Regional consultations “Meaningful partnership, meaningful achievements: Law enforcement and CSO cooperation for a better HIV and public health response”

30-31 May 2022 - Almaty, Kazakhstan - In every region of the world, some people are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection and continue to be marginalized and criminalized for their gender identity, HIV status, sexual orientation, livelihoods. According to the latest UNAIDS Data Update Report People who inject drugs are at 35 times greater risk of acquiring HIV infection, and in 2020, key populations and their sexual partners accounted for 65% of HIV infections worldwide in 2020 and 93% of infections outside of sub-Saharan Africa. People who inject drugs accounted for almost half of new adult HIV infections in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (48%). However, people who use drugs and people in prisons are two key populations that are nonetheless often left behind, remaining isolated and largely out of reach with HIV services in most countries.

The estimated growth of new HIV infections increased for 43% from 2010 to 2020 making the region of Easter Europe and Central Asia the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the world. Criminal laws, unsupportive policing practices and lack of quality and accessible HIV and harm reduction services impede successful HIV response. There is a growing awareness among Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries that the role of LE agencies in addressing the drug use issues needs to be more addressed. Evidence from both theory and practice suggests that the main drivers behind the disproportionately low access to HIV services among key populations include lack of supportive national drug policies and legislation; over-reliance of many national law enforcement systems on criminal sanctions and imprisonment; stigma and discrimination, harassment, violence and extortion, including from state actors such as law enforcement, defense and national security personnel.

UNODC experts, jointly with the civil society organizations working with key populations, facilitated a 2-day regional consultation (30-31 May) for 45 decision-makers from the LE agencies representing drug control, police divisions dealing with public security, and the NGO sector from the countries of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Ms Ashita Mittal, UNODC Representative for Central Asia, had joined the meeting online and warmly welcomed the consultation’s participants.

The consultations are aimed at bringing together law enforcement officials from selected countries for a dialogue on the role of law enforcement in the response to the challenges countries in the region are facing today, such as HIV and COVID-19 epidemics, proliferation of new psychoactive substances, as well as discussing what needs to be done for enhancing the role of law enforcement in response to these challenges and for establishing and sustaining the partnership between the law enforcement and civil society sectors.

During the consultation it was highlighted that the success of HIV response is highly dependent on the strength and sustainability of multi-sectoral partnerships and consistent collaboration between all relevant agencies, especially between the Law Enforcement officials, health sector, social services, and non-governmental agencies. Functional and meaningful partnerships between these agencies are an essential step towards creating an enabling environment for the provision of key services that prevent, treat, care and support people who are vulnerable to HIV and other infections. As a result of the consultation, each country developed the road map with the activities that will be implemented further to sustain the collaborative process between the Law Enforcement officials, health sector, social services, and non-governmental agencies for successful national response to HIV.

You can find the Russian version of this article here.

United Nations

Office on Drugs and Crime

Regional consultations “Meaningful partnership, meaningful achievements: Law enforcement and CSO cooperation for a better HIV and public health response”