According to data obtained between 2015 and 2018, the HIV epidemic continues to develop among MSM and trans people in the majority of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA).
In the 2016 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS, passed by the UN General Assembly, UN members, including all states in our region, confirmed that the realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms contributes to global measures taken in response to the HIV epidemic, and pledged to promote the adoption of laws, strategies, and approaches aimed at eliminating HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
ECOM believes that one of the key elements to putting an end to the concentrated HIV epidemic in the CEECA region is the elimination of legal, social, economic, and gender barriers to accessing services. Legal and normative barriers in countries of our region are exacerbated by stigma in society, which, in turn, is strengthened by government actions, or inactions regarding the investigation of cases of violence and discrimination towards gay men, other MSM, and trans people.
