UNDP in Ukraine

Promoting human rights of people living with HIV and representatives of all risk groups, reducing their stigma and discrimination is set to play a key role in the national response to HIV epidemic in Ukraine. On the occasion of the International Human Rights Day, the United Nations Development Programme, the International Youth Organization AIESEC and The State Social Services for Family, Children and Youth, have presented a new public information campaign “Friendship is stronger than the diagnosis” aimed at promoting tolerance towards people living with HIV.

The new wave of public advertising campaign was recently launched in three cities across Ukraine

In late November, in the frames of informational and educational project «S. A. Y. Tolerance» (Say "YES" to tolerance), a new wave of social campaign aimed at promotion of tolerance towards people living with HIV was launched in Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa.

In Ukraine, negative attitude towards people living with HIV/AIDS prevails. According to different estimates, the number of HIV-positive people in Ukraine reaches half a million, but many of its inhabitants in general have never been tested, and therefore they do not know their status.

According to the latest survey conducted by UNDP, only a small part of Ukrainian society has a tolerant attitude towards people living with HIV. The country formed a double standard of attitudes towards HIV. On one hand, some awareness on HIV infection exists, risk of HIV infection and the main ways of its transmission.

However, a very small percentage of the population is ready to personally communicate and be close to people living with HIV regularly. According to experts, stigmatizing and discriminatory attitudes are quite common in Ukrainian society. The vast majority of surveyed people living with HIV indicated they experienced negative attitudes in the process of social adaptation after they were tested and found out about their positive HIV-status. Thus, stigmatization and discrimination of HIV-infected people is one of the main obstacles to full integration of people living with HIV into society, which reduces the effectiveness of any programmes aimed at combating HIV/AIDS epidemic.

One of the recommendations for the reduction of intolerant attitude towards people living with HIV, stigma and discrimination is advocacy aimed at the whole society, which contribute to overcoming the fear of false stereotypes and prejudice towards people living with HIV.

In addition, according to the Manager of UNDP Project "Governance of HIV/AIDS, Vladimir Gordeiko, United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine recommends that national information campaigns to emphasize the importance of safe sex. "Any sex is good, if it is protected", - experts emphasize. The possibility of being HIV-infected does not depend on the social status of individuals. That is why the use of condoms during sexual intercourse has to become a rule among Ukrainians. While the state must guarantee the availability of condoms, especially for young people.

The current new campaign is aimed at young people. The organizers are certain that socially-active young people can and should influence the change in attitudes of the society.

In the frames of the campaign "Friendship is stronger than the diagnosis" a series of posters resembling a well-known friendship suggestion in the Internet social networks was developed.

"Somebody wants to be friends with you” and two buttons follow - "accept" or "reject". The only difference is that the person on the photo is wearing a T-shirt with the inscription "I have HIV”. We offer a viewer to think and make his/her decision: Is he or she ready to accept the friendship of this person (see photo).

The application to develop the campaign was accepted by the Social Advertisement Market from the international youth organization AIESEC. The competition was attended by four advertising agencies in Ukraine. The winning proposal was a joint one of the JWT agency and Mouse Interactive Media Internet Agency.

According to Olesya Drashkaba, head of the creative group of the JWT advertising agency, the experience of communication in social networks helped them.

"This is a wonderful moment when you receive a suggestion to make friends. Everyone remembers these buttons: "accept" and "reject". Personally for me, the "reject" button has always seemed strange and rude – in fact, imagine a person comes to you, and you say to her "I reject your friendship”. A bit uncomfortable, is not it? But HIV-positive people experience something similar. If we want to "reject" them," Olesya says.

The organizers decided: What if we just ask a direct question? Perhaps this will be a moment when people start thinking? Immediately one may not change its position - but he/she will think about it, he/she will have to tell this to him/herself. And if this position makes him/her feel uncomfortable – probably our call will reach its goal! Perception of the problem is the first step towards it solution.

"In our country it is very difficult to talk about tolerance to HIV-positive people. This is the problem of tolerance in general. Yes, we are not a tolerant country, even if one wears a mini-skirt; you can hear some interesting phrases from old ladies on the bench and even more when it comes to HIV. Lack of awareness of this issue and stereotyped thinking of patients’ lifestyle, fear of contacting HIV come along with this. The general mental position of "this is not my business" is important too. The idea of the message itself wasn’t what we have long thought about. Our goal was to find a way to make people think, to find a response in their souls. We refused form scaring the people and imposing our own position on them. As for myself, I can add that thanks to the project I thought a lot about how tolerant I am. And I still have a lot of questions to myself," Olesya Drashkaba adds.

According to Olesya, the result of the campaign will not be an immediate one. However, the first steps to tolerance development and a dialogue will be set. And this is one of the major achievements of the project.

Stigmatized perception of people living with HIV results in intolerant attitudes towards people living with HIV, which is a consequence of low awareness, fear, false stereotypes and prejudice. The results of recent research conducted on request of UNDP showed that the main barriers for social integration of people living with HIV are intolerant attitude of the society, legal insecurity and disclosure of HIV status. Social and individual prejudices against people with HIV lead to hostility, violence and moral condemnation, which contribute to stigma of people living with HIV. As a result, many people living with HIV fear social stigma more then the impact of HIV infection on their health.

Presenting the project, its manager, Bogdan Ovcharuk noted that the current problem of HIV/AIDS and mass intolerance encouraged members of the Kiev Local Committee of the International Youth Organization to launch the project «S.A.Y. Tolerance» (Say "YES" to tolerance).

The project uses the scheme "youth to youth", so a target group is young people who find their way in life. After all, Kofi Annan (UN’s seventh Secretary General) noted: "We in the UN, have long understood that the imagination, ideals and energy of young people is vital for further development. AIESEC makes a significant contribution to this development, educating agents of positive change through educational activities and global cultural exchange”. Bogdan Ovcharuk thanked the UNDP for its financial support of the project and noted that the uniqueness of this project was that it combined efforts not only to talk about HIV/AIDS, but, above all, to improve the tolerance and understanding in the hearts of everyone.

"Other activities within the the project will also be directed to developing leadership skills of young people, students, and student council members and youth initiatives in the field of HIV/AIDS. Socially active young people not only talk about the problems, but also try to solve them," Bogdan Ovcharuk added.

The format of the campaign not only promotes the activity of young people in social networks, but obviously makes them think about their own life and social position.

For more information, please contact Yuliya Davydenko, communications coordinator of the project "S.A.Y. TOLERANCE", at.: (050) 610-32-69 or (093) 484-54-94.

Background information: An information-educational project S.A.Y. TOLERANCE - is an initiative of the International Youth Organization AIESEC, which is implemented with the support of the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine and the State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth and focuses on the promotion of tolerance towards people living with HIV. The format of the project includes a public awareness campaign, educational seminars at the Ukrainian universities and a conference on the basis of “living libraries” for young leaders. http://saytolerance.org.ua

UNDP "Governance of HIV/AIDS Project" was initiated in 2004 with the purpose of improvement of HIV/AIDS governance on the national level by providing technical assistance in creation and implementation of targeted national programmes for struggle against HIV/AIDS spreading. The Project pays a special importance to the efforts aimed at supporting civil society in practical implementation of human rights in relation to HIV/AIDS. More information about the project: http://www.undp.org.ua

International Youth Organization AIESEC - the world's largest international non-governmental youth organization, which allows young people to develop their leadership, professional and personal skills in order to positively influence the society. International Organization AIESEC was founded in 1948 and is more than 60 years old. The organization is represented in 107 countries, brings together 35000 students and graduates from 1100 higher education institutions. AIESEC is present in Ukraine since 1994 and brings together more than 700 students from 45 universities. AIESEC is represented in 15 cities of Ukraine. More about the activities of the organization: http://www.aiesec.org.ua/

Creative agency JWT: international creative agency network that is top-3 ranked as advertising agency of Ukraine in 2009 according to the income from creative work. The agency works with both international and local clients.