ECOM — Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity (ECOM) in partnership with the organizations “Aidsfonds” (Netherlands) and the ICF “Alliance for Public Health” (Ukraine) continues to implement a program aimed at reducing the negative impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine on the access of key populations (KP) to HIV services and humanitarian assistance in the region of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA).
As part of the programme, ECOM held the third grant competition in February this year. In the third round, 34 applications were received, of which 15 projects from 9 countries of the EECA region received support: Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Tajikistan and Estonia. A total of 4 small grants of up to 15,000 euros, 8 medium grants of up to 25,000 euros and 3 big grants of up to 50,000 euros were awarded, with the total funding amounting to 404,950 euros.
These are the main areas of activity of the supported projects:
  • Providing services to key populations in migration (11 projects).
  • Removing political barriers to the “legalization” of migrants affected by HIV and their access to social and medical services (2 projects).
  • Self-organization of communities in migration (1 project).
  • Establishing and maintaining measures to change laws and procedures that prevent discrimination against people living with HIV and key populations (1 project).
The projects cover various groups of beneficiaries, including:
  • people living with HIV affected by tuberculosis (6 grants);
  • trans people (5 grants);
  • LGBT people and men who have sex with men (MSM) (7 grants);
  • sex workers (4 grants);
  • people who use drugs (5 grants);
  • women living with HIV (5 grants);
  • people with disabilities (2 grants);
  • adolescents and young people vulnerable to HIV (3 grants).
The most common activities within the supported projects include:
  • Providing psychological support to maintain the psycho-emotional well-being of key groups in migration;
  • Providing medical assistance;
  • Providing legal assistance;
  • Providing social support.
ECOM provides technical assistance to project grantees of all cycles, helping to build their capacity on request, for example in developing an organizational strategy or in the registration process.

“Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we have seen very negative trends in the EECA countries: legislative initiatives have intensified, narrowing civil space and creating additional barriers for key populations. For example, we see many laws being adopted in different countries, such as laws on foreign agents, against “LGBT propaganda” or for “protecting children from unwanted information.” All these legislative initiatives create more and more difficulties in obtaining medical and other vital services for key populations, especially for those in migration. The Emergency Support Fund aims to support communities of key populations to effectively minimize the impact of war on them,” notes Uluk Batyrgaliev, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Coordinator at ECOM.

It is important to note that the Emergency Support Fund also includes the Evacuation Fund for organizations that need to relocate to other countries due to safety issues.
ECOM continues its work to support key populations in the EECA region, especially in the context of increased pressure and deteriorating human rights situation in a number of countries in the region.