In the post-COVID-19 era, drug consumption rates have been rising dramatically across the globe. While the international community and states are adopting policies and measures ranging from prevention to harm-reduction to address this issue, local actors are developing alternative bottom-up approaches to foster the social inclusion of marginalized drug-affected youth into society. As part of this collective effort, this research attempts to showcase and analyze good practices of exemplary innovative initiatives in empowering marginalized drug-affected youth in Monrovia, Geneva, and Berlin. Building on the accumulation of findings by the four preceding Applied Research and Capstone Projects carried out by Master’s students at the Geneva Graduate Institute in collaboration with Angie Brooks International Centre for Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security, this year’s project was launched to study how local initiatives empower marginalized drug affected youth. For this purpose, data was collected through semi-structured interviews/written correspondence with various relevant actors, fieldwork, literature review, and analysis of other secondary data, including news articles. The research identifies three categories of innovative activities implemented by initiatives, namely: a) workshops and skills training; b) mental and social support; and c) sports, arts, and cultural activities. While the first two categories have a significant impact on the target population, sports, arts, and cultural activities are particularly effective in approaching the marginalized drug-affected youth for their wide range of positive functions. By spending joyful moments with peers outdoors, such activities provide youth with an opportunity to discover an alternative way of living, beyond “stuck” environments of drug-trafficking or use marked by prevailing hopelessness.