Jumpstart

From 2012 to 2015, Health Equity Matters partnered with APCOM (previously the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health) to develop and implement the JumpStart program – an initiative to strengthen the capacity of networks of men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender networks.

JumpStart was funded by the Australian Government and aimed to develop the capacity of MSM and transgender communities and their peer based organisations to actively participate in national and regional responses to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care.

Jumpstart provided partners with a small grant funding, capacity assessments, technical support for key policy and programmatic responses, and strategic information to strengthen these organisations reach in the community. An evaluation of Jumpstart found that the initiative was ‘a timely and appropriate intervention … based on a clear rationale and strong need’, and that AFAO provided ‘solid and consistent support at a critical time’, when APCOM was in the early stages of growth.