Dear PCB Members, Colleagues and Partners,

The 50^th UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) thematic segment topic will be “Positive learning: harnessing the power of education to end HIV-related stigma and discrimination, empower young people and provide a comprehensive HIV response” and will take place on 24 June 2022.

The thematic segment will provide an opportunity for the PCB to discuss the need for national programmes that holistically address the needs of young people in all their diversity, especially young women, young key populations and young people living with HIV. It will highlight the role of the education sector as an entry point for promoting comprehensive sexuality education––including HIV knowledge and awareness, prevention, testing and treatment, and ending stigma and discrimination. It will also emphasize the importance of linkages to youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services and social protection services.

The thematic segment will provide an occasion for the PCB to hear from young activists––including young women, young people living with HIV and young key populations––and will feature perspectives from teachers, ministry of education officials and civil society leaders. It will highlight testimonies from young women, young people living with HIV and young key populations about their experiences, underscoring the difficult reality that, for many, the experience of stigma and discrimination in school settings remains widespread.

The thematic day will also be an opportunity to highlight examples of best practices for creating an inclusive and health-promoting learning environment for young people in all their diversity, through examples of successful programmes and policies for in- and out-of-school contexts. In particular, it will spotlight examples of the roles that digital media, radio, tv and film can play to complement a high-quality education on HIV prevention, testing and treatment and for ending stigma and discrimination among young people.

To inform the session, UNAIDS is seeking case studies of where successful programmes and policies to end HIV-related stigma, violence, and discrimination in education settings have been implemented, where multi-sectoral holistic approaches have been implemented to meet the needs of learners living with and impacted by HIV and where digital, broadcast and print media have been harnessed to promote safe, inclusive and healthy learning environments.

Scope of submissions

Specifically, UNAIDS is seeking examples in the following areas:

1. How programmes and policies to end HIV-related stigma, violence, and discrimination in education settings have been implemented.
2. How multi-sectoral holistic approaches have been implemented to meet the needs of learners living with and impacted by HIV.
3. How digital, broadcast and print media have been harnessed to promote safe, inclusive and healthy learning environments.

Who can submit?

UNAIDS welcomes submissions from national AIDS programmes; Ministries of Education, Ministries of Health and other relevant Ministries; civil society organisations particularly those representing or providing services to young people living with or affected by HIV and key populations; academic institutions; national human rights institutions; United Nations system and other international organizations; and other national or local entities involved in the work on HIV and youth and eliminating stigma and discrimination.

How will the submissions be used?

The submissions will be used to inform the background note to the UNAIDS 50^th PCB Thematic Segment. Some submissions may also be selected to be presented during the Thematic Day on 24 June 2022. Finally, all the submissions received before the deadline of 2 May 2022 will be compiled in a document on good practices which will be posted on the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board website.

Submissions are accepted in English and French.

The submissions must be made through the electronic submission form by close of business Monday 2 May 2022:

English: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=m8_hwrbh60SAIUKMKS0-tdo42rac0gVAqf_VXbSixehUNlNLNkRSQTNHSkNWR1FBMFRCUTZES1NSTi4u

French: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=m8_hwrbh60SAIUKMKS0-tdo42rac0gVAqf_VXbSixehURFBBM1czNjBOWUtSNFFaNlNIQlFXMEUxVS4u

For more information on the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, please see: http://www.unaids.org/en/aboutunaids/unaidsprogrammecoordinatingboard/

For questions on this call for submissions of good practices, please contact Caroline Ngonze [email protected] and Adriana Hewson [email protected].

Thank you for your time and attention.

Tags: 50th PCB Meeting

People living with HIV and key populations have common humanitarian needs, but also face additional complications and challenges. According to the latest UNAIDS estimates, 258,000 people are living with HIV in Ukraine, equivalent to approximately 1% of the population. Population size estimates suggest that there are 366,000 people who use drugs in the country, with more than 20,000 of them receiving opioid agonist therapy (OAT), along with 86,000 sex workers and 179,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people1. These populations will all be represented both among refugees fleeing Ukraine and those who remain behind, which means that access to antiretroviral treatment, to HIV prevention and to harm reduction will be needed by refugee populations and by people still inside Ukraine.

Recalling that the Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026 has specifically noted the imperative need in meeting the needs of diverse migrant and mobile populations that cuts across its strategic priorities and result areas, it is the obligation of UNAIDS to react to the needs of people on the move. People living with HIV, gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers and their clients, transgender people and people who inject drugs, and people working with them inside the country also face additional threats given Russia’s longstanding hostility to LGBTI people, people who use drugs and harm reduction programs. The situation for trans and non binary people is extremely precarious and they suffer disproportionately through the current war conflict. Hormone replacement therapy prescriptions should be standard in the support of the trans population. News reports have also surfaced that non-European nationals2 from Africa3, Asia, South Asia4 and the Middle East5 fleeing Ukraine faced racial discrimination within Ukraine and at EU borders6,7, reminding us that systemic and structural racism remains a public health and human rights issue of concern in humanitarian settings8.

Alongside this humanitarian catastrophe, the Russian Federation’s bombardment and invasion of Ukraine is leading to the destruction of the HIV treatment and prevention infrastructure that has been developed by civil society, communities and the Ukrainian government over the last two decades, with support from numerous UN agencies and international donors.

In this context, the PCB NGO Delegation, together with civil society and community organizations from around the world, are demanding the following urgent actions from the UNAIDS in order to protect the health and lives of people living with HIV and key populations in Ukraine:

1. Act now to save lives

We urge UNAIDS to develop and share a concrete emergency plan, setting out what action each of the co-sponsors needs to take to ensure that people living with HIV and key populations of diverse backgrounds can access HIV and co-occurring diseases treatment, prevention and testing, and harm reduction including opioid agonist therapy (OAT), both within Ukraine and among the refugee populations, and that they can exercise their right to health and their rights as internally displaced persons and migrants be protected as outlined in the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.

We also call on UNAIDS to coordinate the current humanitarian response with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and to appoint highly independent experts to facilitate system-wide coordination in humanitarian settings. For the current situation in Ukraine, we request UNAIDS to appoint an independent expert from the Council of Europe Special Representatives of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees and/or other appropriate bodies to support its current humanitarian efforts. It is also evident that an effective emergency response cannot be properly conducted by the Regional Support Team for the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region located in the capital of the Russian Federation where some of its work and messaging can be considered illegal. Every day that the current, ineffective response continues, it has a negative impact on the lives and wellbeing of our constituencies and puts UNAIDS staff based in Moscow at risk. We are, therefore, joining other global civil society networks in calling for the immediate relocation of the Regional Support Team from Moscow, where its work is neither possible nor credible.

We also demand that UNAIDS looks to strengthen its capacity to respond to other humanitarian crises that may directly impact people living or affected by HIV in a comprehensive and timely manner, recognising vital needs that currently exist in other locations, such as Tigray in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, and many others.

2. Financing and support for the HIV and humanitarian response in Ukraine and across all humanitarian settings

In 2020, UNAIDS, ILO and UNICEF issued a global Call to Action for countries to scale up social protection programmes to cover populations being left behind, including people living with, at risk of and affected by HIV and TB in humanitarian settings

The Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria has provided additional emergency funding to Ukraine9 and made the available funding inside the country flexible, so that it can be focused on priority needs, such as access to HIV and TB treatment, basic services and provision of opioid agonist therapy (OAT), but also can be allocated to meet emergency humanitarian needs. We remain aware, however, that the current needs cannot be covered from this funding stream alone, with further flexible funds still amply needed for emergency assistance, direct humanitarian support, mental health, safety and evacuation, and work with internally displaced people inside Ukraine and refugees outside the country. We urge Member states, UNAIDS and all other donors to follow the example of the Global Fund and to ensure that sufficient funding and support are provided to Ukraine and neighboring countries with the aim of serving and protecting people living with HIV and key populations communities inside Ukraine and among the refugee population outside. This includes both making additional emergency funding available and ensuring that both existing and additional funding streams are flexible, so that they can be used to deliver HIV responses and meet humanitarian needs.

Community and civil society response systems are doing their very best to meet the current level of need, but the damage caused by the war is enormous and the need for assistance exceeds what communities can provide with current resources. They can and want to do more, but they are stretched to their limit and need additional funding for continuing life-saving work in Ukraine and neighboring countries. We call on donors to recognise local civil society as essential humanitarian actors, ensure that emergency funding is directed to them in order to support them in their vital work, and community-led responses and monitoring to ascertain member states, donors and humanitarian mechanisms are fulfilling their responsibilities to protect the lives and health of those whom they serve. Furthermore, we urge UNAIDS to ensure that these calls for solidarity and flexible funding are taken seriously by advocating with Governments and donors to meet the financing need.

Alongside financing, action is also needed to tackle the crisis in OAT supplies. Approximately 85% of OAT clients are male, so the majority of them have remained in-country. At present, they face constant instability and anxiety over OAT stockouts. Since the beginning of the invasion contact has been lost with 2,138 clients, with further 6,000 clients at risk of treatment disruption, many of whom have been forced into abrupt withdrawal because their OAT doses have been reduced, at a time of already deep crisis and when there are very few places to go for expert advice on opiate withdrawal. One of the major OAT production centers in Ukraine (in Kharkiv) stopped operations due to Russian military attacks. While commitments have been made to ensure a shipment of OAT into the country, it is essential that these are honored, as more than 20,000 people are affected. We ask donors and UNAIDS to work together to ensure that a reliable and adequate supply of OAT can reach Ukraine, and to work with community-led and civil society organizations to ensure that OAT services are accessible to all who need them, including in neighboring and receiving countries. Given the strict controls and tight regulations on OAT access around the world, work must be done to ensure that these barriers to entry are lifted both in the short and long-term, so that the right to health of people who use drugs is protected.

3. Humanitarian coordination and community-led monitoring for a more effective response

Experiences in the field, both in Ukraine, its neighboring countries and in other crisis settings, have shown that the needs of people living with HIV and key populations are often left unmet or de-prioritised in general humanitarian responses. The recent example of Venezuela taught us that it is necessary to ensure early on that people living with HIV and key populations are recognised as “populations of concern” by the Health Cluster responsible for coordinating the health response during humanitarian crises. As Venezuela again has shown, it is also vital to ensure the full participation of the community in the cluster itself and in relevant committees and emergency response teams, along with representatives of community-led and civil society organizations. Only the realization of the principle of ‘Nothing about us without us’ can bring successful results.

In order to protect the health and lives of people from our communities, we ask for more proactive engagement by the UNAIDS in the Health Cluster and other relevant groupings, and for more visible and effective coordination between UNAIDS, the co-sponsors (particularly WHO which is leading the Health Cluster) and other humanitarian actors. We also call for closer dialogues between the co-sponsors and community-led, key population-led and civil society organizations working in the health and humanitarian response, including people living with and affected by HIV, in order to ensure that their voices, perspectives and needs based on community-led monitoring outcomes are reflected in the plans and decisions of the Health Cluster and other key groupings, ultimately helping to make work on the ground more effective and to ensure that the health and lives of people living with HIV and key population communities are prioritized and protected.

Doing so will support UNAIDS and UN member states in realizing its commitments as noted in:

the 2016 Political Declaration on Ending HIV/AIDS, where member states have committed to pursuing the continuity of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and to providing a package of care for people living with HIV, tuberculosis and/or malaria in humanitarian emergencies and conflict settings, as displaced people and people affected by humanitarian emergencies face multiple challenges, including heightened HIV vulnerability, risk of treatment interruption and limited access to quality health care and nutritious food;

the 2021 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS in promoting full access to effective health emergency responses with full respect for human rights and ensuring that 95 percent of people living with, at risk of and affected by HIV are protected against health emergencies, that 90 percent of people in humanitarian settings have access to integrated HIV services and that 95 percent of people in humanitarian settings at risk of HIV use appropriate, prioritized, people-centered and effective combination prevention options;

the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in further contributing to intersectoral efforts essential to reach the global health goals and ensure progress across all settings, including humanitarian, in order to fulfill the overarching goal to leave no one behind, with the full involvement of Member States and relevant stakeholders.

Signed:

UNAIDS PCB NGO Delegation

Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD)

Frontline AIDS

HIV Justice Network

GESTOS – HIV, Communication and Gender, Brazil

GNP+

European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG)

International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)

Action against AIDS Germany

Action Group for Health, Human Rights and HIV/AIDs (AGHA) Uganda

AIDS Action Europe (AAE)

International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD)

APCOM

Prevention Access Campaign

Kuza Livelihood Improvement Projects

Zambia Network of Young People Living with HIV (ZNYP+)

Trans United Europe/BPOC Trans Network

European Harm Reduction Association (EHRA)

AIDS Committee Newfoundland & Labrador - Canada

Gay Men’s Sexual Health Alliance

Canadian AIDS Society

Ontario Positive Asians

AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia

Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP)

Foundation for Development Partners (FDP)

CATIE, Canada’s source for HIV and hepatitis C information

Portail VIH-sida du Québec

PAN

SRHR Africa Trust (SAT)

HIV Legal Network

Kasese Network of Young people living with HIV

Aidsfonds

medmissio

Confraternity of Patients Kenya (Cofpak)

Coalition des organismes communautaires québécois de lutte contre le sida (COCQ-SIDA)

Educational and Awareness Raising Organization QUEER MEDIA

Fife House

*You may send an email to [email protected] if your organization wants to be a signatory of this joint statement.

1https://phc.org.ua/sites/default/files/users/user9...

2https://broadview.org/ukraine-refugee-crisis-racis...

3https://nypost.com/2022/03/05/russia-ukraine-war-a...

4https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-16/indian-stud...

5,6https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/5/thats-pola...

7https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/uk...

8https://www.un.org/press/en/2022/ga12411.doc.htm

9https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/2022-03-10-g...

*cover image courtesy of CO «100% Life» Communications Team

Tags:

Click on this link to apply.

DEADLINE: COB 25 February 2022

Tags:

Get to know more about the UNAIDS PCB NGO Delegation through this primer developed by the Communication and Consultation Facility. This PCB NGO Delegation primer is based on the 47th PCB NGO Report, “Engagement, Evidence and Impact: 25 years of the NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB.”

Tags:

APCOM represented by Midnight Poonkasetwattana - NGO Asia and the Pacific

Midnight is the Executive Director of APCOM Foundation, an organization based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is also a member of various advisory committees, including the International Advisory Group of Dignity Network; Global Working Group for IDAHOBIT; World Health Organisation Global PrEP Coalition and Guidelines Development Group for HIV Testing Services; and, ASHM’s Regional Advisory Group leading on Key Populations of the Taskforce on BBVs, Sexual Health and COVID-19. In 2016, Midnight gave the Closing Plenary Statement at the 2016 High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS at the UN General Assembly.

APCOM Foundation was established in as a non-profit organisation in 2007, working on issues affecting gay men, other men who have sex with men, and diverse SOGIESC communities in the Asia Pacific region. The organization works on areas of human rights, including health and sexual rights, and participation of communities of diverse SOGIESC in achieving sustainable development. APCOM works in partnership with governments, donors, the United Nations, development partners, and most importantly, the community and civil society organisations working to advance SOGIESC rights, and alleviate HIV in the Asia Pacific region.

Mubanga Chimumbwa is a founder/consultant for the Zambia Network of Young People Living with HIV - (ZNYP+). He is a social scientist with a background on Social Developmental Monitoring & Evaluation and SSP Data Analysis. Mubanga is experienced in project management on adolescent SRHR/HIV prevention, strategies, and policy development. His key strengths are in key population program management planning and Data Analysis using evidence-based research responses to health-related issues. Mubanga is a former board member of African Young Positives - (AY+) for the Southern Region of Africa. He has also contributed to the Global Network of Young People Living with HIV (Y+) transitional leadership and advocacy of adolescent programming youth tailored approaches. He has worked for Family Health International (FHI360) Zambia and implemented projects for USAID.

The Zambia Network of Young People Living with HIV-(ZNYP+) is a National Organization for young people living with HIV. ZNYP+ aims to improve the quality of life of young people living with HIV and those affected by pursuing support,communication, and representation on issues affecting them using community structures and youth-friendly spaces. The network supports adolescent girls and young people living with HIV in project programming and advocacy both at national and international levels in fostering HIV care and adherence to free HIV by 2030. It plays a key role in promoting community approach in reaching to Young key populations in different universities. The network has been implementing different projects for the past years through collaboration of different partners both locally and internationally.

Trans United Europe - BPOC Trans Network represented by Dinah Bons - NGO Europe

Dinah de Riquet-Bons is an LGBTQI+ /Trans lobbyist and HIV and AIDS and sex work activist. She is currently the duo chair for the bicultural trans sexworker organization, Trans United Europe. Dinah is also the chair of the European Sex Workers Rights Alliance (ESWA) and board member of the Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP). As former the strategic director of Transgender Europe operating from Berlin, Dinah helped shape transgender rights and policies for the European Union. Her activism started in 1991 with Act UP NYC as an adolescent living with HIV in the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color LGBTIQ community. Dinah was also part of the ballroom scene for the House of XTravaganza. She started her HIV activism in Europe with HIV Vereniging Nederland, in which she was a board member. Dinah is also a 51-year old politician with BIJ 1, and she intends to run for Amsterdam city council member in the upcoming elections.

Trans United Europe is a sex worker umbrella NGO for Trans Black People of Color (BPOC) and migrants from the global south. TUEU currently has sister organizations and safe spaces in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Brussels, Paris, and Barcelona. The BPOC trans organizations run important community and peer-led HIV and STI prevention programs that include HRT care by our doctors. We combine HRT care with HIV prevention including PREP and redirection to academic HIV Care centers. BPOC trans people are also active in anti-racism activism.

Eurasian Harm Reduction Association represented by Aleksey Lakhov - NGO Europe

Aleksey Lakhov has more than 15 years of experience in the area of HIV and AIDS, viral hepatitis, substance use, and harm reduction. His work experiences include being the Development Director of the largest Russian harm reduction organization "Humanitarian Action" (Saint Petersburg); General Manager of the Harm Reduction NGOs Coalition "Outreach" (Tallinn, Estonia); Steering Committee member of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association; and World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) consultant. Aleksey has participated in numerous research initiatives for peer-reviewed journals on new psychoactive substances and online harm reduction. He has authored a web outreach manual for the UNODC Programme Office in Eastern Europe.

The Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) is a non-for-profit public membership-based organization uniting 324 harm reduction activists and organizations from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia based in Lithuania. Its mission is to actively unite and support communities and civil society to ensure the rights, freedoms, health, and well-being of people who use psychoactive substances in the EECA region.

Transgender Law Center represented by Cecilia Chung - NGO North America

Cecilia Chung is the Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives and Evaluation at Transgender Law Center. She is a Health Commissioner of San Francisco and an internationally recognized civil rights leader in the LGBT and HIV community. Cecilia has previously served as the Co-Chair of GNP+ and is currently a member of the WHO Advisory Council of Women Living with HIV. In 2015, Cecilia founded Positively Trans, a network of transgender and nonbinary people living with HIV.

Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, TLC employs a variety of community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender nonconforming people alive, thriving, and fighting for liberation.

Prevention Access Campaign represented by Christian Hui - NGO North America

Christian Hui (he/they; Undetectable) is a queer poz settler currently residing in the Dish with One Spoon Territory, Turtle Island/Toronto, Canada, and is the Senior Global Community Advisor at Prevention Access Campaign. A co-founder of two people living with HIV/AIDS networks, Ontario Positive Asians (OPA+) and the Canadian Positive People Network, Christian possesses living and professional experiences supporting and collaborating with a diverse community of people living with HIV/AIDS, including members of ethnocultural and migrant communities, 2SLGBTIQ+ people, people who use/inject drugs, people who have experienced incarceration, and people living with HIV/HCV co-infection. Christian was selected to serve as a civil society representative on the Canadian Delegation to the 2016 UN High Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, and is a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Vanier Scholar currently completing a PhD program in Policy Studies at X (Ryerson)1 University with interest in ending health inequities through the co-creation of policies with policy actors and the affected communities.

Prevention Access Campaign (PAC) is a health equity initiative to end the dual epidemics of HIV and HIV-related stigma by empowering people with and vulnerable to HIV with accurate and meaningful information about their social, sexual, and reproductive health. PAC’s Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U), launched in early 2016 by a group of people living with HIV, is a growing global community of HIV advocates, activists, researchers, and over 1,050 Community Partners from 105 countries uniting to clarify and disseminate the revolutionary fact that people living with HIV who are on treatment and have an undetectable viral load cannot sexually transmit HIV. At PAC, we believe our collective celebration of U=U is undermined if our access to HIV diagnostics, treatment, and healthcare is not universal, and we will continue to fight for universal access for all people with HIV regardless of what barriers may exist and regardless of where they may live.

1https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/06/01/students-pr...

Tags: