Mgr. JINDŘICH VOBOŘIL, Pg.Dip. (*1966) is one of the leading experts on drug issues, as evidenced by his more than thirty years of experience in the management and development of health and social services and programs.
Since the late 1990s, he has worked on the establishment, development and evaluation of community-based services, particularly in the areas of drug prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. He has worked on the development of community drug strategies and on projects funded by the European Commission.
In addition to the development of strategic documents, he also contributes to professional periodicals and publications.
From 2010 to 2018, he served as the National Drug Coordinator, Executive Vice-Chairman of the Government Council for Drug Policy Coordination (GCDCP) and Director of the Drug Policy Department of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic.
Foreign experience
He has also put his international experience to great use: he has lectured and developed community and social counselling projects in Hungary, Serbia, former Soviet Union countries and the Russian Federation. He spent almost a year working in Afghanistan. Also, he worked in Latin American countries, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru. He lectured at a number of international universities and at many international conferences and workshops. He worked as a consultant for the European Commission, the United Nations and the Open Society Fund, the German government’s GTZ Foundation, the Dutch Trimbo Institute, and Spain’s Fiap, among many others.
In the service of the Helping Hands Society
Prior to taking up the position of National Drug Coordinator, Jindřich Vobořil served as Director of the Podané ruce o.p.s., which under his leadership became one of the two largest non-profit organizations in the Czech Republic providing social and health services for people with addiction problems and their loved ones.
For the Czech Republic
As the National Drug Coordinator and Executive Vice-Chairman of the Government Council for Drug Policy Coordination, he was directly responsible to four Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic. Before his departure, he was the longest serving National Drug Coordinator of the Czech Republic.
He was personally involved in many important legislative changes in the Czech Republic and participated in the drafting of important government documents. He pushed for the adoption of the so-called integrated drug policy of the Czech Republic, i.e. the unification of the policy of legal and illegal substances and the policy of gambling into one policy.
Voice of the Czech Republic at the U.N.
As head /leader? of the Czech delegation, Jindřich Vobořil achieved international fame for the Czech Republic. For example, he played an important role in negotiating the Outcome Document signed by the UN General Assembly in 2016. He also participated in the drafting of the European Strategy and a number of resolutions, some of which were submitted and successfully negotiated on behalf of the Czech Republic at the U.N.
Jindřich Vobořil
Jindřich Vobořil graduated from the Faculty of Theology with a degree in Pedagogy and Theology at the J. E. Purkyně University in Olomouc (Mgr.). He was awarded the degree of Pg.Dip. at the John Moores University, Liverpool where he studied an the Faculty of Applied Psychology with a specialization in the field of drug use and addictions. He obtained his certificate of counselling qualification from Greenwich College, University of London. In 2006 he was awarded a Postgraduate Certificate in Systemic Psychotherapy by the Institute of Systemic Therapy in Prague.
“As the national coordinator forming Czech and EU strategies, I always championed an approach that minimised damages and risks. The only scientifically-proven approach in the area of “legal” addictions is a balanced policy of control and prevention as well as the decriminalisation of addicted individuals and users of addictive substances.”