Dear Friends

The Center for Health and Gender Equity has received funding to expand its work
on documenting the effects of the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, TB
and Malaria Act of 2003 (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or
PEPFAR) on HIV/AIDS efforts.

One part of this effort concerns documenting the "prostitution loyalty oath," or
"prostitution pledge" that must be signed by organizations receiving funding
from the US government and working with highly vulnerable and marginalized
populations.


(For more information on this policy, see background documents at
<http://www.genderhealth.org/loyaltyoath.php>
http://www.genderhealth.org/loyaltyoath.php).

We are therefore conducting both a broad based survey---building on an earlier,
limited-site survey conducted last year---as well as carrying out in-depth,
on-the-ground research in four countries.

If you are affected by this policy and are able to share your experiences,
please respond to this survey. If you prefer that we contact you by phone,
please see instructions below. All contact information and other details will
be held confidentially and participants will have a chance to review the
products of
this work before it is completed.

Results of the survey will be used to inform policymakers, program managers,
constituency groups and others seeking to support effective programs in the
fight against HIV/AIDS.

About this effort: We are aware that many NGOs are signing agreements that
could restrict their ability to work with commercial sex workers on HIV
prevention and/or to promote the basic human rights of those engaging in both
commercial and transactional sex work. We are concerned that these agreements
compel organizations and the individuals within them to take a position that is
at once objectionable and also vague.

Furthermore, the rights of organizations and individuals conducting work related
to HIV and AIDS to freely express themselves may be curbed by the signing of
such agreements and could result in further stigmatizing a group of people for
whom resources for prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS are already scarce.

We therefore are asking for input from NGOs receiving funding under PEPFAR,
whether directly or indirectly whether under or through agreements held by
USAID, the Centers for Disease Control, the US Department of Health and Human
Services, or under or through sub-agreements with cooperating agreements of the
US government.

We would like to hear from groups that have signed the 'prostitution pledge' or
are contemplating signing a financial or technical agreement that includes this
pledge.

The Survey: While we will be conducting intensive interviews on this issue in
several countries, we also want to get a broader idea of what is happening with
this policy in various settings. So irrespective of where you are, if you are
working under or being asked to sign this pledge, please participate. If you
engaged in this survey last year, we will be contacting you to follow up.

Ideally, we would ask that you fill out and send us back the entire survey,
which is available at <http://www.genderhealth.org/pubs/survey.rtf>
http://www.genderhealth.org/pubs/survey.rtf.

If you prefer to conduct the interview by phone, please send us a phone number
and other relevant contact information on who you are and how we can reach you.
At a minimum, we would like to know the following.

1. What work does your organization do with vulnerable populations such as
commercial sex workers or others engaged in sex work informally?

2. Has your organization signed the "prostitution loyalty oath, and if so when?

3. Under what type of agreement and with what actor (e.g. a cooperating agency
and/or directly with a US government mission or agency)?

4. Did you question the pledge at the time of signing and what was the response
from your US government counterpart?

5. Have you developed a policy 'opposing prostitution' and what does it look
like?

6. Do you receive funds from other donors and have you informed these donors
that you have signed the pledge. How have they responded?

Again, if you don't have the time to answer these questions, but do want to
participate in the survey, please send us an email with your name and a phone
number so that we can call you to talk through your experiences.

This will inform us in thinking about how these issues affect indigenous civil
society groups fighting AIDS. And again, we recognize the importance of
ensuring confidentiality and will not publish or discuss any of the names of
organizations that contact us without explicit consent.

With all best wishes,


Jodi L. Jacobson

Executive Director
Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)
6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 910
Takoma Park, Maryland 20912
Phone (301) 270-1182
Fax: (301) 270-2052
E-mail: jjacobson@...
www.genderhealth.org