Ukraine participatory site assessment leads to creation of a new organisation
10 May 2006
Participatory Site Assessments carried out in Ukraine as part of the USAID-supported SUNRISE project have proved to be a real means of empowering target populations, building leadership and encouraging more formalised action.
Participatory site assessments aim to build local ownership and local capacity to assess and address HIV and AIDS. People most affected by HIV/AIDS in a site are empowered to assess how HIV and AIDS affect their lives, and make plans to address this.
An initiative group from the "Youth Development Center" in the city of Yuzhny, Odesa region, who participated in the Site Assessment, is now registering their own organisation "Voskhod" (Sunrise) to carry out HIV prevention and care activities in their home town. As a new organisation, they plan to apply for an International HIV/AIDS Alliance grant to implement findings of the assessment.
Registering NGOs in smaller towns in Ukraine can be incredibly demanding. Levels of HIV infection are high, and there is little infrastructure to carry our HIV prevention and care work. Alliance Ukraine staff and experienced NGOs from the Odesa region are ready to support the new initiatives with technical assistance and to further expand work to towns and rural areas.
