The Pompidou Group provides a multidisciplinary forum at the wider European level where it is possible for policy makers, professionals and researchers to exchange experiences and information on drug use and drug trafficking. Formed at the suggestion of French President Georges Pompidou in 1971, it became a Council of Europe enlarged partial agreement in 1980 open to countries outside the Council of Europe.

On 16 June 2021, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted the revised Pompidou Group’s statute which extends the group’s mandate to include addictive behaviours related to licit substances (such as alcohol or tobacco) and new forms of addictions (such as internet gambling and gaming). The new mandate focuses on human rights, while reaffirming the need for a multidisciplinary approach to addressing the drug challenge which can only be tackled effectively if policy, practice and science are linked. To better reflect both its identity as a Council of Europe entity and its broadened mandate, the group changed its official name from the Co-operation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking to the Council of Europe International Co-operation Group on Drugs and Addiction. In 2023, it encompasses 41 countries out of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe, Mexico, Morocco and Israel, as well as the European Commission.

The year 2021 marked the launch of a new project concerning children whose parents use drugs, followed by a publication in 2022, Children whose parents use drugs – Promising practices and recommendations. This project was proposed in response to the invitation to the Pompidou Group secretariat to contribute to the discussions on the Council of Europe Strategy on the Rights of the Child for the period 2022-27. This strategy, adopted in 2022, includes in its objective “Equal opportunities and social inclusion for all children” the action “2.2.6 Mapping, analysing and provid- ing guidance on the situation of children suffering from addictive behaviours and children of parents using drugs”.

In 2022, the project on children whose parents use drugs continued with threefold research: i. qualitative research based on interviews with children whose parents use drugs and with women who use drugs; ii. collection and analysis of actions and programmes targeted at people who use drugs and their families; and iii. analysis of children growing up in families affected by drug dependence and other conditions of vulnerability. The results are also included in two other volumes: Listen to the silence of the child – Children share their experiences and proposals on the impact of drug use in the family, with interviews from Greece, Malta, Mexico, Romania and Switzerland; and Children and parents affected by drug use – An overview of programmes and actions for comprehensive and non-stigmatising services and care. This volume is based upon the generous and informed participation of 110 women who agreed to be interviewed and share their personal experiences. It includes their insights and recommendations on the impact of parental drug use during childhood on their life and subsequent drug use. It also explores the barriers and facilitators to accessing services and how to improve services’ response both to women who use drugs and to children with parents who use drugs. It is part of an ongoing effort by the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe to give visibility to children with parents or other primary caregivers who are affected by drug dependence and to develop proposals that aim at creating or strengthening services that both protect children and support families. It also intertwines with the pioneering and continuous effort of the Pompidou Group to integrate a gender dimension into drug policies in Europe.