Olena Stryzhak is a member of the the Multi-Stakeholder Task Force HLM on HIV/AIDS
Our sister, friend, Olena Stryzhak EWNA Board member and Chairwoman of the CO «Positive Women» Ukraine has been selected to join the Multi-Stakeholder Task Force (MSTF) for the 2026 High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, alongside 18 representatives of diverse communities from around the world — people living with HIV, activists, and representatives of women’s and youth organizations. Together, they are shaping how the High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS will unfold on 22–23 June 2026 — determining who will speak, which issues will be on the agenda, and how key messages will be framed, through calls, correspondence, preparation of speakers, and selection of discussion topics.
We congratulate and celebrate Olena!
MSTF members review and comment on the Political Declaration throughout its drafting process. Community input is submitted directly to the negotiators. This means that Olena will be able to bring what matters most to our community to the negotiating table from within the process itself — the rights of women living with HIV, access to services, and protection from violence.
From the beginning of this month, the group’s main focus has been preparing for the Multi-Stakeholder Hearing (MSH) ahead of the UN High-Level Meeting on HIV, which successfully took place on 14 May 2026 in a hybrid format. During the interactive panels, civil society representatives, community members, and experts discussed the elimination of gender inequality, financing, and expanding access to services for vulnerable populations.
12 feminist leaders and activists from different countries, including Kate Thompson (Robert Carr Fund), Susana Fried (Just Future Collaborative), and Rita Gatonye (International Network of Women Who Use Drugs), spoke on behalf of women living with and vulnerable to HIV, raising concerns about the challenges and extremely difficult conditions faced by women during wars, conflicts, and political instability.
What civil society demands for women?
On 17 May 2026, civil society published its Statement of Priorities for the 2026 UN High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS ahead of the June meeting. Among its priority demands, the following are especially significant for our work:
⇒ Adolescent girls and young women (section 4.4). Adolescents and young women are identified as a priority group. The document calls for the removal of age-of-consent barriers, guaranteed access to comprehensive sexuality education, and the recognition of bodily autonomy as a non-negotiable right.
⇒ Integration of services (sections 4.1 and 4.7). HIV services must be integrated with sexual and reproductive health services, gender-based violence response, and mental health care.
⇒ Gender-transformative financing (section 2.3). The document explicitly identifies gender-transformative budgeting as a mandatory element of national HIV strategies. At least 30% of national budgets must be allocated to community-led programmes.
⇒ Community leadership (section 1.2). It is explicitly stated that women’s and youth organizations are underfunded and under pressure, despite playing a central role in the response to the HIV epidemic.
The full document is available at the link below.