Introducing the APCOM REGIONAL COMMUNITY CAUCUS: Elevating and Strengthening the Asia-Pacific Community Advocacy

The Regional Community Caucus is an integral part of APCOM’s efforts to advance HIV and LGBTQI human rights response in Asia. The Regional Community Caucus is composed of community experts representing the key populations across the countries in Asia-Pacific. This expert community group plays a crucial role in informing and shaping APCOM’s regional programmes and initiatives.

The Regional Community Caucus was formed in response to the recommendations of APCOM’s partners at the country level during the annual APCOM Community Summit. These partners consist of community-led organisations working to address HIV issues and promoting LGBTQI human rights. It was recommended that there be a regional platform for partners to strengthen community voices through joint advocacy, facilitate capacity building and knowledge exchange across different contexts, and joint resource mobilisation efforts.

“Community leadership means that at every level, our community is taking an active part in the decision making, and not merely being at the table. The Regional Community Caucus allows our national partners to take the leadership role at the Asia-Pacific level, and steer the issues and solutions that are community-owned, community-led, and community-empowered.“

Commented Midnight, APCOM Executive Director.

The Regional Community Caucus is a regional platform facilitated by APCOM where experts and strategic advisers from the community ensure that country-level issues of MSM, transgender people, and people living with HIV (PLHIV) are represented at regional or global engagements. The Caucus also serves as a regional community where the members can collaborate on joint initiatives or advocacy such as cross-country or cross-border research. Their diverse backgrounds bring unique insights into programming for these communities and help drive development of regional approaches or initiatives that are holistic and responsive to their needs.

The caucus also provides technical advice on regional policies related to HIV prevention programmes and services or legal protections for LGBTQI individuals. Their highly valued inputs are strategic and play a pivotal role in defining regional advocacy priorities and networking opportunities in Asia-Pacific.

The membership of Regional Community Caucus consists of 21 highly regarded community leaders, including one principal member and one alternate member. These members represent 12 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Caucus was officially established in February 2025 and has held three meetings since then. At the first meeting, members discussed and identified regional advocacy priorities and contributed to the planning of the PrEPARING ASIA 2025, a regional consultation on scaling up PrEP scheduled for November 2025. During the second meeting, caucus members shared updates on the implementation of PrEP in their respective countries, and the challenges in PrEP implementation. In the third meeting we discussed resourcing for the PrEPARING ASIA 2025 consultation, as well as identifying opportunities to profile issues of the Asia-Pacific region at international fora. In all meetings, members shared the impacts of the USAID funding freeze and cuts to their respective organisations and services. The Regional Community Caucus meets every 2nd Friday of the month.