JumpStart: building the capacity of MSM and transgender networks across Asia and the Pacific

The APCOM team, led by Joe and A, present JumpStart
findings to Khun Somchai Promsombat, Executive Director
at the Poz Home Center.

JumpStart is an AFAO/APCOM project, which aims to build the capacity of MSM and transgender national networks to effectively engage with HIV responses in the Greater Mekong and ISEAN sub-regions.

In 2015, JumpStart published a Regional Analysis Report assessing the capacity of regional, sub-regional and national MSM and transgender organisations and networks working across Asia and the Pacific.

Rights, resilience, and solidarity: Transgender Day of Remembrance

The International Transgender Day of Remembrance on 20 November offers all a chance to reflect on those who have been discriminated against, those who have had violence perpetrated against them, and the need for solidarity to stand up against violence in our region, particularly violence perpetrated against transgender people.

Due to stigma, transgender women especially are particularly vulnerable to HIV, so AFAO has over the years tried to ensure that transgender issues are addressed in our programs, policy work and resources.

To celebrate TDoR, this post shares pictures and links to articles, mainly from past editions of HIV Australia, which analyse the issues and showcase the work AFAO and our partners have been doing in Australia and the Asia Pacific region to support the health and human rights of transgender people.

Welcome to James and Chris

Chris (left) and James (right) kick back with Vaness Silpakhan,
Admin Assistant at AFAO's Bangkok office.

AFAO International Program is pleased to welcome two new members to our team in the Bangkok Office - James Malar and Chris Ward.

Both James and Chris started with the program in early April, and have been working closely with the AFAO programs and partners.

AFAO's ICAAP11 highlights

One of many discussions at the AFAO booth.
More pix at afao.smugmug.com

AFAO representatives from our International Program and Sydney office joined the recent International Congress on AIDS in the Asia Pacific (ICAAP11) in Bangkok.

AFAO worked with our key partners Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM) and Asia Pacific Network of AIDS Service Organisations (APCASO) to jointly present a number of sessions, and also supported the participation of our partner in Papua New Guinea, Kapul Champions.

FOREPLAY - The final push towards three zeros

A series of community events was held across two days in the lead up to ICAAP11, to allow community delegates to come together and network, and to be discuss key issues related to HIV and key populations in Asia and the Pacific.

The first of these events was FOREPLAY, a one day community pre-conference hosted by APCOM on 17 November.

New publication puts focus on HIV in Asia and the Pacific

18 November 2013, Bangkok, Thailand - On the eve of this year's International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP11) - the largest HIV conference in the region -  two leading community HIV organisations, the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) and the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM) , have released a special edition of AFAO's flagship publication, HIV Australia, discussing HIV in Asia and the Pacific.

The special edition aims to create discussion around the significant human rights, HIV and funding gap issues for men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people. These issues include:

• Across the Asia Pacific region, rates of new infection have decreased among the general population but continue to grow among MSM and transgender populations.
• Young MSM are at particular risk. One study from Bangkok showed that over a 5-year period, 30% of the young men involved in the study became infected with HIV.
• Globally, transgender women are up to 48 times more likely to have HIV than other adults in the same population. Rates of HIV among transgender groups were: 43% in India, 26% in Indonesia and 12.5% in Thailand.

UNAIDS leadership forum at ICAAP – achieving zero new infections, zero AIDS deaths and zero discrimination in Asia and the Pacific

Panel at the UNAIDS Leadership Forum.

In the lead up to the 11th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP11) -  the largest HIV conference in the region - The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS are hosting a two-day Leadership Forum entitled "Asia Pacific Getting to Three Zeros"  to discuss achieving zero new infections, zero AIDS deaths, and zero discrimination in the region.

The two day forum, held 18-19 November in Bangkok, is one of many events happening during the ICAAP conference that is putting the international spotlight on responses to HIV in Asia and the Pacific. Around one hundred senior government officials, policy makers and civil society leaders were in attendance on the first day of the forum.

AFAO Advocacy Hub: the Asia Pacific HIV response

L-R: Janelle Fawkes, Chris Connelly, Omar Syarif, and
Ele Morrison. 

Each day at the Australasian HIV/AIDS conference in Darwin, AFAO is hosting a Community and Advocacy Hub. Hub activities include a mini-film festival, panel discussions and open mic sessions.

Today at the AFAO Hub, there was a wide-ranging discussion from AIVL, APN+, AFAO and Scarlet Alliance about the need for longer term funding to sustain community based responses in Asia and the Pacific.

Omar Syarif from APN+ highlighted need to scale up access to treatment, address legal barriers, and trade agreements.

Ele Morrison from AIVL talked about need to support drug users to advocate for themselves.

Janelle Fawkes from Scarlet Alliance highlighted the need to fund over long term the development of viable sex worker organisations.

Chris Connelly from AFAO's international program, discussed how AFAO has supported the development of MSM and TG community based organisations, with Kapul Champions in PNG being the most recent successful example.

Rob Lake, AFAO Executive Director, commented that Australia has a great interest in ensuring that international trade agreements, including the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, do not create barriers to accessing life saving treatments across the region.

More info about the Hub

Introducing Chris Connelly – the new Manager for AFAO International

Chris has just joined the International team at our Bangkok office.

He was recently visiting the Sydney office and we thought AFAO's friends and partners might like to know a bit more about him, so we asked him a few questions about how he came to be working for AFAO and what the International team is up to this year.