Philippine NGO Council on Population, Health and Welfare Inc.

Background

In 2010, to address the increased vulnerability of MSMs as well as Transgenders to HIV transmission especially in the  context of South East Asia, the Insular Southeast Asian Network on MSM, TG, and HIV or ISEAN and the Humanist Institute for Co-operation with Developing Countries or Hivos, jointly submitted a regional proposal  to the Global Fund Round 10. The Grant Agreement was approved and the contract for the grant was signed on 6 October 2011. This grant, has since then been called, the ISEAN Hivos Program.

ISEAN Hivos Program Objectives

• To strengthen the capacity of Community Based organizations (CBOs) and healthcare providers to improve the delivery of HIV related services for MSMs and TGs
  

• To improve the enabling environment and strategic advocacy regarding MSM, TG, and HIV related issues
  

• To improve the development and utilization of strategic information on MSM, TG, and HIV towards strengthening national responses
  

• To promote the strategic use of ICT and media to effectively scale up the HIV response among MSM and TG
  

Goals of the ISEAN-Hivos Program

The goal of the program is to reduce the vulnerability and risks of MSM and TG in Insular Southeast Asia to HIV infection and lessen the impact of HIV on their lives .

The Program intends to address critical gaps in supporting and scaling up activities that reduce HIV/AIDS among MSMs and TGs. It aims to complement national responses by strengthening community-based organizations (CBOs) to engage policy makers and advocate for improved access to comprehensive HIV interventions.

The ISEAN Hivos Program is being implemented in four countries of the ISEAN, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Timor Leste.

Organizational Structure

Hivos is the Principal Recipient of the grant providing over-all management of the grant implementation. In Phase 1 (October ,2011 to September, 2013), the Program has three sub-recipients  and two Regional Service Providers

Program Management Unit

The ISEAN Hivos Program Implements its activities through a Program Management Unit based in the Hivos Regional Office for South East Asia in Jakarta.

Sub-Recipients

In each country where the program operates, NGO sub-recipients were identified to lead country-based implementation. These are GWL-INA in Indonesia, the PT Foundation in Malaysia, and the PNGOC in the Philippines. A Sub-Recipient for Timor Leste shall be formally engaged in Phase 2 of the Program.

The Sub-Recipients represent key organizations working on HIV prevention and MSM- Transgender concerns in the countries where ISEAN-Hivos is implemented.  

Regional Service Providers

The ISEAN Hivos Program is supported at the regional level by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as well as Satu Dunia, the Regional Service Provider for the ISEAN-Hivos’ ICT framework

Key Strategies

To achieve its objectives, several program strategies and activities will be conducted, such as:

Capacity building training at regional and national level

Provision of technical assistance to country partners and CBOs

Support to the formation of regional and national MSM and TG Network

Another key strategy of the ISEAN Hivos Program is the use of ICT in targeting MSMs and Transgenders. The Program will set up and link websites that provide information on HIV Prevention, MSM and TG rights as well as locally available HIV-related services.