I am a political scientist with an interest in the theory and practice of global governance, international social policy, non-state actors in international politics, transnational advocacy networks, civil society, and social movements. My regional expertise is on the countries of the former Soviet Union, including the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
I completed a Ph.D. thesis entitled "Civil Society and the Politics of HIV/AIDS in Russia" at the Department of International Relations and International Organisation of the University of Groningen. Supervised by prof. dr. Herman Hoen and dr. Joost Herman, I investigated the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Russia by focussing on their collaboration with state institutions and their influence on domestic policy making. The political interplay between NGOs and the Russian state is particularly interesting because of the paradoxical predicament of a state that aims, on the one hand, to monitor and control civil society activity and, on the other, a state that needs NGO expertise to effectively address the epidemic. The project is designed as a qualitative study, in which the role and influence of AIDS service NGOs are analysed from the perspective of the global governance approach. Empirical research is based on case studies in three Russian regions: Tomsk, St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad. My PhD thesis was published in September 2013 in the Routledge/BASEES Series on Russian and East European Studies as a book entitled The Politics of HIV/AIDS in Russia.
Between 2014 and 2016, I was post-doc researcher at Radboud University Nijmegen, where I participated in the research project Third sector Impact (TSI). In Addition, I was Senior researcher at the International Laboratory for Nonprofit Sector Studies at Higher School of Economics in Moscow.
Currently, I am post-doc researcher at Freie Universität Berlin. I participate in the research project GOVRUS which analyses the interaction between companies, state institutions and civil Society actors in the framework of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Russia.
Phone: +31643127024
I completed a Ph.D. thesis entitled "Civil Society and the Politics of HIV/AIDS in Russia" at the Department of International Relations and International Organisation of the University of Groningen. Supervised by prof. dr. Herman Hoen and dr. Joost Herman, I investigated the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Russia by focussing on their collaboration with state institutions and their influence on domestic policy making. The political interplay between NGOs and the Russian state is particularly interesting because of the paradoxical predicament of a state that aims, on the one hand, to monitor and control civil society activity and, on the other, a state that needs NGO expertise to effectively address the epidemic. The project is designed as a qualitative study, in which the role and influence of AIDS service NGOs are analysed from the perspective of the global governance approach. Empirical research is based on case studies in three Russian regions: Tomsk, St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad. My PhD thesis was published in September 2013 in the Routledge/BASEES Series on Russian and East European Studies as a book entitled The Politics of HIV/AIDS in Russia.
Between 2014 and 2016, I was post-doc researcher at Radboud University Nijmegen, where I participated in the research project Third sector Impact (TSI). In Addition, I was Senior researcher at the International Laboratory for Nonprofit Sector Studies at Higher School of Economics in Moscow.
Currently, I am post-doc researcher at Freie Universität Berlin. I participate in the research project GOVRUS which analyses the interaction between companies, state institutions and civil Society actors in the framework of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Russia.
Phone: +31643127024
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Papers by Ulla Pape
In the post-Soviet space, Russia is experiencing by far the biggest HIV/AIDS epidemic. This can be attributed largely to the government’s failure to introduce evidence-based prevention measures for vulnerable groups, e.g., harm reduction programs, which are recommended by international health organizations. Other countries in the region have
been more pragmatic in their approach and introduced harm reductions programs on a broader scale. In Ukraine, the efforts to combat HIV, which led to an initial stabilization of the epidemic in 2012, have been endangered by the military conflict in the eastern part of the country and subsequent internal displacement, which has increased HIV vulnerability. In comparison with Russia and Ukraine, the countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia are less affected by HIV. However, labor migration to Russia constitutes a persistent
risk factor for HIV transmission from higher-prevalence Russia to lower-prevalence South Caucasus and Central Asia.
Although initially the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been mainly driven by injecting drug use, it is also clearly linked to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) politics and policies in EECA. Because of widespread stigmatization and marginalization, the spread of HIV within LGBT communities remains underreported and is barely visible in official HIV statistics. This makes it difficult for prevention programs to reach out to vulnerable groups. In all countries in the region, prevention efforts among LGBT communities remain inadequate and largely depend on local civil society organizations (CSOs), which
lack the capacities to provide nationwide information campaigns and other prevention programs for the LGBT community. In addition, the work of CSOs that advocate for HIV prevention among LGBT groups is further undermined by repressive laws, e.g., the 2013 “gay propaganda law” in Russia, which has increased the stigmatization of LGBT people
and has made prevention outreach more difficult. Research has contributed to our understanding of HIV vulnerability and its impact in EECA. Further research is needed, however, into the social and political factors that explain the persistent failure of regional decision-makers to adequately address the growing HIV epidemic.
The article focuses on two research questions: (1) how has the changing policy environment affected the development of the third sector? And (2) what kind of strategies have TSOs adopted to respond to these changes? The article first investigates general trends in Europe, based on a conceptual model that focuses on economic recession and austerity policies with regard to the third sector. In a second step of analysis, the article provides five country case studies that exemplify policy changes and responses from the third sector in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain.
The article argues that three different development paths can be identified across Europe. In some countries (France and Spain), TSOs face a strong effect of economic recession. In other countries (Germany and Poland) the development of the third sector remains largely stable, albeit at different levels, whereas in the Netherlands, TSOs rather experience changes in the policy environment than a direct impact of economic decline. The article also shows that response strategies of the third sector in Europe depend on the context conditions. The article is based on the European project “Third Sector Impact” (TSI). It combines an analysis of statistical information with qualitative data from interviews with third sector representatives.