Civic Chamber gives support to AIDS NGOs declared ‘foreign agents’

Moscow, 17.08.2016

Aleksandr Brechalov has called for a review of decisions on the inclusion of organisations not engaged in ‘anti-Russian activities’ in the ‘foreign agents’ register.

The Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation intends to discuss the inclusion of AIDS NGOs in the ‘foreign agents’ register with the Ministry of Justice, reports Echo of Moscow. Some NGOs in receipt of foreign funding are not engaged in ‘anti-Russian and political activities’, but on the contrary ‘strengthen and develop society’, stated the Secretary of the Civic Chamber Aleksandr Brechalov. The Civic Chamber will discuss the conditions under which an organisation may be entered into the ‘foreign agents’ register with the Ministry of Justice. If the criteria for inclusion are formal, the Civic Chamber will “try to change the situation for these organisations”, Brechalov emphasised.

A number of organisations specialising in the fight against HIV have been recognised as ‘foreign agents’: Esvero, a non-profit partnership supporting social prevention programmes in the field of public health; the AIDS service provider Society; the Andrey Rylkov Foundation; the NGO Panacea, which works to prevent negative developments amongst young people in the Penza region; and the Sibalt Health and Social Welfare Centre, an NGO based in the Omsk region.

According to the latest report by UNAIDS, Russia accounts for more than 80% of new cases of HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The report notes that Russia is one of the countries where the HIV epidemic continues to grow rapidly.

Author: Georgii Ivanushkin

http://www.asi.org.ru/news/136713