Our Russian Counterparts

Public organization «Development» has been registered in September, 2001 by a group of people working in the field of addiction and HIV/AIDS since 1996. The purposes of the organization are: prevention education and outreach, promotion of healthy living, improving quality of life for people in Russia, promoting arts, education and spirituality in Russia, and strengthening families. The structure of the organization includes doctors, psychologists, and students – a total of 12 persons. The current activities of Development include:

Psychological, medical, and social support of HIV positive women through pregnancy, birth, and care-taking of a new baby.
Creating civil systems that increase the availability of HIV treatment, protection of the rights of PLWH, and overcoming the fear, ignorance and bias of the disease.
Conducting training seminars and joint actions with the journalists of the Sverdlovsk area, who work in various media formats, with the purpose of raising awareness of the HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis epidemics.
Enlisting the aid of the media in the development and distribution of relevant and modern methods of disseminating socially important information regarding these epidemics.

The key staff person of the organization Development is Vasileva, Tatyana Nikolaevna. Ms. Nikolaevna is a social psychologist and expert on public relations. She has 10 years of experience in this line of work and is the coordinator in other related projects on prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. This includes the programs and organizations of: « Health Protection in the System UIS of the Sverdlovsk Area » in 2003, trained under the program "Decrease {Reduction} in Harm - the Russian Federation " on the strategy of prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS among of narcotic drugs, lead by the organization "Doctors Without Borders" - the Dutch section, « AIDS - Information » in Moscow (June, October, 1999, March, 2000, February, 2001), « Fundraising. Work with welfare funds » (Moscow, February 2001), the participant of the international conference on Decrease{Reduction} in harm in Delhi (April, 2001. Also sponsored by “Doctors Without Borders”); « Training for trainers » (Ekaterinburg, October 2001, training-center «???????»); « Needs ???? (persons living with HIV) » (Minsk, February 2002); « Increase of efficiency of program funding » (Kazan, July 2002), « Meeting Project Funding Across the Russian Federation » (Moscow, July 2002), conference « the Program of small grants of Embassy of the USA: dialogue and cooperation » (Moscow, October 2006), training for journalists « Against AIDS » (Moscow, transatlantic partners, November 2006).

The «Agency for Social Strategies and Projects» (the Agency) is an independent non-profit organization founded in September of 2002. The mission of the Agency is to develop and implement significant social projects and programs. The goal of the Agency’s programs is to solve problems connected with societal change and make communities a safer place. The Agency’s activities are focused on advocating for individual rights, protecting and enhancing the social welfare of individuals, promoting access to healthcare, and conducting prevention education. In light of the recent explosion of HIV and substance abuse in Russia, the Agency has focused its efforts on HIV and substance abused prevention and treatment, and developed programs to provide support to individuals who are afflicted with these life threatening conditions. The activities of the Agency over the last three years include:

Peer counseling and support for discordant and HIV-positive couples with children.
Peer-led counseling and support group for PLWH who suffer from addiction.
Training for students of educational establishments of Ekaterinburg and Sredneuralsk, Sverdlovsk area.
Prepared and edited an information booklet for young families living with HIV/AIDS.
The Agency received an honorable diploma (decision No. 1077-??) from the Sverdlovsk Regional Government in 2004 for their active work in the field of HIV prevention and advocacy.
Disseminated PSA’s about the HIV/AIDS-epidemic via regional radio channels.

The key staff person involved with the Agency is Polyak Anna Vladimirovna, Director of HIV/AIDS-projects. Ms. Vladimirovna has been working with the Agency since it’s inception in 2002 and has been an integral part of the development and implementation of the activities described above. Prior to working with the Agency, Ms Vladimirovna was the Director of Regional Public Organization (Urals-Home-Start). Ms. Vladimirovna graduated from the Philological Department of the Sverdlovsk Pedagogical Institute in 1988.