AFEW: Annual Report 2001/2002 >> Executive message - General Director

Annual Report 2001/2002

Executive message - General Director

Rian van de Braak
General Director

The year 2002 was the first full year of operation for AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW).

No doubt, it was a critical year for us. We needed to transform our high hopes, ambitions and expectations into reality. After five years of HIV/AIDS programming in the former Soviet Union and Mongolia, Mйdecins Sans Frontiиres - Holland (MSF-H) agreed to support the creation of our new organisation, and handed over programmes and staff to AFEW.

The year 2002 is now over and we can say - with full confidence – the results have gone far beyond our high expectations.

The organisation is running solidly, operating in the fields of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support from its headquarters in Moscow (Russian Federation) and its operational offices in Kyiv (Ukraine) and Almaty (Kazakhstan). With 80 highly motivated staff members, five skilled Board members, two experienced fundraisers/representatives in The Netherlands and the USA, and a wide network of international and regional experts, AFEW is moving at full speed.

We expanded our activities from work in three to now seven countries in the region, increasing the number of programmes from five to thirteen. We grew by both replicating existing programmes in new countries, and also bringing new topics and new target groups into the fold.

None of this would have been possible without external funding to support our work. In this respect, the initial financial support for the founding of AFEW by the Open Society Institute (OSI), MSF-H, and the Dutch government has been crucial.

We have managed to effectively position AFEW among the key players in the region. The 'AFEW approach' that is applied to each programme and country has not only shown to be remarkably effective in the field, but appealing to donors and partners as well.

So far, so good. But, we should look ahead. Much more needs to be done and no time should be lost. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is growing rapidly and unfolding a devastating socio-economic and human catastrophe.

AFEW will continue to intensify its efforts to advocate for a vast increase in appropriate action on all levels. And we will use our position as a bridge between the East and the West to engage both sides in working together to combat this challenge in the most effective way. Lessons have been learned all over the world during the last decade. We will make use of the unique window of opportunity provided by the late start of the epidemic in the former Soviet Union by implementing these lessons today, before it is too late. The lure of cautious hesitation is merely a moral crime in disguise.

'We can't lose the war on AIDS, and still win our battles to enhance global health, reduce poverty, promote stability, advance democracy and increase the peace and prosperity of the world'. – Bill Clinton, Co-Chairman, International AIDS Trust.