with the organisation’s flexible approach to working remotely (in place prior to the pandemic). HRI is proud to lead by example in showing what a global team looks like in the non-profit sector and sees this as the future of the organisation.

Harm Reduction International

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

HRI is also unique in convening the biennial Harm Reduction International conference, which is the main global forum for the exchange of information and best practice at the intersection of human rights, drug policy and harm reduction. In March 2024, HRI announced the 2025 Harm Reduction International conference will be held in Bogota, Colombia; with strong support from the Colombian Ministry of Justice.

HRI has a strong track record of contributing to the evidence-base for harm reduction, monitoring the funding landscape for harm reduction, and advocating for rights-based responses to drugs. HRI will continue its leading work across these areas in 2024.

The strategic plan highlights HRI’s value add in four areas:

(1) convening the harm reduction and drug policy reform movements for knowledge exchange and strategic advocacy,
(2) leading data collection for global monitoring and trend analysis on harm reduction, human rights and drug policy,
(3) drawing on systems knowledge and advocacy skills to engage with and influence multilateral bodies, state and non-state actors,
(4) developing tools for advocates and responding to requests for technical assistance.

Structure, governance and management

The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 11 July 1996 and registered as a charity on 22 December 2006.

The company was established under a memorandum of association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its articles of association. Decisions are made in compliance with these constituent documents. The Trustees delegate the day-to-day management of the charity to Executive Director, Naomi Burke-Shyne. Ms Burke-Shyne served as the Executive Director for the reporting period in question.

HRI follows a foundation model of governance in which the Trustees are the members. HRI has no subsidiaries and is not affiliated with a wider network.

All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 10 to the accounts.

Appointment of trustees

HRI’s constituent documents set the minimum number of Trustees as six and the maximum as twelve. Trustees are appointed for three years and may serve a second term. Trustees automatically retire at the end of their second (three-year) term.

New Trustees are appointed by a decision of the Trustees, passed by a majority of two-thirds of the total number of sitting Trustees, in line with an agreed commitment to diversity of skills and

Harm Reduction International

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

experience. Appointments are recommended following candidate interviews with a Board Vacancies Working Group/Committee (comprised of minimum two Trustees and the Executive Director); decisions are made by the Board of Trustees as a whole. HRI’s articles of association codify the organisation’s commitment to diversity of skills and experience, requiring that ‘in making arrangements for the appointment of new Directors, the Directors shall have regard to the range of skills and experience required by the board as a whole, and to factors such as diversity, gender balance and the desirability of ensuring that Directors are drawn from different regions of the world.’

In 2023, Olga Belyaeva (Ukraine) was thanked for her exceptional commitment to HRI over two board terms, and stepped down in line with the governing documents. The board also expressed sincere thanks to Kojo Koram (UK), who stepped down from the board following the end of his first term. In 2023, the board of trustees conducted an assessment of board skills and experience, ran an open recruitment process, and appointed William Pick (USA) and Fany Miranda Pineda (Mexico) to the board.

Trustee induction and training

HRI provides induction to new trustees via a briefing pack based on Charity Commission guidance, an induction meeting with HRI staff, and ongoing direct support.

HRI aims to hold Trustees Skills Refresher trainings regularly and incorporates discussion on trustee duties during induction and at Trustee meetings.

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

HRI has no related party relationships or contracts to declare.

Remuneration policy for key management personnel

Salary for staff other than the Executive Director is set using a salary banding system, which is based upon established market rates.

Salary for the Executive Director is set by the Trustees.

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The trustees (who are also directors of Harm Reduction International for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the trustees’ annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming

Harm Reduction International

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

There is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware
The trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 December 2023 was 7 (2022:7). The trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP was appointed as the charitable company's auditor during the year and has expressed its willingness to continue in that capacity.

The directors’ annual report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies' regime.

Harm Reduction International

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

The trustees’ annual report has been approved by the trustees on 24 May 2024 and signed on their behalf by

Lucy Burns Chair

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Harm Reduction International

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Harm Reduction International (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 December 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:
Give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 December 2023 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure for the year then ended
Have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice
Have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on Harm Reduction International’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Harm Reduction International

Other Information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

The information given in the trustees’ annual report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
The trustees’ annual report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
The financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
Certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
We have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
● The directors were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ annual report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Harm Reduction International

company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are set out below.

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

We enquired of management, which included obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation, concerning the charity’s policies and procedures relating to:
Identifying, evaluating, and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;
Detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud;
The internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations.
We inspected the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.
We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the charity operates in, focusing on those laws and regulations that had a material effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the charity from our professional and sector experience.

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Harm Reduction International

We communicated applicable laws and regulations throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit.
We reviewed any reports made to regulators.
We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and tested these to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud.
In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments, assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias and tested significant transactions that are unusual or those outside the normal course of business.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Jonathan Orchard (Senior statutory auditor)

Date 18 June 2024

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor 110 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TG

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Harm Reduction International

Contents

Reference and administrative information

Trustees’ annual report

Objectives and activities

Purposes and aims

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

Achievements and performance

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

Beneficiaries of our services

Financial review

Principal risks and uncertainties

Reserves policy and going concern

Trustees’ annual report

Fundraising

Plans for the future

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

Structure, governance and management

Appointment of trustees

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

Trustee induction and training

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

Remuneration policy for key management personnel

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2023

Auditor

Trustees’ annual report

To the members of

Harm Reduction International

Opinion

Basis for opinion

Conclusions relating to going concern

Harm Reduction International

Other Information

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

Responsibilities of trustees

To the members of

Harm Reduction International

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

To the members of

Harm Reduction International

Use of our report

Jonathan Orchard (Senior statutory auditor)

Date 18 June 2024

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