With the aim of supporting civil society in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), AIDS Action Europe launched this region-wide project 'ROST'- Responding to HIV through Organisational Support and Technical Cooperation in EECA’, which will be implemented by AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW). In Russian, the word ‘rost’ means ‘growth’ and the goal of this three-year project is to facilitate the growth and development of local NGOs and community groups so that they can:

• Advocate more effectively for evidence-based methods and universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support;
• Coordinate their activities with national programmes and governmental initiatives;
• Expand service coverage for most at-risk populations;
• Speak out against stigma and discrimination towards most at risk populations.

The project includes the organisation of regional capacity development seminars on advocacy and resource mobilisation for AIDS Action Europe member organisations. Furthermore, there will be a small-grants programme giving the participating NGOs the opportunity to put in practice the skills that they have learned at the seminars. The ROST project builds upon two former AAE projects: European Partners in Action on AIDS (EPAA) and the Prevention and Treatment Advocacy Project (PTAP). The project is funded by Aids Fonds, ViiV Healthcare Positive Action Programme; Levi Strauss Foundation; and Open Society Foundations.

For more information about the project, please contact Elizaveta Berezina, Project Manager, AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW), liza_berezina@afew.org

From 2005-2009 the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) implemented - together with its regional partners - a global project called “Community-based Advocacy and Networking to Scale-up HIV Prevention in an Era of Expanded Treatment" or Prevention and Treatment Advocacy Project (PTAP). Ten countries were involved in this project, across five different continents. In Europe, the two participating countries were Russia and Ukraine. The regional coordination was done by the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network in collaboration with AIDS Action Europe. In Russia, PTAP was implemented by the Russian Harm Reduction Network, while in Ukraine this was done by the Coalition of HIV Service Organizations.

Given the risk of HIV prevention efforts falling behind expanded treatment access initiatives, this project aimsed to support a broad-sweeping policy and programming shift to increase access to comprehensive prevention services alongside expanded treatment services. Final reports are curretly being prepared by ICASO, but here is already a glimpse of the results achieved in Russia and Ukraine:

• In Russia, the ongoing support and mobilization of people living with HIV (PLHIV) resulted in the growth of the community into a strong PLHIV network.
• In Ukraine, the National Council and Oblast Coordination Councils extended their mandate to cover both TB and HIV/AIDS thanks to successful lobby of the Ukrainian Coalition of HIV service organisations.
• In Russia, ongoing training enabled to aim at different target groups separately, differentiated approaches were used for PLHIV, injecting drug users and AIDS Service Organisations.
• In Ukraine, the project enabled to consider the different needs per region. In the West, the focus was on training NGOs and CBOs in prevention interventions, while in the South the focus was more on voluntary counselling and testing.

Click here to view the list of materials developed within the PTAP project.

In 2006 AIDS Action Europe initiated the project European Partners in Action on AIDS (EPAA). The main objective of the project was to strengthen knowledge, capacity and exchange among AIDS-related NGOs and CBOs in Europe and Central Asia. 

One of the key activities of the EPAA project was to build capacity among HIV-related European NGOs on several themes by organising good practice seminars. The themes of these seminars were based on the results of several member consultations. They included:

• Working with the Media (2006)
• Monitoring and Evaluation (2006)
• Gay men’s health (2007)
• Legislation and Judicial systems in relation to HIV/AIDS (2007)
• HIV Voluntary Counselling and Testing (2008)
• Resource Mobilisation (2008)
• Public Policy Dialogue (2008)

The EPAA project furthermore resulted in the creation of the Clearinghouse on HIV and AIDS in Europe and Central Asia. Even though the EPAA project has ended, the clearinghouse continues to serve as thé central database on HIV and AIDS where NGOs, policy makers, networks and other stakeholders in Europe and Central Asia can share key documents and good practice materials.

Click here to view the list of materials produced within the EPAA project.

AIDS Action and Integration was coordinated by AIDES, France in cooperation with AIDS Action Europe, European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) and the Central and Eastern European Harm Reduction Network (now Eurasian Harm Reduction Network) along with 24 local HIV/AIDS organisations based across the enlarged European Union. The integration projects received a 3-year grant from DG SANCO of the European Commission for the period 2005-2007.

The mission of the AIDS Action and Integration Projects was to support the development of local, community-based HIV/AIDS Non-Governmental Organisations in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in the new and future member states of the European Union.

For more information about this project, please visit www.integration-projects.org or contact Arnaud W. Simon at asimon@aides.org

Click here to view the list of materials developed within the AAI project.