AIDS ACTION Europe Newsletter
AIDS ACTION Europe have published their January Newletter
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| www.aidsactioneurope.org | hivaidsclearinghouse.eu | No 1, January 2011 |  | ||||||
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| News | |
 (Icaso Action Alert) In December 2010 the United Nations General Assembly approved a Resolution (A/Res/65/180) that sets out the process for the 2011 comprehensive review of the progress in implementing the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS.Please take into consideration the following decisions contained in the Resolution when planning your advocacy actions:
In the ICASO Action Alert you will find further information about the high-level meeting, civil society involvement and hearing, and the outcome document. The action alert also describes key advocacy actions that you can take now to ensure community sector involvement in the high-level meeting. . | |
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 A few weeks before it takes over the EU presidency, the Hungarian government announced that it does not support the country’s national drug strategy because they say it’s based on "drug liberalization and harm reduction" - even though the document is supported by the vast majority of professionals and civil society organizations and it is fully in line with the EU drug strategy. In addition, the national drug coordinator was dismissed, the National Drug Prevention Institute was abolished and the drug budget was significantly cut. NGOs walked out from the meeting of the governmental drug coordination committee in protest.Would you like to see a government as a president of the EU that does not support harm reduction? If not, please sign the petition of Hungarian NGOs, service providers and activists and urge the government to return to the principles of a balanced, evidence-based drug policy! | |
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We would like to introduce to you Elena Zaitseva, who is the new manager of our project ’Responding to HIV through Organisational Support and Technical Cooperation in Eastern Europe and Central Asia’ (ROST). Elena will be taking over this role from Elizaveta Berezina who will continue to work as a project officer for AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW). Elena has been working as Project Manager for AFEW since 2007. Elena has been responsible for developing and implementing two project streams as part of the GLOBUS project: prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and HIV counselling. In her work, Elena is especially committed to contribute to the following global health issues:
If you have any questions about the ROST project, please contact Elena at Elena_Zaitseva@afew.org | |
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| AIDS Action Europe welcomes new team member | |
 Some of you might remember her from our good practice seminars on resource mobilisation and public policy dialogue, which she organised for AIDS Action Europe in October 2008 in the Netherlands. Jolan van Herwaarden now joined AIDS Action Europe as a full team member. On January 1st she started as the new Fundraising Coordinator for AIDS Action Europe. Jolan introduces herself below.I have been active in the not-for-profit sector for almost 18 years starting as the event manager for the Aids Fonds in 1991 in Holland. Walk for Life soon became a European event as well as a Hairdressers World Aids Day. I have been part of several ’movements’ that wanted to change the world for example to make a better world for women, people living with HIV/AIDS and fight against cancer. As a Senior Fundraiser, as Head of Fundraising and Communications and as Major Donor fundraiser I was involved with Mama Cash, Simavi and Royal Cancer Society in Holland. After moving to the United Kingdom in 2003 I joined the International HIV/AIDS Alliance as the Donor Relations Manager and became an active board member at a the Sussex Beacon, a local HIV hospice. World Aids Day 2005 was a special year as all Sussex-based HIV organisations participated in a HIV Postcard Campaign which I coordinated. The campaign resulted in an exhibition in local libraries and a booklet with a selection of the postcard entries. | |
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| Upcoming events | |
Upgrading NGO Lobbying practices 17-02-2011 - 17-02-2011 (Brussels, Belgium) 23-02-2011 - 25-02-2011 (Vienna, Austria) 03-03-2011 - 03-03-2011 (Brussels, Belgium) 17-03-2011 - 19-03-2011 (Padova, Italy) 23-03-2011 - 24-03-2011 (Brussels, Belgium) POSTPONED to spring 2011 (Brussels, Belgium) Harm Reduction 2011: IHRA’s 22nd International Conference ’Building Capacity, Redressing Neglect’ 03-04-2011 - 07-04-2011 (Beirut, Lebanon) HIV in Europe - Unity and Diversity 6th IAS Conference on HIV pathogenesis, treatment and prevention23-05-2011 - 25-05-2011 (Talinn, Estonia) 17-07-2011 - 20-07-2011 (Rome, Italy) 05-10-2011 - 07-10-2011 (Abano Terme, Italy) 12-10-2011 - 15-10-2011 (Belgrade, Serbia) 10-11-2011 - 11-11-2011 (Stockholm, Sweden) | |
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| Reports | |
Report of the 12th meeting of the HIV/AIDS Civil Society Forum The HIV/AIDS Civil Society Forum (CSF) has been established by the European Commission as an informal working group to facilitate the participation of non-governmental organizations, including those representing people living with HIV/AIDS, in policy development and implementation and in information exchange activities. This 12th meeting that took place on October 26-27 in Luxemburg, focused on a variety of issues, such as:
You can read the full report of the meeting on the AIDS Action Europe website. Here you can also download the different presentations as well as a summary report. Advancing Evidence and Equity: Report on the XVII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) The purpose of this report is to provide a concise summary of key findings and lessons learned from AIDS 2010 for those working in HIV and related fields. Focus is on new advances that are likely to have a significant impact on the global response to AIDS in the months and years to come. Highlights within each of the three conference programme areas – Science, Leadership and Accountability, and Community – and for the key topic of universal access and global HIV financing are presented, along with an analysis of the implications of conference outcomes on HIV practice, policy and research. The European MSM Internet Survey (EMIS) Community Report 1 Report of the first European internet-based research project on homosexuality, homosexual behaviour and sexually transmitted infections (STI) among men who have sex with men. More than 180 000 gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) filled in the questionnaire, making EMIS the largest study ever conducted on sex between men. The report is available in different European languages. Achieving universal access in Eastern, South-East Europe and Central Asia – 2010: An HIV community perspective The report aims to inform global, regional and national efforts to improve work towards universal access from a civil society perspective. It assesses the processes of setting and reviewing national targets focussing on levels of involvement of civil society, particularly those most affected by the epidemic like people living with HIV, injecting drug users, men who have sex with men, sex workers, prisoners and migrants. Commitment is assessed as is the allocation and use of funds. The report also reviews progress over the last 5 years as well as lessons learned from the levels of commitment; the development of services and how they respond to epidemiological trends; and the human rights situation and response. Finally a set of recommendations is provided for governments, UN bodies, international organizations and donors as well as civil society organizations on what could be done to keep universal access on the policy agenda and speed progress towards achieving it. The report was prepared within the project of EHRN “Achieving Universal Access: supporting community sector involvement and advocacy” implemented in partnership with International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO). The report will become available soon. For more information please contact marija@harm-reduction.org. | |
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| Members section: Committee for the Civil Rights of Prostitutes | |
The following section is devoted to the members of AIDS Action Europe. AIDS Action Europe currently unites more than 400 NGOs in 46 countries in Europe and Central Asia. In each e-news, one of our member NGOs presents its organisation and its activities to the rest of the network. We hope that this will inspire other NGOs throughout the region and that it will encourage further linking and learning between our members. Together we can work to a better response to the HIV epidemic! Do you want to present your organisation in our next e-news? Please contact our communications coordinator Martine van der Meulen. Our member: Committee for the Civil Rights of Prostitutes Onlus The Committee for the Civil Rights of Prostitutes (CDCP) is a non-profit association that was founded in 1982 by sex workers. Its main objective is to provide assistance to sex workers. Activities of the Committee include:
Working with partnersCDCP Onlus has carried out mobile street unit interventions with several Municipalities as well as the Province of Turin, aimed at mapping out the needs of sex workers and the difficulties they encounter. The Committee has worked with several prestigious institutions, such as the Health Ministry, during a campaign against the spread of HIV/AIDS. CDCP is also one of the founders of Tampep (European Network for HIV/STI Prevention and Health Promotion among Migrant Sex Workers). To this end, CDCP organises training courses for peer educators, cultural mediators, street operators, and social and health workers aiming to raise awareness on intervention methods applied by Tampep. Moreover, CDCP is also a permanent member of the National Focal Point (NFP) of the AIDS and Mobility observatory board at the National Institute for HIV/AIDS prevention. Stella Polare ProjectProgetto Stella Polare is the direct assistance project of the Committee for the Civil Rights of Prostitutes ONLUS. It is a social protection project aimed at encouraging self-determination and giving support to women who wish to escape from severe slavery conditions and sexual exploitation. It has been active since 1999. Progetto Stella Polare has 2 protected shelters. Its team is made up of a coordinator, an educator and a cultural mediator. The project gets further assistance from a psychologist; cultural mediators (of various nationalities); medical and para-medical professionals; local job agencies; reception facilities and all what not. Being a border town in North-East Italy and consequently having a high percentage of illegal entrance into the country, Trieste is the ideal place to locate the project. Stella Polare is operative throughout the North-East region as it is a member of the North-East network of other projects present in the area. It is also one of the several stations in Italy where calls from the national help-line against trafficking 800 290290 has been activated. For more information about the Committee for the Civil Rights of Prostitutes or the Stella Polare Project, please visit the website www.lucciole.org or contact us at lucciole.pordenone@gmail.com Pia Covre, Committee for the Civil Rights of Prostitutes | |
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| News from the AIDS Action Europe Steering Committee | |
The next Steering Committee meeting is planned for April 18-19 in Zagreb, Croatia. If you wish to raise any issues for discussion by the Steering Committee, please inform us by email at office@aidsactioneurope.org by mid March. Minutes of the meetings are always posted on our website. AIDS Action Europe would like to welcome three new members to its Steering Committee while saying goodbye to some members. We are very happy to announce that Assel A. Janayeva (Public Organization “Amulet”, Kazakhstan); Daria Ocheret, (Eurasian Harm Reduction Network), and Lella Cosmaro (LILA Milano ONLUS, Italy) will join the Steering Committee for a period of 3 years. In addition, Harry Witzthum, current Chair of the Steering Committee, was re-elected for a one-year extension as Chair. The term of Ton Coenen from STI AIDS Netherlands, who has a fixed seat on the Steering Committee, was also extended with three years. We are positive that the new composition of the Steering Committee will bring fresh spirit to AIDS Action Europe in reaching our mission of creating a more effective response to the HIV epidemic in Europe! We thank Nataliya Salabai from the All-Ukrainian network of PLWA, Aisuluu Bolotbaeva from the United Nations Development Programme in Kyrgyzstan and Ulrich Heide from the German AIDS Foundation for their commitment, dedication and contribution to the Steering Committee. Click here for an overview of our current staff and steering committee members. | |
organising sensitisation campaigns aimed at raising public awareness about the dignity and rights of sex workers;| Contact | |
| AIDS Action Europe office | |
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| AIDS Action Europe is the European partner of the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) | |