“The ‘war on drugs’ is not a war on drugs, it is a war against human beings in Mexico.” Araceli Rodríguez Nava 

“Losing a child is the worst thing that can happen to any mother, father or family. Whomever this might happen to, wherever they may be, it will destroy their lives completely.” Maria Herrera 

 “La pérdida de un hijo es el máximo sufrimiento que cualquier madre, cualquier padre o familia, puede tener. Cuando está situación llega a estos lugares, nos destruye totalmente” Maria Herrera 

Come to the launch of a ground-breaking new project:  Anyone’s Child Mexico a participatory online i-documentary – families living on the frontline of Mexico’s drug war tell their unheard, real-life stories in their own words.

The project is a collaboration between families who’ve lost their children to Mexico’s bloody drug war, creative technologists, the University of Bristol (UK) and civil society organisations. It will bring attention to the families’ plight and encourage the government to end the drug war and to legally regulate the drug market.

Join us to explore this major new online documentary. Use our phone line to record your testimony and discover why families are now uniting internationally to call for legal regulation of the drug trade.

When:  October 29-31, 2018

Where: Latin American Conference on Drug Policy (Confedrogas), Sheraton María Isabel, Mexico City, Paseo de la Reforma N°325, México, DF. 06500. Find us in the red telephone box at the Harm Reduction Fair.

What: Explore our new online living documentary and add your testimony to our phone line to put pressure on policy makers to end the drug war.

Watch the i-documentary here: https://mexico.anyoneschild.org/#/es

Jane Slater, spokesperson for Anyone’s Child said:

“These stories demonstrate that there is no ‘war on drugs’. It’s ordinary people whose lives are being destroyed by our global drug war. The voices of the impacted families have spoken and our politicians must listen. Please watch our idoc and leave your testimony.

We must protect families. This project will hasten the end of the drug war and demonstrate why governments, not gangsters should control the drugs market.” 

Tania Ramirez, Drug Policy Director, MUCD said:

“Anyone´s Child represents an effort to present the different damages that people face around the world due to the War on Drugs. In Mexico, millions of victims have suffered the consequences of our failed strategy. Anyone´s Child Mexico is an opportunity to give them a voice. At the same time, it shows to the society the dimension of this problem and emphasizes the necessity to change from prohibition to a regulated markets.”

Ewan Cass-Kavanagh, creative technologist for the project said:

“I believe that the Internet is at its best when it is about sharing, with people from vastly different walks of life and seeking to further our understanding of each other. This is why it has been such an honor and pleasure to work with Anyone’s Child, who are seeking to do exactly that. This platform acts as a digital megaphone for the families at the heart of Anyone’s Child: Mexico, to share their stories as far as possible to create empathy and understanding of the horrors of the drug war. We now need policymakers, both in the UK and Mexico to listen and make change a reality, in the hopes that some good can come out of these heart wrenching stories.”

Notes to editor

This project has been funded by Bristol University’s Brigstow Institute as part of a new collaboration looking at using technology for social change.

Connecting a phone line in Mexico with an online interactive documentary we will gather testimony from ordinary families in Mexico. They will demonstrate to the Mexican government that a drug policy enforced by police and soldiers will only lead to more degradation and death.  And that legal regulation would all but end it.

More about Anyone’s Child: https://anyoneschild.org/

Project partners in Mexico include, Mexico Unido Contra la Delincuencia and the Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos http://cmdpdh.org/

More information about the conference: http://www.conferenciadrogas.com

Read more about how the war on drugs harms children: http://www.countthecosts.org/seven-costs/harming-children-and-young-people