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Meeting of the Country Coordinating Mechanism against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria of the Republic of Armenia HIV/AIDS and Transition and Sustainability Plan Development Group Members

A meeting on new HIV grant program development was held with participation of experts Vyacheslav Kushakov and Kateryna Boiko in National Center for AIDS Prevention on July 11-12, 2018. Representatives from governmental and CSO beneficiary organizations took part in the meeting (participants lists are attached). At the beginning of the meeting the experts highlighted several issues concerning the new HIV grant program. The legislative gaps and corresponding issues, in particular, the issues concerning IDUs, sex workers and trans- people. The highlighted issues were discussed in sequence. The first was the administrative penalties incorporated towards sex workers, as a means to restrain from HIV distribution, was considered as not insufficient. According to CSO representatives these means are only accelerating the corruption risks. Some of the participants witnessed that police detain sex workers for violation of public order and threatens to start a judicial process to impose administrative fines. A line of social issues were discussed concerning to the IDUs e.g people involved in Methadone substitution program are deprived from driving license. In some cases it means deprivation of the right to work for some drivers. Further the issue of increasing the efficiency in testing and prevention programs. CSO representatives proposed to discuss and include new activities with bigger integrity, rather than the awareness and condom distribution programs. Moving forward, the issue concerning the identification of migrant and other vulnerable groups as one, which hails discrimination while engagement in HIV programs. CSO representatives also noted about numerous issues connected to insecurity and distribution of private information. Mission East expressed its concerns about the 60% coverage described in the new grant proposal, naming it as too ambitious, in the case when the issue of expending of the geographical coverage (depending to funding) is still not addressed. CCM CRG WG coordinator introduced several issues among which it was proposed to add measurable targets on human rights in the new grant proposal.