Kimirina

4/25 provinces

Corporación Kimirina works with community organisations and marginalised populations responding to HIV in Ecuador.

The Andean country of Ecuador, in the northwest of South America, has a concentrated HIV epidemic, with approximately 0.3% of adults infected. Gay men and other men who have sex with men are the most affected population, with an estimated prevalence of 19.3% in the capital city. Prevalence is also high among transgender people and sex workers, and the rate of new infections is steadily increasing.
Despite some advances in recent years, access to high quality health care, such as HIV testing and counselling, remains inadequate and there are particular gaps in services targeted at the most vulnerable populations.
Stigma and discrimination, resulting from a culture of machismo and misinformation about HIV/AIDS, contribute to HIV transmission and hinder progress towards achieving universal access to prevention services.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

Reached 16,691 people through HIV prevention activities in 2008

WHAT WE DO

Mobilising key populations

Corporacin Kimirina, an Alliance Linking Organisation since 2000, provides technical support to community organisations and helps mobilise key populations (sex workers, people living with HIV, transgender people, gay men and other men who have sex with men) in the response to HIV. Kimirina also works to prevent sexually transmitted infections and improve voluntary counselling and testing services. The organisation has successfully advocated for new national policies on HIV and helped to establish the Global Fund programme in Ecuador.

Community Observatory

Following the success of similar projects in Bolivia and Peru, in 2009 the Alliance began an advocacy and observatory project to help transgender people in Ecuador. The project raises awareness of transsexual and transgender populations to enhance respect of their human rights and improve their access to health services. It is run by three organisations: Corporaci'n Kimirina, FUTPEN (Fundaci'n Transg'nero de la Pen'nsula) and Alfil LGBT organisations, who are all members of the national transgender network RedTrans.