Georgia

Key Results

Development of the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan 2023-2025 and the draft national EMTCT plan 2023-2024.
Transgender community recognized as a priority population and specific HIV prevention packages developed.
Evidence generated to further guide programming among people living with HIV, young people and key populations, and strengthen HIV sensitivity of social protection programmes.

Joint Programme Results

In Georgia, the Joint Team continued to advocate and support the Government ensuring substantial focus on populations left behind in the national policies and development framework (UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, WHO). Thanks to advocacy, policy dialogue and technical guidance, the new National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan 2023-2025 recognises the transgender community as a priority population to address their needs. In addition, a protocol on standards of HIV prevention services for the transgender community was developed and 60 healthcare providers had orientation on the updated protocols (UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, WHO).

Through collaboration with the nongovernmental organization Bemoni Public Union, 30 youth workers and more than 3500 adolescents from Tbilisi and rural areas were trained on HIV prevention (UNICEF). As part of randomized control trials, the Joint Team further supported initiatives that apply the behavioural insight approaches to consolidate platforms for anonymous counselling and youth-friendly services, aiming at boosting uptake of HIV self-testing among young people (UNDP, UNFPA).

With technical support from the Joint Team, the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) conducted a readiness assessment of the elimination of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis in Georgia; and updated the national elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (EMTCT) Action Plan 2022-2024, expanding it to include hepatitis B (UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO).

Source: Global AIDS Monitoring

AIDS mortality

Source: Global AIDS Monitoring

Progress towards 95-95-95 targets

Source: Global AIDS Monitoring

Through a partnership with NCDC and the National AIDS Centre, the Stigma Index 2.0 study was conducted for the first time in Georgia and generated strategic evidence on service barriers. It also made recommendations to guide advocacy, policy change and programming to end HIV-related stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV in the country (UNFPA). The Joint Team also supported an assessment of the HIV sensitivity of the national social protection scheme which led to the development of a case study to address the needs of vulnerable and key populations (UNDP).

In line with the leave no one behind principle, the revised standard operating procedures comprising case identification, reporting and referral tools for social workers strengthened healthcare and social protection services among survivors of gender-based violence, including women with disabilities and people from the LGBTI community. In addition, the Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group (WISG) completed the National Study of Societal Attitudes, Knowledge, and Information on LGBTI Communities in Georgia to inform a comparative analysis of changes in public perceptions of the LGBTI community and interventions (UNDP, UNFPA, UN Women).