ECOM presents its 2025 Annual Report — not only as an overview of the coalition’s achievements, but also as a chronicle of a year that tested the resilience of communities across Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA).
The year 2025 brought new challenges: shrinking international funding, increasing pressure on civil society, new restrictions targeting LGBT people, and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. Yet even under these circumstances, communities continued to support one another, defend human rights, and sustain life-saving services.
This year, we chose to move beyond the traditional reporting format. Our annual report became a space for reflection and conversation: featuring interviews with colleagues, expert opinion pieces, analytical articles, stories from our teams, and the voices of people who make change possible every single day.
“The challenges we continue to face are enormous. But I believe that mutual support and strong partnerships will help us continue to support the development of national LGBT communities, advance human rights, and support the health and social well-being of gender and sexually diverse people in the region. Thank you for being with us! ” — Vitaliy Djuma, Executive Director of ECOM
What’s inside the report?
- an interview with ECOM’s legal team on working amid increasing repression and security crises;
- an opinion piece by Nikolay Lunchenkov, ECOM’s LGBT Health Coordinator, on five HIV facts from 2025 that cannot be ignored;
- stories of how research becomes a tool for advocacy;
- the story behind Kazakhstan’s first accredited online PrEP course for healthcare professionals;
- highlights from our work on sexual and reproductive health and rights for LGBT youth;
- an overview of our emergency funds and support provided to activists and community organisations;
- the results of our international advocacy efforts and engagement with UN mechanisms;
- ECOM’s 2025 publications library.
“We constantly had to think not only about implementing activities, but also about our partners’ safety: how to transfer funds securely and how to avoid putting people at risk.” — ECOM Legal Team
2025 in numbers
- 16 alternative reports and thematic submissions were presented to UN mechanisms;
- 207 cases of human rights violations against LGBT people were documented across five countries in the region;
- 177 applications for emergency assistance and relocation were received by ECOM teams;
- 56 cases received direct support;
- more than €410,000 was allocated to support communities through grant mechanisms;
- 22 projects received funding through grant programmes;
- more than 45 organisations participated in the RESILIENT needs assessment;
- more than 800 people took part in a study on self-administered hormone therapy among trans* people;
- more than 150 migrants gained access to PrEP services in Kazakhstan;
- 572 healthcare professionals enrolled in the online PrEP course integrated into Kazakhstan’s continuing professional education system.
This report is about people who continue to act even when the space for civil society work seems to be shrinking. It is about communities building their own infrastructure for survival. It is about solidarity that helps us keep moving forward.
Thank you to all coalition members, partners, donors, activists, and community leaders who made this work possible.
Read, save, and share ECOM’s 2025 Annual Report.
