The General Meeting of members of the East Europe and Central Asia Union of People Living with HIV took place in Kyiv on March 27-28, uniting representatives from 15 countries of the EECA region to discuss the matters of the ECUO strategic development for 2018-2019.
The discussion of current challenges, threats, changing conditions and necessary priorities to ensure uninterrupted proficient work were the key items of the agenda. Two Co-Chairmen were elected to manage the organization by unanimous decision of the General Meeting: Wojciech J. Tomczyński and Vladimir Zhovtyak.
Wojciech J. Tomczyński, Co-Chairman of the ECUO on international development: “I, who have been living with HIV for more than 32 years, being one of the founders of the ECUO, I am greatly honored to hold this position and I understand my immense responsibility. The General Meeting entrusted me to coordinate the development of international cooperation and external relations of the organization, appointing me as the Co-Chairman of the ECUO. I am convinced that my 25 years of experience in the public area, established partnerships, extensive experience and expertise of the ECUO on the international scale will enable us to look at our international activities from a new perspective. We will adopt a new international development strategy based on the best practices. I am sure this step will contribute to the improvement of international partnerships, the implementation of best practices in Europe, America and experience sharing within EECA countries to improve the quality of life of all people living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia”.
Vladimir Zhovtyak, Co-Chairman of the ECUO on Internal Policies and Activities: “I think that my key task is to ensure the sustainability and resilience of the organization. We have managed to bring together a strong team of professionals in the Secretariat, they now implement all the operational activities and strategies of the ECUO, a regional network of networks, adhering to the transparency, responsibility and accountability principles. In 13 years we have succeeded in creating a strong organization that successfully defends human rights and takes efforts to improve the quality of life of all people living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Of course, we still have a lot to do to guarantee that every person with HIV in the countries of our region has access to quality treatment, care and support, and to ensure that stigma and discrimination against the PLWH community are eradicated”.
The ECUO has improved the structure of the organization’s activities management and control, making respective amendments to the Organization’s Charter. The key improvements were related to the Organization’s management, in particular:
– the new Supervisory Board was elected, including Svetlana Kulshis (Lithuania), Sevar Kamilova (Tajikistan), Yevheniya Korotkova (Uzbekistan), Lasha Tvaliashvili (Georgia) and Zhenia Mayilian (Armenia);
– the Organization’s Board composition was approved – Andris Veiķenieks (Latvia), Vladimir Mayanovskyi (Russia) and Nofel Sharifov (Azerbaijan).
Besides, the ECUO Secretariat staff members presented the programmatic and financial report of the organization for the 1-st quarter of 2018 and submitted plans for 2018. A discussion was held on the meaningful involvement of the ECUO in the VI International Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Conference and at the 22nd International AIDS Conference. The report of the Audit Panel was considered and recommendations for the further work of the Secretariat were provided. Vladimir Mayanovskyi was elected the Secretary of the ECUO CAB. Organization membership composition was also updated. Thus, new members, Tatyana Zhuravskaya from Belarus and Lyudmila Untura from Moldova, were admitted. The General Meeting accepted Igor Kilchevskyi statement of withdrawal from the Executive Director position, while it was decided to hold the open competition to select the ECUO Executive Director. Andrey Kosinov, ECUO Program Manager for the program “Partnership for the Equal Access to the HIV Services Continuum for Everyone who Needs It in the EECCA Region” is appointed as the acting Executive Director.