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The project ‘Improved TB/HIV Prevention & Care – Building Models for the Future’ is aimed at increasing government recognition of the role and quality of the non-public sector for TB/HIV service delivery, providing TB/HIV services according to agreed standards, encouraging civil society to be the active participant in monitoring quality of services, ensuring that clients have affordable options and trust in service provision, stronger linkages between government, project and civil society.

Civil society NGO activists in Ukraine are developing a new legislation on sex work. According to them, eliminating the fines could help increasing access to medical care for women and men involved in sex work – a profession vulnerable to HIV.

The initiative started in May 2017 on the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial with a mini-football blitz tournament in Almaty. The members of the team were not professional sportsmen and muscular men, but delicate and the most beautiful girls in the country – the finalists of the beauty contests, popular singers and journalists. However, girls’ mentors were real football professionals, including sportsman-composer Abdulkarim Karimov and renowned players Zharko Markovich and Bauyrzhan Turysbek from Kayrat team.

“Kyianka+” group, operating with support from ICF “AIDS Foundation East-West” (AFEW-Ukraine), was created three years ago, and has already helped more than 150 women. Women living with HIV attend monthly meetings, participate in master classes and get psychological counselling. Members of self-help group conduct regular meetings to exchange positive emotions, share success stories and learn how to resist psychological abuse.

The world movement, which already includes more than 70 major cities around the world, has reached Central Asia. The first city, whose authorities signed Paris Declaration with an appeal to stop AIDS epidemic on July 20, 2017, was Almaty.