Progress to date

Within the sub-regional meeting in Kazakhstan in November 2022, the establishment of the virtual network was initiated. The concept and purpose of the network were presented to the participants. Within the network, participants (members) will be able to exchange experiences, ask questions, take part in discussions, share files, collaborate on documents, exchange and learn from each other on HIV testing.

Progress to date

PAS Center in collaboration with WHO Regional Office for Europe, organized the sub regional meeting on the decentralization of HIV testing services and the simplification of HIV algorithms. The meeting was held on 28-30 November 2022, in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The main aims of the meeting were to discuss ways to improve HIV testing services in line with WHO recommendations and to exchange countries’ best experiences of revising their HIV testing strategies. The event was attended by representatives of the ministries of health responsible for HIV testing services, HIV programme managers, technical-level specialists from the health institutions responsible for the national HIV testing services from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Georgia and Uzbekistan, and SoS project 2.0 implementers and partners.

Progress to date

Terms of Reference is under development to hire the consultant who will develop regional operational guidance based on country experience from Moldova and Kyrgyzstan.

Terms of Reference is under development to hire the consultant who will develop regional operational guidance based on country experience from Moldova and Kyrgyzstan.
WHO has held the analysis of HIV testing guidelines in 6 countries of EECA – Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.

Progress to date

Draft reports on procurement monitoring of CD4 and VL tests as well as the rapid tests for HIV have been prepared and a session on diagnostics and ARVs price reduction advocacy was organized and held during the National Consultation in Moldova.

Progress to date

ECOM in partnership with WHO regional office for Europe analyzed five national PrEP protocols (Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Ukraine) and provided Report with recommendations on the steps needed to include PrEP into nationally approved standard package of servises.

Progress to date

Policy statement being finalised, will be launched in March 2023. Implementation guide with case studies under development.

Progress to date

60 stationary places for living in shelters in Kyiv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions were organized with support of food, transportation, coverage of a basic package of medicines and household goods, clothing for 405 people from key groups and members of their families. Provided technical support to 4 shelters (Poltava, Cherkasy, Kryvyi Rih and Zhytomyr). 70 payments were made for the payment of rent and provision of proper social and living conditions for the participants of the OST program. 22 payments were made to victims of violence from the Russian occupiers. In total, more than 1,500 people were covered by the program.

Progress to date

Activity currently being funded from alternative sources.

Progress to date

The following studies have been carried out:

• Operational study to assess the ways/channels/mechanisms used by various key populations from different countries to access services, research and communications in times of COVID-19 (Alliance)
• Domestic and other forms of violence among transgender women, sex workers and women who use drugs during COVID-19 pandemic (in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan)
• Monitoring and Documentation of Rights Violations Faced by Trans* People during COVID-19 Pandemic in EECA (in process) (ECOM)
• Health and social well-being of MSM and trans*people in EECA during COVID-19 pandemic (in process) (ECOM)
• Situation Analysis on the Provision of HIV Health Services for Foreign Migrant Citizens in Kazakhstan (Kaz)
• An overview of best practices based on civil society and medical institutions in the Russian Federation in assisting foreign migrants in the Russian Federation and overcoming barriers for migrants to access HIV services (Kaz)
• Webinar Series on Police Responses to Gender-Based Violence against Women Who Use Drugs: Practices and Opportunities;
• Development of interactive materials for women who use drugs in violent settings (EHRA)

Progress to date

National summary reports for 2022 are developed for five EECA countries: Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. They are under design and will be available by the end of January 2023. Regional summary report for 2022 will be finalized in Q1 2023.

Progress to date

ECOM is supporting strategic litigations on human rights abuses among gay men, other MSM and trans people in Armenia. Apart from that, a number of webinars for gay men, other MSM and trans people on meaningful involvement with UN Treaty Bodies, UPR and UN Special Procedures were held, namely: “Universal Periodic Review: Advocacy within a process” on October 20, 2022, “The right to health for LGBT people: submission of alternative reports to UN treaty bodies” on November 18, 2022.

Progress to date

Gender barriers assessment is under finalization, the report will be published in Q1 2023.

Progress to date

On October 11, 2022, EWNA held a Regional consultation for the EECA countries “Expanding access to mental health services for women living with HIV and women from key populations” in order to identify priority measures for the integration of community-led HIV-related mental and physical health prevention, care and support services for women living with HIV and women from key populations. Based on the findings of the Regional consultation on mental health for women living with HIV and women from key populations in EECA, the EWNA developed the statement “Integration of women’s community-led mental health services into the HIV response in the EECA region”.

EHRA held online training for social workers, outreach workers, psychologists and other experts, providing counselling to people who use drugs (6 modules, 153 people trained from Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and other countries), developed recommendations for organizing and providing harm reduction online.

Progress to date

For 4 countries (Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Ukraine) in December 2022, EHRA announced RFP – Subgrants: Capacity building in promotion of drug policy reform in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Ukraine. The winners will be selected in early 2023.

ENPUD Expert Council on Treatment was established: prevention of interruptions in access to treatment, and monitoring the availability of stocks of OST drugs in case of force majeure. ENPUD Expert Council on Rights and Drug Policy was established: direct dialogue with decision-makers in the countries of the region. The Emergency Assistance Fund for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (ENPUD) was established: organization of departure, starting with the preparation of visas, exit corridor; work with shelters for departure.

Progress to date

ECOM in this reporting period has submitted a number of reports to the UN institutions, among which:

• an alternative report on rights violations of trans people in Kyrgyzstan to the UN Committee against Torture (CAT), for the follow up procedure. The report includes cases collected by the ECOM Reactors in Kyrgyzstan.
• an alternative report on behalf of the community of Tajikistan to the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Human Rights Defenders, with the data on rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity faced by LGBT HRDs, with a particular focus on the right to health. Report was presented at the online meeting with the UN Special Rapporteur and the relevant recommendations were made by the mandate holder in its final communique.
• an alternative report on Rights Violations based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Kyrgyzstan to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRCtee), for the Country Review.
• an alternative report on rights violations of trans people in Armenia to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), for the country review.

Matrix for analysing trends in human rights violations against people who use drugs is prepared and published by EHRA. The purpose of this Matrix is to facilitate the analysis of documented human right violations by grouping violations into strategic blocks that are easy to use for the subsequent reporting to human rights treaty bodies and/or as part of follow-up advocacy at national level; and to equip human rights activists with knowledge/skills in how to prepare/ write reports for a human right body. The Matrix aligns the analysis with the environment in which human rights treaty bodies and national governments develop human rights practices, surrounded and mediated by community-led monitoring.

Progress to date

A shadow report on Uzbekistan was submitted to the CEDAW committee in January 2022. Recommendations to decriminalize HIV were received.

Progress to date

In 2022 there were two meetings of the ECECECAD Commissioners: on May 31, 2022 (online) and on November 2, 2022 (in person). During the meetings, Commissioners discussed the current situation and war implications to the region as well as have made decisions and plans for the work.

Commissioners represented the ECECACD at different global and regional events. President Kwasniewski and Professor Kazatchkine represented the Commission at the EuroScience Open Forum ‘Why Europe Must Lead Drug Policy Reform & Decriminalization’, July 14, 2022, Leiden, The Netherlands (online) and at the media-event in Montreal (within the International AIDS Conference), July 31 2022, Montreal, Canada. It was a good media coverage in international media after that. Mr. Andriukaitis represented the Commission at the Bloomberg CityLab 2022 Session: Drug Legalization: What Works? October 11, 2022, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (in person). Professor Kazatchkine and Olena Kucheruk contributed to producing a JIED podcast on drug policies and the war in Ukraine from 2014, October 27, 2022.

Country visit to Vilnius was conducted on November 2-4, 2022. The main advocacy target was the draft law on decriminalization of possession of small amounts of cannabis. On 23 November, the Seimas Committee on Legal Affairs approved amendments to the Administrative and Criminal Code that propose to decriminalize possession of small amounts of cannabis without intent to distribute it. With this decision, the Committee puts the bill to a vote in the Seimas. It is worth mentioning that during its official visit to Lithuania on November 2-4, a delegation of the ECECACD had a number of meetings to discuss the draft law with members of the Seimas, the Speaker of the Seimas, the President of Lithuania and representatives of key ministries and institutions responsible for drug policy. Commissioners provided scientific evidences and arguments in favor of decriminalization, held a press conference, gave a series of interviews and had a series of working meetings to support the draft law in Lithuania.

The web-site of the ECECACD is developed and updated: ececacd.org. Brief video with speeches of all Commissioners is developed and placed to the web-site.

Progress to date

Information systems assessment has been carried out in 5 countries; ontology guide being finalised.