Profile
Naomi Burke-Shyne

Naomi Burke-Shyne

Executive Director, Harm Reduction International/Visiting Fellow, Global Health Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute
Spoken languages
English
Areas of expertise
  • Global health
  • drug policy
  • Human rights
Geographical Region of Expertise
  • Global

profile

Naomi is the Executive Director of Harm Reduction International. She is an expert on harm reduction and drug policy, bringing two decades of
international work experience at the intersection of global health, law and human rights.

Naomi previously worked for the Open Society Foundations Public Health Program, leading a portfolio of funding and policy engagement that supported access to justice for marginalised groups and advocacy to challenge the negative impact of drug policy in Asia, Eurasia and Eastern Africa. Between 2009 and 2014, Naomi worked in a regional capacity for the HIV and Health Law Program at the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), posted in Indonesia, Nepal and Uganda. Naomi spent the first five years of her career practising law in Australia, in the private sector and as a pro bono legal adviser at community centres.

Naomi is a member of the Technical Review Panel of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; a member of the Strategic Coordination Group to the UN on HIV and Drug Use; and a member of the World Health Organization Guidelines Group on ‘Ensuring Balance in National Policies on Controlled Substances.’

publications

  • N. Burke-Shyne, A. Larasati, 2023 ‘Harm Reduction Post-Prohibition’ in R. Lines, D. Barrett (eds). After the War on Drugs: Harm Reduction and Human Rights in Post-Prohibition Scenarios, Routledge, 2024.
  • R. Csák, S. Shirley-Beavan, A.E. McHenry, C. Daniels, N. Burke-Shyne, 2021‘Harm reduction must be recognised as an essential public health intervention during crises’ Harm Reduction Journal 18, 128.
  • C. Daniels, A. Aluso, N. Burke-Shyne et al., 2021 ‘Decolonizing drug policy’ Harm Reduction Journal 18, 120.
  • K. Sabin, N. Burke-Shyne, A. Verster, et al. 2021 ‘Imperfect progress: treatment options for opioid dependence’ Lancet HIV, Comment, Vol 8, Issue 2, E60-E61.
  • S. Shirley-Beavan, N. Burke-Shyne, et al, 2020 ‘Women and Barriers to Harm Reduction Services: A literature review and initial findings from a qualitative study in Barcelona, Spain’ Harm Reduction Journal, Thematic Series.
  • J. Hasselgard-Rowe, N. Burke-Shyne, A. Fordham, 2020, ‘Public Health and International Drug Control: Harm reduction and access to controlled medicines’ in D. Bewley-Taylor, K. Tinasti (eds). Research Handbook on International Drug Policy pp248-264.
  • R. Lines, N. Burke-Shyne, G. Girelli, 2020 ‘Gaol Fever: What COVID-19 Tells us about the War on Drugs’ Health and Human Rights Journal, Viewpoint.