Ministry of Social Affairs Establishes Partnership with AIDS Healthcare Foundation Asia

JAKARTA (6 August 2020) - Director of Social Rehabilitation for Tuna Sosial ((people unable to live a normal life according to religious, social, and law norms) and Human Trafficking Victims of the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs, Waskito Budi Utomo attended the Ministry of Social Affairs hearing with representatives of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Asia, one of the Ministry of Social Affairs' non-government partners in social rehabilitation of people with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA).

The Ministry of Social Affairs and AHF have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 22 July 2020 on program/area of ​​cooperation including Mitigation of the Impact of Handling HIV through Social Rehabilitation for PLWHA and Increasing Access to Health Services for them. The MoU is valid for 3 years from 2020 to 2023.

The Head of the Planning Bureau of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Adhy Karyono conveyed that technical cooperation between the Ministry of Social Affairs and AHF was aimed to fill the gaps and complement the implementation of social rehabilitation for PLWHA in Indonesia. The Planning Bureau will supervise, monitor and evaluate programs as well as compliance with regulations and assist AHF in its relationship with the Foreign Organization Licensing Team.

Adhy expressed his highest appreciation to the Directorate of Social Rehabilitation of Tuna Sosial and Human Trafficking Victims for the intense and constructive efforts as well as the technical support provided during the MoU preparation process and the discussion of the Activity Master Plan (RIK) between the Ministry of Social Affairs and AHF.

AHF will cooperate with the Directorate of Social Rehabilitation of Tuna Sosial and Human Trafficking Victims in six provinces, namely DKI Jakarta, North Sumatra, Bali, East Java, South Sulawesi and East Kalimantan. On this occasion, a symbolic MoU was handed over from the Head of the Planning Bureau to the Director of Social Rehabilitation of Tuna Sosial and Human Trafficking Victims as AHF's technical partners in Indonesia.

AHF is a non-profit organization from the United States that focuses on helping PLWHA in accessing medical care and appropriate treatment, especially for poor groups regardless the ability to pay. AHF also supports improving the quality of HIV programs by increasing early detection, prevention of transmission, mentoring and prevention of lost to follow up (LTFU) ARV therapy. Currently AHF has four regional offices in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia.