APCOM makes available the analysis of the 2026 Political Declaration from the perspective of Asia‑Pacific, comparing global commitments with the ASKS of key populations and community‑led organisations in the region.
The 2026 Political Declaration sets ambitious global commitments, including scaling up combination prevention to reach 90% of people in need of prevention, and ensuring 20 million people are protected annually by antiretroviral‑based HIV prevention (PrEP). It also recognises the central role of communities, committing to programmes led by people living with, at risk of or affected by HIV and to establishing predictable, long‑term and flexible financing of community‑led responses through social contracting and other mechanisms.
For Asia‑Pacific key populations and community‑led networks, these commitments must shape a prevention response that is community-led, financed, and scaled up. Community priorities across the region call for domestic investment in prevention, innovative financing for PrEP scale‑up, fast‑track regulatory pathways for injectable and oral PrEP, and sustained investment in community‑led outreach, demand generation, service delivery, monitoring, and data systems. They also emphasise the need for enabling legal environments, strengthened community capacity, and regional collaboration to ensure that prevention efforts reflect the lived realities of key populations.
The document asked the following questions,
and what it means for Asia and the Pacific region, and advocacy opportunities for the region?
Has ‘Asia-Pacific’ been mentioned in the 2026 Political Declaration?
How often is “Key Populations” mentioned?
Domestic Investments & Sustainable Financing
| KP Priority | Political Declaration Reference | Gaps | Advocacy opportunities |
| Domestic investments Sustainable financing pathways | (par. 48) PD commits to increasing funding for people-centered HIV responses through adequate, predictable and sustainable financing and achieving USD 21.9 Billion annually by 2030. PD commits to increasing the share of domestic financing for HIV and reducing out-of-pocket expenditure for HIV in line with UHC. (par. 50) PD supports the development and implementation of sustainable HIV financing models for transitioning to domestic financing. | No explicit commitment to dedicated prevention budgets or targeted allocations for KP‑led programmes. No requirement for multi‑year domestic financing or transition plans for middle‑income countries. No mechanisms to ensure community‑led organisations can access domestic funds. No recognition of Asia‑Pacific’s unique financing vulnerabilities. | Push governments to establish national prevention budgets with explicit KP allocations. Advocate for domestic financing pathways that include key population-/community‑led organisations. Use the USD 21.9B global target to advocate for country‑specific financing targets. Advocate for the establishment of a regional financing mechanism (e.g., Asia-Pacific Prevention Fund). |
Innovative Financing for Prevention Programmes
| KP Priority | Political Declaration Reference | Gaps | Advocacy opportunities |
| Innovative financing for PrEP Scale-up | (par. 50) PD encourages diversified, blended and innovative financing instruments and integrated HIV financing within natinal health frameworks. | No mention of innovative financing specifically for prevention, KP-led programmes, or community systems. No commitment to market-shaping or price reduction strategies for prevention products. No guidance on financing models for community-led service delivery, monitoring, or governance. | Advocate for innovative financing models tailored to KP-led prevention. Push for regional market-shaping to reduce the costs of PrEP and prevention products. Advocate for the Regional Prevention Fund to be the regional mechanism to monitor and operationalise the commitments of the 2026 Political Declaration. |
Scale-up of PrEP
| KP Priority | Political Declaration Reference | Gaps | Advocacy opportunities |
| Scale-up of oral & injectable PrEP | (par. 56) PD commits to 90% of people in need of prevention using effective prevention options, including pre‑exposure prophylaxis. (par. 57) PD commits to introduce and scale up access to HIV prevention options and ensure that 20 million people protected annually by antiretroviral‑based HIV prevention. | No KP‑specific PrEP targets despite KP accounting for 68% of new infections in Asia-Pacific. No explicit commitment to injectable PrEP rollout or long‑acting prevention technologies. No timelines, milestones, or accountability mechanisms for scale-up. No recognition of regulatory, procurement, and financing barriers in Asia-Pacific. | Advocate for governments to establish KP-focused national PrEP targets aligned with PD global goals. Advocate for injectable PrEP introduction and inclusion in essential medicines lists. Advocate for dedicated domestic financing for PrEP procurement and community-led delivery. Advocate for community-led DSD models for PrEP delivery as essential to achieving PD targets. |
Regulatory Pathways for PrEP
| KP Priority | Political Declaration Reference | Gaps | Advocacy opportunities |
| Fast-track regulatory pathways for injectable and oral PrEP | (par. 79) PD calls for predictable, transparent and timely regulatory review processes for new and long-acting products. | No explicit mention of injectable PrEP, despite its importance for KP in Asia-Pacific. No commitment to fast-track pathways. No guidance on removing administrative barriers such as age-of-consent, facility-only dispensing, physician-only prescribing. No mention of community involvement in regulatory decision-making. | Advocate for fast-track regulatory approval for injectable and long-acting PrEP. Advocate for the removal of administrative barriers that limit KP access. Push for inclusion of key populations and community in discussions on regulatory processes. |
Social Contracting
| KP Priority | Political Declaration Reference | Gaps | Advocacy opportunities |
| Social contracting | (par. 95) PD commits to enact effective social contracting mechanisms that enable predictable, long-term and flexible financing for community-led responses. | No guarantee of direct financing to KP-led organisations. No requirement for governments to establish social contracting systems. No protection against shrinking civic space, which undermines community-led contracting. No guidance on minimum financing standards for community-led organisations. | Advocate for national social contracting policies that explicitly include KP-led organisations. Advocate for multi-year contracts for community-led prevention and PrEP delivery. Demand legal and policy reforms that protect civic space for community-led organisations. Establish regional guidance on minimum standards for community-led financing. |
Community-Led Outreach, Demand Generation, Service Delivery
| KP Priority | Political Declaration Reference | Gaps | Advocacy opportunities |
| Community-led prevention | (par. 56) PD commits to scale up community-led interventions to reach people in need of prevention options by 2030. (par. 58) PD ensures outreach of people-centered HIV programmes led by those affected by HIV to address the needs of the key population. | No explicit commitment to community-led PrEP delivery or DSD models. No financing commitments for community-led outreach and demand generation. No recognition of KP-specific barriers (criminalisation, stigma, discrmination). No protection against shrinking civic space. | Advocate for community-led PrEP and prevention delivery models as part of national HIV strategies. Push for dedicated financing for KP-led outreach, demand generation, and service delivery. Advocate for effective community-led interventions for the removal of legal and administrative barriers that block community-led service delivery. Promote KP-led differentiated service delivery as essential to achieving PD targets. |
Community Leadership and Governance
| KP Priority | Political Declaration Reference | Gaps | Advocacy opportunities |
| Community-led governance | (par. 92) PD commits to engage people at risk of or affected by HIV in coordination and decision-making mechanisms at all levels of the response. (par. 93) PD commits to review and reform laws, policies and regulations that restrict the ability of community-led organisations in the HIV response. | No requirement for formal seats for KP networks in national planning, budgeting, or oversight. No commitment to fund community systems strengthening. No mechanisms to ensure KP representation in Global Fund CCMs, national committees, or regional bodies. | Advocate for formalised KP representation in national HIV governance structures. Advocate for financing for community systems strengthening, including governance, leadership, and organisational development. Advocate for formal KP inclusion in regional coordination mechanisms. |
Community-led monitoring and community ownership of data
| KP Priority | Political Declaration Reference | Gaps | Advocacy opportunities |
| Community-led monitoring and community-owned data | (par. 54) PD commits to strengthen investments in integrated country surveillance including community-led monitoring and research by communities. | No explicit commitment to community ownership of data. No financing commitments for community-led monitoring systems. No requirement for governments to integrate community-generated data into national surveillance. No protection for KP data privacy and security. | Advocate for financing for community-led monitoring, including digital tools and data systems. Advocate for formal recognition of community-generated data in national surveillance and planning. Demand integration of KP-led monitoring into national accountability frameworks. |
Legal & Enabling Environments
| KP Priority | Political Declaration Reference | Gaps | Advocacy Opportunities |
| Legal environments, stigma reduction, enabling laws | (par. 75) PD commits to create an enabling legal environment by reviewing and reforming restrictive legal and policy frameworks including discriminatory laws. | No explicit mention of criminalisation of sex work, same-sex relations, drug use, or gender identity. No commitment to fund commmunity-led rights-based programming to reduce stigma, discrimination and violence. No mechanisms to ensure legal reforms are implemented and monitored. | Advocate for decriminalisation of sex work, drug use, and same-sex relations. Push for funded community-led legal literacy and rights-based programmes for KP communities. Demand protection of civic space and safety for KP-led organisations. Promote national legal reform agendas aligned with PD commitments. |
Follow the link below on APCOM’s engagement at the 2021Political Declaration
