4 November, 2020
In January of 2019, the landscape of support for many people living with or affected by HIV in Kyrgyzstan had changed radically. The middle-income country, already facing declining donor funding for the HIV response, had the services of their three community-led, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) put to an end due to the cease of funding from the country’s Global Fund (GF) programme. The funding was given to other organisations to provide these services. However, this sudden change left the community of the most marginalised people who inject drugs and people living with HIV with interrupted access to services and changes in service quality.
In April of 2019, with support from the Community Rights and Gender Technical Assistance Programme (CRG), INPUD decided to investigate the situation to identify measures that might be taken to ensure access to needed services. On top of that, the investigation also intended to learn any lessons that might be relevant to Kyrgyzstan and other middle-income countries facing similar reductions in donor funding and slow implementation of social contracting. An international and a local consultant were contracted to conduct a series of interviews and focus groups to gain an understanding of the situation, with their primary focus on services for people who use drugs.