On February 19-20, 2018 in Minsk, Belarus, a regional dialogue meeting was held in order to discuss the priorities of the program in response to the Regional Proposal by Global Fund on Sustainability of services for key populations in EECA region.

The meeting was attended representatives of the country’s  CCMs of the region, representatives of Key Populations groups and civil society organizations, government agencies, regional networks of Key Populations groups, international technical partners.

Significant attention was paid to the priorities that will form the basis of the multi-country proposal to Global Fund; conversely plans of other consortia from the post-Soviet region and south-eastern Europe were actively discussed.

“The priority of this program is the result – the transition to national financing and systemic expansion of access to services. We know how to do it, – says Dmitry Sherembey from the All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH. – After we implemented the transition of key programs to the Ukrainian government, we started to work successfully in a number of countries in the EECA region to support such processes”.

“We are interested in the directions of the proposed program, – says Irina Novik from the Belarusian Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Medical Technologies, Informatization, Administration and Management of Health. – The issues of transition and sustainability are now the most significant. Belarus has something to share, and we look forward to an effective exchange of experience with colleagues from other countries.”

Nurali Amanzholov from the Central Asian Association of PLWH considers the partnership to be the strongest in the region for the implementation of tasks to optimize ART schemes and prices that can have a significant impact on the coverage of programs in the EECA region and affect the HIV cascade.

“It is very important for the transgender community in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia to be integrated into the regional dialogue. For the first time in our region, the importance of specific and sensitive services for Transgender people is recognized. I am sure that this dialogue will be a new starting point for the development of programs for our community, – noted Angelica Volkonskaya from the initiative group HelpTG”.

Andriy Klepikov from the Alliance for Public Health noted a wide range of members who participated in the discussion of the plans and expressed his gratitude for valuable advice on improving the program. The concept of the program will be presented in country dialogues and is open for comments until early March 2018.

The meeting was attended by Alliance for Public Health, All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH 100% of Life, Central Asian Association of PLWH, Eurasian Key Populations Health Network, Eurasian Harm Reduction Association, the Belarus Initiative Group HelpTG, Georgian Harm Reduction Network, ITPC.ru, Eurasian Coalition on Male Health, UNAIDS  Belarus, The State Institution Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Medical Technologies, Informatization, Administration and Management of Health, Belarus, Secretariat of the CCM of Uzbekistan, Initiativa Pozitiva, Moldova, Kyrgyz Association of Harm Reduction Programs “Partner Network”, and I+Solutions.