The maoist rebels in Nepal have taken a strong stance against alcohol. The result of their campaigns has been the topic for a study by Child Workers in Nepal, Concerned Centre (CWIN), a partner of FORUT. While the anti alcohol campaign has made some impact, the study suggest that rather than taking a prohibition approach the campaign would be more sustainable if the communities were mobilised.

Journal of Public Health Policy carried a special section on Alcohol marketing and youth - public health perspectives in 2005. David H. Jernigan and Jams F. Mosher were the Special Section Editors.

Tima Magazine report on how one city's decision to shut down bars before midnight has served as a model for cutting crime and alcoholism in a nation plagued by both.

In a four program series the BBC World Service focused on the global aspects of alcohol. The four programmes are availabel for listening or download from the BBC World Service.

In a four program series the BBC World Service focused on the global aspects of alcohol. The four programmes are availabel for listening or download from the BBC World Service.

Professor Diyanath Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka, and FORUT has written the book ”Strategies to Address Alcohol Problems”. The book is a tool to achieve better results in alcohol prevention highly relevant in developing countries, as well as countries with a Western drinking culture and political tradition.

Norways recently published Development Strategy for Children and Young People in the South, "Three Billion Reasons" is mentioning alcohol and drug as a problem for this group. Says Minister of International Development, Hilde F. Johnson: “There is not just one reason for working to promote the well-being and rights of children and young people. There are three billion of them.”

The 58 World Health Assebly has adopted a resolution calling on WHO to examine public health problems caused by the harmful use of alcohol.

In May the Indian Alcohol Policy Alliance was officially launched with a seminar i Delhi. The alliance, an affiliate to the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance and a partner to FORUT, will be advocating for alcohol control policies in India.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently published the Global Status Report: Alcohol Policy. It aims to describe the present status of existing alcohol policies worldwide. The report is based on a review of existing policies in 118 countries and provides a brief snapshot of what is known about the effectiveness of alcohol policy measures.

FORUT, Campaign for Development and Solidarity, is a Norwegian NGO in the field of development aid. Since 1981 FORUT has been involved in development assistance in Africa and Asia. FORUT has a special emphasis on alcohol and drugs as a cause of poverty and hindrance to development.

Sumnima Tuladhar of CWIN presented the results of a study on alcohol and drug use among street children in six urban centres in Nepal at a FORUT conference recently. The children are very much affected by glue sniffing.

Consultation with NGOs in preperation of the the Action Plan "Fighting Poverty" released by the Norwegian Government recently led to the mentioning of alcohol in it.

The alcohol question in Nepal has been put to the extreme the last few months, with the maoist womens movement demanding a total ban on alcohol nation wide. This has lead to a negotiated settlement focusing on alcohol control. In this article the contact person in CWIN for the Local Action against Alcohol and Drugs project, Rupa Dhital, is focusing on alcohol control in Nepal.

"Alcohol and Drug Use in Nepal With Reference to Children" is the title of the report released in Kathmandu in June. This survey was conducted by Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN) in co-operation with the Thribhuvan University as part of the Local Action programme.

As part of the 20 years anniversary for FORUTs inception a One Day Conference was held in April. The topic raised was "Alcohol and Drugs – a Missing Perspective in Development?". How alcohol and drugs contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS was one of the quetions discussed.

The Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) in Colombo put alcohol policies on the agenda during last years election campaign in Sri Lanka. 37 out of 40 "recommended" candidates got a seat in the Parliament.

A representative survey on drug use was conducted among students at Upper Level Secondary Schools in Senegal in 1998/99. The study was conducted by Arne H. Eide of the Norwegian SINTEF Unimed research institute, together with Ibrahima Thioub, Ibou Diallo and Lajla Blom of FORUT.