Author: Igor Gordon

“Chase the Virus not People!” – join us on AIDS 2018!

Posted on by Igor Gordon

Check out the Campaign website!

The Team* of regional community networks of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, are joining forces during the XXII International AIDS Conference (July 22-27, 2018, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) in the campaign – “Chase the virus, not people!”

Our goal is to present to the world the impact of repressive, discriminatory laws and practices of their application, as well as stigma against key populations and people living with HIV. To achieve obligations to create an enabling legal environment and to involve key populations and people living with HIV in decision-making processes. We are ready to show the negative consequences of the reduction in international support and to seek global assistance to mobilize resources for stabilizing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the EECA region.

You can support the campaign and the EECA region on AIDS 2018!!! Please read all details!

What’s more: if you want to get the information on how to join the campaign, how to take part in actions and events in EECA Networking Zone in the Global Village at AIDS2018, please fill in – the brief questionnaire – https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe_INeD-Hc4B2itQ0IG9NZBd1WECPtQf1Mjq0BwOWCoEGVivg/viewform

It’s time for joint actions! #СHASETHEVIRUS

Watch the Video of the Campaign

*EECA communities team: Eurasian Coalition on Male Health (ECOM), East Europe and Central Asia Union of People Living with HIV (ECUO), EECA Sex Workers’ Alliance, Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA), Eurasian Network of People Who Use Drugs (ENPUD), Eurasian Union of Adolescents and Youth “Teenergizer”, Eurasian Women’s Network on AIDS (EWNA), Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network (SWAN). Organizational partner – AFEW International (the Netherlands).

#KazOST – save OST in Kazakhstan!

Posted on by Igor Gordon

To everyone. Urgently. Our friends and partners in Kazakhstan need support!

Participants of substitution therapy, public organizations of Kazakhstan apply for support to keep methadone treatment in their country.

Credentials to decide the future of the program were handed over to the law enforcement agencies. As a result, at the beginning of 2018 new people were not taken into the program, scientific and statistical facts about the effectiveness of treatment were distorted and on June 27 a decision will be made – whether or not the OST will be in Kazakhstan.

 EHRA calls – let’s act together! Let’s defend access to a vital methadone treatment in Kazakhstan!

  1. By June 25 (incl.), please sign a joint statement to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Be sure to include the name of your organization and the country. Eliza Kurcevic (EHRA) will collect your confirmations of your support to E-mail eliza@harmreductioneurasia.org

Joint letter of support will be presented to journalists during the press-conference on June 26 in Kazakhstan.

  1. On June 26, come to the building of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in your country. Add photos near the embassy on your Facebook page, with the #KazOST, #EHRA, #SupportDontPunish hashtags.

 Show your support!

 

LAW VS. HIV

Posted on by Igor Gordon

It’s been 6 years since the publication of the report on legal barriers affecting the HIV epidemics by the Global Commission on HIV and the Law. The report stated that “… criminalization of drug use undermines HIV prevention and treatment programs based on human rights, including harm reduction programs” [1]. It also contained recommendations to promote laws, policies and practices that ensure effective and sustainable measures of HIV response based on human rights. During this period only a few countries out of many in EECA and the Baltic region have taken steps in the direction of implementing progressive drug policy.  Ukraine increases the minimum amount of marijuana from 5 grams up to 25 grams. Moldova and Estonia are developing a referral system and consider options to introduce alternative practices to imprisonment for drug use. Lithuania has finally introduced methadone programs in prisons, after we’ve been fighting for it in courts for seven years. However, methadone is only available for those who’ve already used it before being put behind bars.

The Global Dialogue, held this year, made it possible for governments, civil society, people living with HIV, representatives of key populations, as well as donors and international organizations provide the information on:

  1. Progress in implementing the recommendations of the Commission, the exchange of best practices of reforming repressive laws, policies and practices that impose barriers to effective HIV response and protection of human rights;
  2. The role of political leadership in the eliminating repressive laws and introducing protective laws, policies and practices to solve the remaining legal and regulatory barriers to treatment of HIV and co-infections such as tuberculosis and viral hepatitis;
  3. Changes in funding in the field of HIV, human rights and changing drug policy; and
  4. New emerging issues in the field of HIV science and lessons learned related to HIV and the law based on human rights based responses to HIV, including co-infections, such as tuberculosis and viral hepatitis, as well as general coverage by health services in the context of achieving Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

EHRA, together with its partner organizations led by people who use drugs / OST patients, have provided descriptions of situations in 5 EECA countries to show how granting the maximum level of authority to law enforcement agencies in terms of influencing harm reduction programs, such as social or medical services, can negatively affect lives of people who use drugs.  For example, how humane drug policy approach can make people sell their house to pay a fine. And if your don’t have a house to sell when you’re arrested for a second time, you’ll be incarcerated.

EHRA and its partners have filed five complaints showing the problems in our region for the whole world to see, describing what had already been done by the expert communities to change the situation and what steps it’s necessary to take in the future.

Belarus. Sergey Kryzhevich, the leader of “Tvoy Shans” ( “Your Chance”) – the national organization of participants in the substitution therapy program, filed a complaint based on evidence that OST clients are vulnerable because of the bureaucratic system of medical care in his country. The evidence is based on the strategic litigation case, a community-led field study and the results of advocacy actions of OST patients community and their partners in the Republic of Belarus.

Kazakhstan. EHRA spoke on its own behalf about the threat of closure of the OST program in the country.  The appeal is based on well-documented facts of rights violation of current and former participants of OST programs by the police officers who wanted to “find out” the information that would support the negative attitude of the police to maintaining OST programs in Kazakhstan. (The Document is in Russian).

The Kyrgyz Republic. Sergey Bessonov and Harm Reduction Association attracted the attention of the international community to the risks associated with introducing new Misdemeanor and Criminal Codes in Kyrgyzstan in 2019, that will raise the fines for possession of small amount of drugs, which consequently means possible incarceration for 5 years if a person fails to pay a fine of 4 800 euros for possession of up to 3.1 grams of cannabis within one month.

Lithuania. Possession of minimum amounts of drugs without intent of further sale has been criminalized again since 2017. “Molodaya Volna” (“The Young Wave”) spoke about the alarming situation of new cases of HIV and medical care in prisons. The organization also presented an individual case, showing the impact of criminalization on lives of people who use drugs.

Estonia. The Estonian Association of People who Use Psychoactive Substances (LUNEST) spoke about the human rights violations of women who use drugs. Two female representatives of the community filed individual appeals with the description of their stories.

We don’t know yet what cases will be included in the new report of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, as it took 18 months to create the previous report and it had to pass several stages of examination and approvals.  Therefore, we will continue our work with the members of the Commission during the AIDS2018 Conference to make sure that the issues of decriminalization, human rights and evidence-based drug policy are taken into account and included in the discussion and, perhaps, in the new report. It is also important to ensure that the report will include descriptions of the situation in our countries. The documented cases will help us submit reports on protection and implementation of the rights of people who use drugs to treaty and advisory bodies of the United Nations and use them for advocacy purposes in the future.

All our actions, performed at the international level, are aimed to show the real state of human rights systems and availability of programs for people who use drugs in the countries of our region. This information will assist the international committees and commissions in forming their position and providing arguments for dialogue with our governments.

[1] https://hivlawcommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FinalReport-RisksRightsHealth-RU.pdf

Results of the EHRA’s General Meeting and Regional Meetings in Russia and South-Eastern Europe regions

Posted on by Igor Gordon

During the May 21 to June 4, 2018 Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) conducted online General and Regional Meetings (in Russia and South-Eastern Europe) of its members. Quorums for the General and Regional meetings to elect new Steering Committee members needed no less than one third of the members.

Continue reading “Results of the EHRA’s General Meeting and Regional Meetings in Russia and South-Eastern Europe regions” →

Apply for additional scholarships for AIDS2018

Posted on by Igor Gordon

Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) is the only region in the world where HIV epidemic continues to grow. The XXII International AIDS Conference, which takes place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands pays special attention to EECA region. This provides a good opportunity to draw attention of international community to key challenges that limit access to HIV prevention, treatment and care services in EECA region.

The voice of communities and civil society must be heard loudly. Therefore, the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association, together with AFEW International, are doing everything possible to increase the participation of communities and civil society at AIDS2018. We have mobilized financial resources to award scholarships for up to 10 community and civil society representatives to cover their conference related costs.

Inclusion criteria for scholarship award

The applicant must:

  • belong to community / civil society from EECA region;
  • have a profile on the conference website: http://profile.aids2018.org/;
  • have a confirmation from the International AIDS Society (IAS) about submitted thesis(s) via aids2018.org website whether thesis accepted as an oral presentation, for poster session or rejected);
  • have a response from the IAS Scholarship Committee about status of the scholarship (rejected or partially supported).

Thematic priorities:

  • Advocacy for changing repressive, discriminatory and criminalizing laws, and law enforcement practices, as well as challenge stigma against key populations and PLHIV in EECA region.
  • Advocacy for meaningful participation of communities in planning, implementation and monitoring of HIV programs at national or local level.
  • Advocacy for ensuring financial sustainability of harm reduction programs, as well as other evidence-based programs for key populations.

Timeframe:

  • deadline for submission – May 14 (next Monday)
  • results of the competition – May 15 (Tuesday)

Such a tight deadline is because May 17 is the last day when conference registration fee is available at reduced price. We want to complete the process by this date to allow more people get supported.

Selection criteria:

  • The content of thesis covers one or more thematic priorities;
  • Presented practice has an obvious and tangible impact on HIV programs at national or local level;
  • Presented practice efficient, sustainable and can be replicated in other countries

The following information will be considered when deciding on the scholarship awards:

  • Key populations (PWUD, MSM, LGBTI, SW, PLHIV);
  • Thesis approved as a poster or oral presentation;
  • Partial aids2018.org scholarship awarded;
  • EHRA membership;
  • Applicant participated in the abstracts mentorship program organized by EHRA/AFEW/Amsterdam Youth Force.

Complete an online form to apply for a full or partial scholarship, which may cover conference fee, flights and accommodation related to AIDS2018.

All questions address to igor@harmreductioneurasia.org

“A good start gives hope for further success!”

Posted on by Igor Gordon

2017 became a turning point for the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association. The history of our organization has been started exactly in 2017, when EHRA was registered by the initiative of harm reduction activists and organizations from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA).

In 2017, a clear-sighted vision of its mission and role in the region, helped EHRA to build from scratch a solid management system, to gain significant support from global and regional communities and partners as well as to launch nine advocacy, coordination and community capacity projects.

This Annual Report reflects all key points in the progress of association in 2017, programming outlines in the CEECA region and the further Strategic Framework 2018-2019.

Thank you for your help in the development of EHRA, the belief in our work and the readiness to go with us together to the goals’ implementation.

Full version of the Annual Report can be found by link.

Joint Statement of Civil Society Organizations in advance of the Thirty-Ninth Meeting of the Global Fund Board

Posted on by Igor Gordon

On May 9–10 2018, the Global Fund’s Board will consider revisions to the Fund’s Eligibility Policy based upon recommendations from its Strategy Committee. While some of these recommendations are positive, others raise serious concerns.

In this regard organizations representing civil society and including communities of people living with and affected by the three diseases and other key populations from different countries and regions – developed a Joint Statement to share with Global Fund Board members their position on several critical issues that should be considered by the Board during its deliberations on the Eligibility Policy.

The Statement signed by 41 international, regional and national level organizations was sent to the focal points of all Delegations to the GF Board as well as to GF Board Leadership and GF ED. 7 more organizations signed the statement after it was sent.

We hope that our position will be taken into account by the Global Fund Board members when making decisions on the eligibility issues during the Board meeting.

The final version of the document – Joint Statement of Civil Society Organizations in advance of the Thirty-Ninth Meeting of the Global Fund Board.

Regional Сommunity Networks Consortium submitted multi-country proposal for GF funding to insure sustainability of HIV services for key populations in EECA

Posted on by Igor Gordon

The Regional Community Networks Consortium (RCNC) of five regional networks in EECA has successfully developed and submitted a proposal for the Global Fund.

Continue reading “Regional Сommunity Networks Consortium submitted multi-country proposal for GF funding to insure sustainability of HIV services for key populations in EECA” →

EHRA is looking for for the expert to develop and facilitate Workshop in Azerbaijan

Posted on by Igor Gordon

The Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) in the scope of the EECA Regional Platform project supported by the Global Fund is aimed to organize a workshop targeted on civil society and community representatives in Azerbaijan. The workshop is going to take place in Baku (Azerbaijan) on 7 – 8 of June 2018. 

Objectives of the workshop are to:

  1. To build knowledge on the processes with regard to the transition of national HIV/AIDS and TB responses from Global Fund support to national funding; 
  2. To understand the possible consequences for HIV\TB programs if the planned transition is not well-managed, including looking at examples of some other countries in the region;
  3. To understand the importance of the involvement of civil society and communities’ representatives in all stages of the transition processes and the existing opportunities and entry points for such involvement;
  4. To understand what HIV and TB services and program components are the most vulnerable within the transition process in Azerbaijan and to plan the possible actions in 2018 to insure their sustainability;
  5. To discuss and identify the possible content of the request for TA for civil society and communities in Azerbaijan within the GF CRG TA Program

The working languages of the workshop will be Russian and Azerbaijanian.

How to apply

The candidates are invited to submit their CV, Letter of interest and state the daily rate in USD (including the taxes) by e-mail referenced under title “Consultant to develop and facilitate S&T Workshop in Azerbaijan” to ivan@harmreductioneurasia.org by COB 03 of May 2018 24:00 EET.

Please see more information in the document below

Terms of Reference