Working with community-led organisations, a Harm Reduction International (HRI) 2024 study found that harm reduction funding increased from 131 million USD in 2019 to 151 million USD in 2022, thanks to numerous budget advocacy efforts globally. One such dedicated effort is a harm reduction budget advocacy grant managed by HRI in collaborations with community-driven and led partners from South Africa, Indonesia and Kenya. The grant has accumulated promising practices and lessons learnt from LMIC on budget advocacy to increase harm reduction funding from international donors and their government budgets. There is a high need to spread this knowledge and these practices because in spite of the minimal increment in harm reduction funding the funding gap is still at an alarming rate. Available funding is just 6% of the US$2.7 billion that is needed annually by 2025. The funding gap underscores the need of more efforts, engage various allies and forge intensified advocacy with the donors and domestic funding.

Thus, the workshop will capacitate the conference participants on understanding the concept, tools and approaches to budget advocacy with the following agenda:
- Orientations on budget advocacy concepts and guide
- Panel discussion from countries sharing their real-time experience with budget advocacy
- Facilitated discussions to further clarify budget advocacy and help adapt to participants' country contexts with possible brainstorming for country work plans and action steps

- Participants learn the basic concept of budget advocacy, such as:
-health financing,
-fiscal space,
-government budgeting process and
-how to intervene in these processes for harm reduction funding
- Participants gain insights on diverse approaches to budget advocacy and adapt to their context based on working examples

Increased number of activists, managers and leaders joining allies to increase harm reduction funding through budget advocacy