We are pleased to announce the upcoming Regional Consultation on HIV in men who have sex with men and transgender people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA). This event is part of a joint regional initiative coordinated by UNDP as lead UNAIDS Co-sponsor agency for HIV and men who have sex with men, in close partnership with WHO, as lead UNAIDS Co-sponsor agency for health sector response to HIV, UNAIDS, UNFPA and community leaders. Additional support has been provided by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The regional consultation will support efforts to promote an enabling environment for the realization and resourcing of programmes reaching men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people (TG) in the EECA region, including strengthening the evidence base for MSM and TG, improving the health sector response to HIV epidemic in this key population and respect of their human rights and sexual and reproductive health needs as described in the “UNAIDS Action Framework for Men who have Sex with Men and Transgender People”. A civil society Expert Planning Group has been engaged to ensure a diversity of experience, community ownership and geographic representation in the planning and implementation of the consultation.
The consultation will be held in Kiev, Ukraine, from 22-24 November 2010 with a pre-consultation civil society internal meeting on 21 November. Working languages of the consultation will be Russian and English. Please see the accompanying document for more details on the scope and purpose of the consultation.
The organizers will channel limited resources to support meaningful representation from 15 EECA countries, including governmental and civil society representatives. We, however, encourage additional attendance of stakeholders active or interested in the region, who can cover cost of their participation. Please also note that subject to funds availability we might be able to cover the participation of additional persons. In case you are interested, please register with Marina Hansen at MHA@euro.who.int by providing your organizational and contact details at your earliest convenience, but no later than 29 October 2010. Due to the limited space, we cannot guarantee participation of all interested individuals.
Kind regards,
On behalf of the event organizers
Smiljka de Lussigny
Technical and Advocacy Officer
HIV/AIDS, STIs and Viral Hepatitis Programme
WHO Regional Office for Europe
Address: 8, Scherfigsvej, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
Phone: +45 39 17 16 18
http://www.euro.who.int/aids