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On 8 June 2026, the Republic of Tajikistan submitted its country funding request to the Global Fund for the 2027-2029 allocation period. An important part of this process was the meaningful participation of community representatives, including people with lived experience of imprisonment and people released from penitentiary institutions.
As part of the project “Community at lead of HIV response in EECA prisons”, implemented with the financial support of the Robert Carr Fund, consultations with community representatives were held in April 2026. Based on these consultations, community priorities and proposals were developed for inclusion in the GC8 country funding request.
The key areas identified by the community included ensuring continuity of treatment after release, expanding access to OAT programmes, introducing diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis B and C, strengthening pre-release preparation mechanisms, providing social support and case management, reducing stigma and discrimination, and improving the quality of healthcare services.

As part of the “Promotion of the Right to Health in Prisons of the EECA Countries” project, the community of people with living experience in prisons was established in Kazakhstan in 2024, bringing together 23 people.
In 2025, community representatives registered the ResSocium Public Foundation, which will work in Kazakhstan to ensure the right to health in prisons.. Community members conducted a survey of 26 people in prisons, the results of which formed the basis of the advocacy plan for 2025. The plan includes community-led monitoring and initiatives to expand opportunities for people with living experience in prisons. Thanks to advocacy efforts, the community’s proposals have been included in the Country Coordination Mechanism meetings agenda for 2025.  Additionally, one of its representatives has joined the National Preventive Mechanism. 
In 2024 a strong foundation was laid for further work to protect people’s rights in prisons and improve their access to healthcare services. Creation of the organization of people with living experience in prisons will be a significant step towards strengthening the advocacy of the right to health in prisons.

In the framework of the project “Promotion of the Right to Health in Prisons of EECA Countries”, the community of people with living experiences in prisons was established in Uzbekistan in 2024, bringing together 10 members.
A focus group was conducted within the community to identify key needs in enhancing knowledge in areas such as NGO strategy development, crowdfunding, volunteer engagement, sustainable development, and best practices. Based on these findings, an advocacy development plan for 2025 was created.

As part of the project “Sustainability of Services for Key Populations in EECA region“, Georgia successfully implemented an initiative to introduce a post-release support program aimed at overdose prevention. This initiative addresses critical issues related to psychoactive substance use and the heightened risk of overdose among recently released people.
Comprehensive training sessions were conducted in three penitentiary institutions for 27 prison staff members. These sessions covered topics such as the causes of addiction, standards of care in case of substance dependence, harm reduction strategies, and interventions to reduce overdose risks upon release. These training activities equipped penitentiary staff with the necessary knowledge to support incarcerated individuals more effectively.

In 2024, as part of the project “Sustainability of Services for Key Populations in EECA region“, a draft law was developed in Ukraine to abolish the regulation imposing an additional 25% tax on the wages of incarcerated people.
To advocate for this change, official appeals were submitted to key government bodies, including the Cabinet of Ministers, the Office of the Business Ombudsman, and the Ministry of Finance.