Identity
UHAI IS THE ACCESSIBLE, FLEXIBLE FUND From January 2012, Identity Magazine will be featuring a section called ‘People That Matter’ that details the lives, work and contribution of persons who work for LGBT and SW rights but who are not your ‘usual suspects’ These are individuals whose work and contribution is for the betterment and enjoyment of LGBT and SW persons here in Kenya and who ‘get no airtime.’ Their 15 minutes of fame on the stage is here. Q: To start with, what is UHAI EASHRI and how did it start? Can you share a brief background of how it started to where it is now? UHAI is an activist fund that supports sexual minority rights organising within East Africa i.e. Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya and Burundi. We make grants and offer capacity support to LGBTI and sex workers organisations in East Africa, We prioritise support to organisations managed by and led by LGBTI and sex work individuals because our theory of change recognises that the way to create social change is to organise, build movements, create synergies and amplify voices. We therefore fund organised groups rather than individuals. We may on occasion fund non LGBTI or SW led organisations but only if they work with and NOT for LGBTI and/or sex worker populations. The idea for UHAI EASHRI came up in 2007 during a conference organised by the Ford Foundation with the assistance of GALCK and KHRC that was called the Changing Faces, Changing Spaces. That conference brought LGBTI and SW activists from all over East Africa as well as human rights activists, women’s rights activists and donors. Activists at the conference indicated that decisions on funding were not informed by them and that funding was determined in ways that that were not cognisant of the context and realities of the activists. There was, therefore, a disconnect between the universe of LGBTI and sex worker activism and the universe of funding. Further, funding was largely made available in response to emergencies and there was little investment in organising and movement building. Therefore, the question was posed, why not have a Fund that is East African, led and managed by East Africans to address this disconnect and bring resources closer to the ground? Q: Before 2007, how was funding made available? How were activists surviving or executing their activities? There have always been organisations that supported LGBTI and SW rights activities for example Ford Foundation, Open Society Initiative for East Africa (OSIEA), Hivos, women's funds such as Urgent Action Fund- Africa and others. There was however a gap because some donors found it difficult to fund small nascent movements made up of predominantly, small, unregistered groups. Most donors could easily make large grants to large well established groups but more and more the activism that was emerging consisted of smaller groups that could not access that funding. Q: You are an LGBTI and SW grant making organisation. How do you prove that applicants are truly LGBTI or sex workers? The application process allows organisations to self-identify as LGBTI and/ or sex worker. UHAI EASHRI's funding is made through a peer reviewed process with a Peer Grants Committee (PGC) whose members are nominated from the LGBTI and SW communities. The PGC forms part of the due diligence mechanisms that we use to verify the existence of applicant groups, but we also use our networks. Groups may also include in their application an endorsement from a known group or one that is well established. Likewise, before a grant is disbursed, we visit groups, sit with them, talk to them and that way we are able to establish facts.