ADDRESSING THE INTERSECTIONALITY OF AFRICAN GENDER IDENTITY & SEXUAL ORIENTATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
"BLACK AUGUST" TAKEAWAYS FROM THE PAN AFRICA ILGA 5th REGIONAL CONFERENCE:
RECLAIMING OUR PAST, DEFINING OUR FUTURE. 27- 31 AUGUST, 2021
DAY 1 - Opening Session: Welcome and A Tribute to Ghana
PAI paid tribute to the LGBTIQ+ community in Ghana.
"A lot has happened from #ReleaseThe21, to #ReleaseAllThe21 and now #JusticeForTheHo21 ".
The session was led by Pan African ILGA Executive Director Nate Brown & PAI Board Co-Chairperson Juliet Ulanmo
and can be watched here: https://fb.watch/7GjucUFPVJ/
Join the conversation online via #PAIConvenes21
Afternoon plenary session "Being different in the pandemic"
View the proceedings at this link : https://fb.watch/7Gk87cprY0/
DAY 2 - Morning Sesion: A Tribute To Our Triumphs
https://fb.watch/7Hf5HHBlPP/
Afternoon Session: Decriminalisation: Within and Beyond the Law / Décriminalisation : Au sein et au-delà de la loi
https://fb.watch/7Hn6wNJCcw/
"Lets Find Ways To Work Together", Akudo Oguaghamba, Executive Director of Women's Health & Equal Rights Initiative, Nigeria
DAY 3 - Morning Session: An African Donor Session
https://fb.watch/7Iz-OR27hU/
"... in some countries there is general consensus that they prefer to have one national movement under one national banner, in others it is not the same ...there is great sensitivity around that, funders do not automatically have all the answers to everything ... (in that regard) participatory grant funding has advantages but also has limitations... it must be representative of a diversity of voices (geographic and otherwise), and must (demonstrate) inclusive participation, not just funding everyone who agress with you...", Neville Gabriel, Southern Africa Trust
Some narratives from conference workshops
DAY 1 - LGBT Movements in West Africa: The story we don’t tell (SDGs 16 & !7)
"Access to justice is a challenge for some members of our community"
"In Sierra Leone there is no health facility for LGBTQ+ people even when you are sick, and you will be mocked if you are known to be LGBTQ when you attend hospital…."
"Donors should do more to fund LBTIQs who have less access to funding than MSMs (in West Africa) "
"Solidarity Sisters Network of Liberia helps provide security & welfare (to LGBTQI individuals) in Liberia"
"LGBTQI youth are at greater risk of being homeless, dropping out of school, and experience depression as a result of the covid-19 pandemic"
"We need to do more for mental health for our own welfare as well as for the community"
DAY 2 - COVID-19 and Access to HIV treatment and care in the DRC (SDGs 1, 3, 5, 10, 16, & 17)
"The Province of Bukavu in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been declared an epicentre of covid-19 where people are dying because they don’t want to go to the hospitals ... The region is currently under a state of emergency which makes it difficult to test...therefore appealing for technical and financial assistance to sensitise communities and advocate to government e.g. for vaccination centres in the Eastern side of DRC. Although the govt received funding for covid -19 alleviation, organisations working for LGBTQ+ healthcare do not have enough funding ... (moreover) the President and some Ministers refused to be vaccinated, and the Minister of Health has allegedly been arrested for embezzling US $10m from funds allocated for Covid-19 alleviation.
Jurisprudence is not favourable to LGBTQI in the DRC although there is no clear cut legislation that discriminates against the community ... on the other hand there is none that protects or promotes LGBTQ+ rights ...Many LGBTQ individuals are still in their hideouts and so HODSaS has no access to them except by WhatsApp ... another challenge is distribution of ARV, hand washing kits for families, during the lockdown.... some are sex workers and in the eastern part of DRC where there are many in mining concessions etc, many have sex without protection as they do not have access to condoms. UNESCO has transported condoms by helicopter to Bukavu and other regions which is appreciated by HODSaS. LGBTQ communities are not even thought of for vaccination, and are often in constant movement to and from Burundi and Rwanda ... and an LGBTQ+ individual in quarantine had to be supported by the community although the government should be assisting them.
A test for covid 19 is not free, costing individuals $30 which is not easy for people such as petty traders who have no substantial source of income. Those who cross the border to Burundi have to pay another $50 to be tested again, a lot of traders cannot afford that kind of money ... Many people do not wish to go to the hospitals which are already overburdened, and It is itherefore mportant to improve communication e.g. for access to funding and to sensitise ppl "
MAIN ASKS
1. "LGBT friendly and legal clinics needed in Bukavu and Goma in the Eastern DRC ... LGBTQ ppl are not welcome in normal clinics ... If it is easier to get vaccinated against covid-19 in Rwanda or Burundi than in DRC, so some of us will have to travel there ... most people in Eastern DRC are nomads so it necessary they are sent clear policies and information... (moreover) there is no vaccination centre in the East, how do people in the most remote areas get access to the vaccine delivered in Goma and Kinshasa?
1. More Clinics are needed in the DRC for better monitoring of people with HIV/AIDS some of whom are refusing to take their ARV, and therefore developing opportunistic infections during lockdown ... A WhatsApp Group has been set up by small team with 3 medical asistants who have organise 182 visits to clients homes. HODSaS has signed a MOU with the National Union of People living With HIV/AIDs in DRC to ensure access to ARV treatment; and acknowledge upport from American aides as well as MSM, Trans, and sex workers in the DRC in the distribution of masks and other resources ...
.
2. "Advocacy must be channelled to the government of the DRC, and organisations are needed to support HODSaS, e.g. with advocacy to promote LGBT rights to and by the DRC government ... the Ministry of Health and other agencies are allegedly accusing LGBTQ communities... legislation to protect LGBT individuals from discrimination and abuse is needed.
Source: HODSaS
DAY 3 - Integrating LGBTI Realities into SDG Reviews: A discussion for LGBTI activists (SDG 4, 5, 10, 16 & 17)
#PAIConvenes21 SDG podcast 1- https://fb.watch/7IJY8Ax9vv/
#PAIConvenes21 SDGpodcast 2- https://fb.watch/7IK75d8XkZ/
Resources for spotlight reports et al :
Sustainable Development Goals Handbook: 27024Handbook_2021_EN.pdf (un.org)
High-level Political Forum .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform (un.org)
SDG16 Reporting - TAP Network (tapnetwork2030.org)
SDG - Human Rights Data Explorer
Sexual and Gender Minorities | United Nations Development Programme (undp.org)
United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (Office of the IE-SOGI)
OHCHR (2020) Report on conversion therapy.
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SexualOrientationGender/Pages/ReportOnConversiontherapy.aspx : UN OHCHR [ 10/07/20]
Website: ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SexualOrientationGender/Pages/Index.aspx
Email: victor_madrigal@me.com
United Nations Global Compact: Overview | LinkedIn
Living Wage | UN Global Compact
UN Global Compact 2021_Anti-Corruption_Collective Playbook.pdf (unesco.org)
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Read this on our website
Contact: Sophie Barton-Knott
Tel. +41 79 514 68 96 Email: bartonknotts@unaids.orgUNAIDS Media
Tel. +41 22 791 4237 Email: communications@unaids.org
UN Special Rapporteur on Poverty & Human Rights, Olivier De Schutter
Report on “Global fund for social protection: international solidarity in the service of poverty eradication” , 06 21
Information for Refugees, Asylum-seekers and Stateless People | UNHCR
- THE BRIGHT PAST OF TRANS AND NON BINARY INDIVIDUALS IN PRE-COLONIAL AFRICA. (SDGs 4, 10, 16 & 17)
"The King Mwanga issue here is something you can't just talk about but it's the truth"
"Je pense que le concept minorités de genre correspond à la traduction de nos identités pré-coloniales"
"Identity is very important ... in Congo we have accepted the concept of gender minority, e.g. for people who identify as trans; we want to show that pre-colonoal gender diversity existed, e.g. in the Lumba Kingdom; colonial nasters have formatted us therefore today we must fight for our identity to be known... we have role to play to reclaim our place and affirm ourselves, e.g. some pre-colonial inigenous African languages were not gendered as is French and some other colonial languages... some of our laws were (also) lost because of colonialism"... we need to contextualise and define the future of the movement" J-C Congo Brazzaville
"We must go back to our history, we must reclaim our existence, we must also understand that the reason we are Africans is because of our identity even before we were gendered, so we must therefore reclaim our identity .. If we really want to step away from colonisation we need to reclaim an identity that embraces our various realities, in terms of gender identity and sexual orientation ... History has shown us gender in Africa is fluid and neutral, we need to embrace our Africaness because in Africa we are gender fluid" R.D., Cameroon
"La troisième personne est neutre ... Les bitesha chez les Luba"
Some organisations from the AU represented in conference
l'association LGBTIQ LES FLAMBEAUX au Bénin
Contact: Salomon AKLOBO, président
Email: aklobosalomonez@gmail.com
Cairo 52 - Legal Research Institute, Egypt
Contact: Nora Noralla, Executive Director
Email: n.noralla@cairo52.com
Courageous Sister, LBQT ( Lesbian Bisexual Queer Trans )women led organization, Ghana
Email: Courageousisters@gmail.com
Nyanza Rift Valley and Western Kenya LGBTI Network
P.o Box 2897- 40100
Kisumu, Kenya
Contact: Daniel Peter Onyango, Executive Director, Researcher, Human Right Defender & Activist
Email: Muksdan2010@gmail.com
skype:dannyarwek
Tel: +254 722 111 377 or +254 731 807 186
Rise Initiative for Gender Equality in Liberia, Monrovia, Liberia
Contact: Timothy P Robinson, Executive Director
Tel: 0776626920/ 0886436372
Email: timothyrob88@yahoo.com
Youth Against Discrimination Incorporated (YOADI)- Liberia
Right Wing - 3rd. Floor, Jallah Building
Perry Street and Camp Johnson Rd. Intersection
Monrovia - Liberia
West Africa
Contact: Festus B. Jessie-James, Executive Director
email: festusjjames80@hotmail.com / yoadi2017@hotmail.com
Tel no. +231 (776)216124 / +231(886)216124
Liberia Equality Network (LEN)
Email: lenliberia@gmail.com
Tel: +231886760440.
Improved Sexual Health & Rights Advocacy Initiative
197 Old Abeokuta Road | Agege Lagos Nigeria
Contact: Olubiyi Oludipe, Executive Director
Mobile: 07033882333
Website: www.ishraing.org
Amahoro Human Respect, Kigali, Rwanda
Contact: Portia C. Allen, Advocacy and Fundraising Lead
https://www.linkedin.com/in/comenetia
Trans Alliance, Sierra Leone
Contact: Augustine
Tel: +23277614660
Intersex Community Trust Zimbabwe
Contact: Tsitsi Ndabambi
Email: tsitsindabambi@gmail.com
Nigerian Organisations represented at pre-conference meeting
African Focus for Youth Development
Kano, Nigeria
Contact: Ambassador Emmanuel Gabari
Email: affydnigeria@gmail.com Tel: +2348067072378
Initiative for Access to Health and Youth Development
Contact: Asuni Oluwafemi- Nigeria
Email: iahyd.org@gmail.com
Initiative For The Advancement of Improved Health and Development (I-AIHD)
Jude Onumabor, Nigeria.
Email: jude4humanrights@gmail.com Tel: +2347032777677
Initiative for Young Women's Health and Development
Contact: Patience Ekpenyong, Nigeria
Email: whrinitiative@gmail.com Tel: +234 8160549037
Men's Health Support Initiative (MSM)
Contact: Nwachukwu Fabulous Stanley, Nigeria
Tel: +2347067564623
Finance and program coordinator, Iheanyichukwu ifeanyi
Tel . +2348037496360
Community mobilization officer, Oleka Victor Onyekachi (Nigeria)
Tel: +2348168942791
Society for Human Right Promotion in Nigeria (SHRPN)
Contact: David Chukwudifu
Email: shrpromotion@gmail.com Tel: +2347035701091
Other useful links
EGIDES: https://www.egides.org/a-propos
Facts about the Permanent Forum—DIASPORA RISING
Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa (itdnowa.org)
New Gender + Sexuality Resource Center at Princeton to serve women, femme and LGBTQIA+ students
100&Change:2021 | Lever For Change Website
OutRight Action International (outrightinternational.org)
Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation - Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation (daghammarskjold.se)
Intersectionality in Disasters - Center for Disaster Philanthropy
Why equity should matter in disaster philanthropy - Center for Disaster PhilanthropyUN Free & Equal (unfe.org)
Film: Eyes On the Prize: Hallowed Ground (2021) | Documentary Special | HBO Max - YouTu
A Sample of #PAIConvenes21 podcasts:
Jabu Pereira - https://fb.watch/7IKp6O_Ff-/
Caroline Koussiaman: https://fb.watch/7ILhuo3oZM/
Dr Frank Mugisha - https://fb.watch/7IKt3Ofj5h/
Akudo Oguaghamba - https://fb.watch/7IKxkiOgor/
Bradley Fortuin - https://fb.watch/7IJFN8EKEY/
Immah Reid - https://fb.watch/7Hm-QPRAQ4/
Carlos Dibouo - https://fb.watch/7HmOKHoNSZ/
See also
Reporting on Violence against Women and Girls: UNESCO launches new publication
الإبلاغ عن العنف ضد الفتيات والنساء - UNESCO Digital Library
The World Bank Report: Equality of Opportunity for Sexual and Gender Minorities (EQOSOGI) was launched on Tuesday, September 28, at 1400h UK time, and is the first in a series of studies assessing laws and regulations that affect the lives of sexual and gender minorities.
OVERVIEW:
The Equality of Opportunity for Sexual and Gender Minorities (EQOSOGI) report examines the laws and regulations that affect the lives of LGBTI people in 16 countries—Bangladesh, Canada, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Uruguay. These countries represent different geographic areas, income levels, and inclusiveness of sexual and gender minorities, ensuring a diverse and holistic representation of the issues. The report measures six indicators to identify differences in the legal treatment of sexual and gender minorities, including criminalization, political and civil inclusion, hate crimes, and access to inclusive education, the labor market, public services, and social protection.
Missing Attachments from launch of EQOSOGI (problem uploading before)
U.K. Government consultation on proposed legislation banning Conversion Therapy
Ministerial Foreword
"The United Kingdom is a global leader on LGBT rights and is committed to banning the coercive and abhorrent practice of conversion therapy. We want every individual to have the freedom to be themselves and proposals have been developed with the protection of LGBT people in mind. The proposals we are bringing forward in this consultation are intended to ensure that everyone in this country is protected through both criminal and civil measures.
Our proposed package of measures includes legislating to introduce a new criminal offence and to ensure that conversion therapy is recognised appropriately when it is the motivation for an existing crime. This is a robust, effective and proportionate policy that will have a demonstrable impact on the ground.
I am also proposing a number of further civil measures to make sure the ban is effective, including Conversion Therapy Protection Orders, restricting promotion, removing profit streams, and strengthening the case for disqualification from holding a senior role in a charity. We will also be launching a support service for victims that will offer help and assistance to those who have been through or are at risk of conversion therapy. This administration is the first UK government to commit to providing such support. We will be launching a competitive tendering process in November for a new government-funded support service for victims and those at risk of conversion therapy.
I want to reassure those who may have concerns about the impact of this ban on clinicians’ independence as well as on freedom of speech. People’s personal freedoms are key to the health and functioning of a democratic society, such as freedom of choice, freedom of speech and belief, and are central to my proposals. It is also vitally important that no person is forced or coerced into conversion therapy, and that young people are supported in exploring their identity without being encouraged towards one particular path. This is especially the case for those who are under 18 and where this might result in an irreversible decision. These proposals therefore do not alter the existing clinical regulatory framework or the independence of regulated clinicians working within their professional obligations.
The proposed protections are universal: an attempt to change a person from being attracted to the same-sex to being attracted to the opposite-sex, or from not being transgender to being transgender, will be treated in the same way as the reverse scenario. They therefore protect everyone.
The government is proud to champion equality for LGBT people everywhere and I look forward to hosting ‘Safe To Be Me: A Global Equality Conference’, which will take place in June 2022, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the first official London Pride marches.
This global event will be the first of its kind in the UK, bringing together governments, policy experts and international organisations who advocate for human rights to discuss how to combat the violence and discrimination faced by LGBT people around the world. I will be proud to share our work to ban conversion therapy at the Conference with all our international counterparts and to work with partners to end these practices across the world.
As well as hosting ‘Safe To Be Me: A Global Equality Conference’, this Government has continuously championed LGBT rights and built upon our status as a global leader. In January 2020, we introduced same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland to ensure every citizen of the United Kingdom can be free to marry. We also rolled out the HIV prevention drug PrEP on the NHS in England, making it available across the country, benefiting tens of thousands of people, and driving us towards our ambition of zero new HIV transmissions by 2030. And we have already reduced the fee for, and are digitising the process of, applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate, in order to make the process kinder and simpler.
In developing the proposals in this consultation, we have listened to citizens and organisations with the full range of perspectives on how best to ban conversion therapy in an effective and proportionate way. I would like to encourage everyone with an interest to respond to this consultation and will ensure that all responses are considered in the development of legislation that is being prepared for spring 2022".
The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP
Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and Minister for Women and Equalities
It is vitally important that LGBT+ people of faith contribute to the government consultation about this practice. The consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/banning-conversion-therapy
The United Nations Independent Expert argues his mandate to address, and ultimately eradicate, violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation & gender identity, is not in opposition to the human rights of women; to the contrary, these areas of concern largely overlap and conceptually, socioeconomically, politically and legally reinforce each other.
#SOGI #LGBTIQ #Women #IESOGI
Now open till 31 January 2022: Call for Inputs to the next #IESOGI Report on Health & SDG 3.
You can submit information in English, Spanish or French. Download the questionnaire: https://bit.ly/3GOtsSA
This report will investigate the needs of #LGBTI and gender non-conforming persons in relation to research, inclusion, access, training and education in health.
OHCHR | Report to the UN Human Rights Council - 50th Session
Call for inputs: UN Special Rapporteur's thematic report on addressing the vulnerabilities of children to sale and sexual exploitation
The UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material has issued a call for inputs on her next thematic report to the 77th session of the Human Rights Council, to be presented in October 2022. The report will be dedicated to addressing the vulnerabilities of children to sale and sexual exploitation in the framework of the SDGs, in particular targets 5.3, 8.7 and 16.2.
The special rapporteur is seeking contributions from States, National Human Rights Institutions, civil society organizations, UN agencies, academia, international and regional organizations, corporate entities and individuals, related to what they consider to represent good practices.
Deadline: 14 March 2022
Find out more here.
New toolkit: Reducing Incidence of Child Labor and Harmful Conditions of Work in Economic Strengthening Initiatives (RICHES)
RICHES Toolkit • Grameen Foundation
See also RICHES Research and Pre-Situational Analysis • Grameen Foundation