International activities
AIDS Action Europe
AIDS Action Europe is a partnership of HIV/AIDS NGOs set up to advocate for greater commitment and cohesion in the global response to HIV, contribute to European policy-making on HIV/AIDS and facilitate the transfer of experiences proven as effective across the wide European region (comprising 52 countries, as defined by WHO).
Considering the recent catastrophic explosion of HIV affecting several Eastern European countries and the imminent enlargement of the European Union, this action plan proposes strategic steps to be taken by AIDS Action Europe towards (1) encouraging European and international institutions to urgently strengthen their responses to the HIV epidemic in the region (2) promoting the essential role of local non-governmental actors in preventing HIV, providing support and defending the rights of People Living with HIV/AIDS, improving healthcare practices and holding governments accountable.
www.aidsactioneurope.org
MOVE Forward Project
The Dutch government made a grant available for Dutch NGO’s and their local partner organisations who work with sex workers in development countries. This grant aims to enlarge career development opportunities for sex workers who voluntarily want to withdraw from sex work.
World wide, sex work is often criminalized and surrounded by stigma and discrimination. This places sex workers in a marginalized position, which makes them more vulnerable to STD’s and HIV. Empowerment of sex workers and sex worker-friendly services are essential to improve their position. Enlarging career development opportunities is a strong way of empowerment. Establishing this kind of programmes for sex workers is not a simple task and there is no ‘one fits all-solution’ at hand. Contextual determinants like poverty, lack of alternatives, stigma and discrimination are deep-rooted factors that hinder sex workers to change their careers.
The sex work projects-team of STI-AIDS Netherlands (SANL) has received part of the grant for the MOVE Forward project. This project aims to roll out career development projects in 4 countries: Egypt, Uganda, Vietnam and Macedonia, all of which are partner countries of the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs. The projects will consist of two components: a thorough needs assessment and a pilot project.
Through the needs assessments the voices of sex workers will be heard, together with the voices of other important players in the local field of sex work, such as local NGO’s, health professionals and governmental institutions.
The pilot projects will be implemented in all 4 participating countries through local partner organisations. The content of the pilots can very from a wide range of activities. In this way SANL attempts to imbed the pilots in the local context as best as possible.
The MOVE Forward project of SANL started in September 2009 until April 2011. The pilot projects must be implemented by partner organisations between December 2009 and April 2011.
Objectives
The objectives of the MOVE Forward project are:
- To document best practices, contextual determinants and (pre)conditions of career development programs for sex workers in Egypt, Uganda, Vietnam and Macedonia.
- To identify the potential effects (both favourable and adverse) on the position of sex workers of the proposed career development programs for sex workers.
- To identify appropriate intervention methods to enhance empowerment of sex workers through career development programmes.
- To implement pilot projects to improve career development opportunities for sex workers. SANL will focus on the empowerment of sex workers and on improving sex worker-friendly services in a way that career development strategies can be imbedded in a good local structure. The outcome of the pilots will enhance the MOVE Forward project with valuable information to determine the preconditions of career development programmes.
Methods & Process
- Desk Study: SANL will conduct a desk study on the career development projects that already have been initiated, to gain better insights in lessons learnt in the past.
- Needs Assessment Study:
The central research question of the needs assessment will be: what (pre)conditions are needed for development and implementation of sustainable programmes that aim to support sex workers and their career development in Egypt, Uganda, Vietnam & Macedonia?
After a mapping session, sex workers as well as other important social players will be consulted within the needs assessment. - Pilot Projects
In line with the needs assessment, pilot projects will be implemented by relevant stakeholders, which could be local NGO’s as well as UN agencies. - Final evaluation report
Final evaluation report including findings of the needs assessment and the pilots.
Outputs
The following outputs can be expected from the project:
- Improved understanding of local programmes that aim to empower sex workers through career development programmes.
- Documented best practises and (pre)conditions of career development programmes.
- Capacity of local NGO’s and other relevant institutions are strengthened where needed to increase the success of career development programmes and sex worker-friendly services.
- Pilot projects have been developed and implemented, through which sex workers have better opportunities to further develop their careers.
Report
More information: Marieke Ridder, mridder@soaaids.nl
Positive prevention
prevention activities aimed at people living with HIV/AIDS - Positive Prevention - has become one of the priorities in the Action Plan on the Rise of the Epidemic in Western Europe. Positive prevention and sexual health is targeted at policy and activities that focus on the needs of HIV-positive people keeping themselves healthy in an enabling society. This needs to be done, with recognition of the diversity of different groups positive people. And - naturally - this needs to be developed including and involving different groups of people living with HIV.
In order to develop Positive prevention and Sexual health the workshop concluded it is needed that:
- The underlying principles should be formulated & implemented
- Evidence & experience driven actions should be implemented
- Stimulate support of Self support groups & NGO's
- Disseminate information & access to help lines
AIDS Action Europe (the Pan European NGO Partnership on HIV and AIDS) and STI AIDS Netherlands take the initiative to organise a workshop on this issue in November 2005. This meeting is intended for professionals working on, or planning to work on positive prevention in Western Europe. The main focus is on NGOs, but best practises can also come from other areas such as science or health care. They should focus on different groups for whom positive prevention is relevant: gay men, heterosexuals, IV-drug users and people coming from countries that are affected most by the epidemic. The primary region is Western Europe, which will not be defined very strict. The idea is to attract people from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, the Netherlands.
The ASA project
A Step Ahead towards health and social care for sex workers in Serbia Project time: 1 June 2008- 31st May 2011
Funded by the ministry of foreign affairs, MATRA programme
The Power of Prevention (POP) project from 2004 till 2007 created the right climate to continue with activities in this region. The Power of prevention project made it possible to continue with new intervention strategies for the sex workers in Serbia. During the POP project over hundred medical staff have been trained to be sex worker friendly and during the ASA project these staff members will be part of the project again.
Some of the key problems Serbia is still facing are; despite the fact that sex workers are recognized in certain documents related to health policy, as a vulnerable group with its defined needs in the domain of care, there are only slight improvements in satisfying those needs. Criminalisation according to valid laws, high degree of social stigmatisation, discrimination within any system - make their position utterly regrettable. The official response to the problem is inadequate. Certain forms of sex work, such as indoor services, are completely out of bounds for any kind of prevention activities. And all activities for sex workers are concentrated predominantly in Belgrade.
During the ASA project a drop-in centre for sex workers will be realised. In this drop in centre, an integral approach in providing health and social care at local level will be secured. Also an organised and functional form of inter-institutional co-operation is being developed and implemented between the health and social sector.
Outreach workers will retain their role as "bridges" between official services and sex workers, and will expand their work to other areas. They will also mobilize outreach workers in Novi Pazar, in the latter part of the project.
One of the overall objectives of the project is to put health and social protection for sex workers at the agenda for change and to reform social and health care systems.
For more information on the project please contact:
Mrs Marieke Ridder-Wiskerke
Programme manager sex work projects
mridder@soaaids.nl
