AFEW International is actively advocating for the needs to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of the EECA region at the international arena.
On 11th March AFEW International on behalf of the partnership ‘Voices from the East’ has submitted a proposal to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Policy Framework for Strengthening Civil Society for 2021-2025, Grant Instrument SRHR Partnership Fund. Under the leadership of AFEW International, the Voices from the East Partnership brought together 11 strong advocacy and service-oriented organisations and networks to improve access to SRHR for women and youth of Key Population (KP) groups and transgender people:
AFEW International; Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA); ECOM – Eurasian Coalition On Health, Rights, Gender And Sexual Diversity; Eurasian Union Of Adolescents And Youth Teenergizer; Eurasian Women’s Network On Aids (EWNA); Sex Workers Rights’ Advocacy Network (SWAN); Eurasian Network Of People Who Use Drugs (ENPUD); Dance4life; AFEW-Ukraine; AFEW-Kyrgyzstan; AFEW Kazakhstan.
The partnership plans to work with over 150 local partner organizations from across Easter Europe and Central Asia, advocating for SRHR of women and young people from key populations (living with HIV, sex workers, using drugs, LGBT, in prison) and transgender people as integral part of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Through capacity strengthening and mobilizing local communities of key populations the Partnership will work towards evidence-based community-led advocacy for access to high quality, inclusive, stigma-free, integrated and gender transformative SRHR services.
We will know the results of this application in the end of May 2020.
The Dutch Government Policy Framework for Strengthening Civil Society is focused on the West-Africa/Sahel, Horn of Africa, and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions. The Voices from the East Partnership is asking for attention to the continued health crisis in the EECA region, being the only region in the world with a growing AIDS epidemic.
