STEP-UP 2019/2021 Training and Networking Weekend

After a challenging yet fruitful time of online trainings, the STEP-UP 2019/2021 participants are finally meeting face-to-face for a concluding training and networking weekend in Istanbul, Turkey.

The STEP-UP programme is a yearlong bilingual (English-Russian) modular training programme designed to provide HIV education and personal development training to people who have an aspiration to become more active in the work of and for HIV communities in Europe and Central Asia. The programme aims to equip a cohort of 27 HIV ambassadors with the knowledge and skills they need to advocate for best HIV practices.

The STEP-UP programme is designed for people living with HIV/AIDS, their health care providers, civil society representatives and other professionals who work in the field of advocating for universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment, care and prevention. By the end of the programme, the trainees should have a fairly good understanding of HIV and related co-infections and have an aspiration to go in-depth and increase their knowledge and capacity on the topics addressed by the programme.

STEP-UP graduates should assume a leading role in advocating for universal access to prevention and treatment, fighting stigma and discrimination and increasing understanding and acceptance of HIV in their country and at the international level.

The main activities of the STEP-UP 2019/2021 training cycle are:

• 3 distance-learning (online) modules in English and Russian;
• 6 small grants for follow-up projects or local trainings organized by STEP-UP trainees themselves (“train the trainer”);
• 1 training and networking weekend (face-to-face).