About Us

EKPC aims to build well-informed, capacitated and engaged Key Populations advocates at national, regional and global levels, in order to achieve increased quality, investment and coverage of tailored and rights‐based programs for their communities. Meanwhile, EKPC local members set up to support such communities faced their own set of obstacles. These included a severe funding crisis, limited technical and organisational capacity, and restricted engagement and recognition in decision-making processes. Today, these challenges – for communities and EKPC members alike – persist. However, they have been intensified and/or nuanced by new and emerging trends. For example, EKPC’s work now takes place within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which – while committing to ‘leave no-one behind’ – brings demands for the integration of HIV within wider programmes for health. There is also yet further pressure on financial resources, in particular in countries classified as middle-income that often have HIV epidemics concentrated among key populations who “often suffer from punitive laws or stigmatizing policies” and “are among the most likely to be exposed to HIV.”

In addition, Eurasian civil society space is shrinking at a fast pace, with the sector’s essential contribution to decision-making increasingly minimized or ignored in many countries, especially in Eastern European, Central Asian, South Caucasian sub-regions. Within this ever-changing context, the unique role of EKPC is more critical than ever - to mobilize action, build capacity and coordinate advocacy across communities and contexts because, in isolation, many of our member organizations remain fragile - especially those that are new, small and/or working in hostile environments. It continues to be clear that EKPC can achieve much more together – pooling experience, expertise and energy, as a force that provides unity in diversity.

EKPC operates according to a set of guiding principles, such as that its decisions are made through consensus. These principles, alongside members’ roles and responsibilities, are set out in a Memorandum of Understanding that is signed by every member. EKPC brought together Key Populations communities, Key Populations led organizations, Key Populations programme implementers, government officials, development partners and technical experts - to share lessons learned and promising practices from implementation, relevant and novel research and programmatic data, to build civil society and platforms for technical exchange.

EKPC has four shared objectives:

1.    Evidence-bases client centric data and Strategic Information: Build knowledge and skills to improve utilization of national and subnational data to increase coverage of comprehensive programs for key populations, reach geographical areas or subgroups not yet reached (e.g. including higher risk Key Populations, adolescent and young , lesser known groups such as TG and PUD), and improve tracking of violence, discriminations, harassment, hate crimes, hate speeches, human rights violations, abuse etc. EKPC is advocating for:

·         flexible monitoring mechanisms to capture changes in populations (mutation of hotspots, behavioral changes)

·        diversification and integration of services into the standardized packages of services

·         Improvement of quality of data and their use for implementation (data use for impact)

2.  Development of partnership, ownership, accountability: Build knowledge and skills to implement successful and rights based prevention activities to meet the prevention and 90-90-90 goals such as PEP, PrEP, HIV self-testing, partner notification and index testing, harm reduction services and among those most underserved populations such as young Key Populations, TG and PUD. EKPC is advocating for:

·         mobilization of domestic resources, research of innovative financing (e.g., taxes), and strengthening public-private partnerships

·         cross learning (mentoring) between key population organizations

·         operationalization of the national action plans in support of existing national programs

·         innovations and game changes such as Pre-exposure prophylaxis, HIV self-testing and index testing

3.   Enabling Environment: Share experiences and lessons learned on how stigma reduction, human rights literacy and access to justice programs can be integrated as part of the comprehensive package of key populations; and, share promising practices in working with governments and legislators in reducing legal barriers to access services and increase coverage for key populations. EKPC is advocating for:

·         microplanning to better target programmes

·         Key Populations size estimation, risk prevalence and incidence data

·         gender sensitive approaches and services sensitive for adolescent and young key populations

·         Human rights-based approach being a base of Key Populations programming

·         peer navigation for case management approaches

·         organizational capacity assessments and capacity strengthening plans

4.   Scale up of best Practices and innovations: Demonstrate that by community-based or community-supported models of care, including task shifting from doctors to nurses, and from nurses to community health workers and loosening the reins on a centralized approach will HIV programs, coupled with a move toward differentiated prevention, ART delivery and care, will help achieve epidemic control. EKPC is advocating for:

·         differentiated Models of Service Delivery including Decentralization and Task-Shifting

·         tracking of Key Populations for improved follow-up, reduced duplication, and enhanced provision of services

·         scale up and dissemination of best practices (e.g., test and treat, decentralization of testing)

·     development of the capacity of key populations in terms of providing specific and comprehensive services and interventions, as well as gender budgeting and resource management.

·         ICT/social media program being a base of Key Populations programming