This is the 2022 Annual Report.
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Connecting past narratives to present gains, Weaving present gains with the aspired future.
annual report 2022
Introduction Who we are Who we fund How we are doing How and what we are learning How we spent What’s next
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10 16 30 34 38
LGBTI People
Women facing exploitation, abuse and/or violence
People with Disabilities
Vulnerable elderly and the youth
Indigenous people & ethnic minorities
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“The journey of the end of discrimination against PWDs Nigeria has just begun. We may not be where we want to be but with what is going on today, we’re definitely not where we used to be…Keep pushing. Victoria ascerta!”
If 2021 was significant for being a bridge-year for Voice between phase 1 and the extension phase, in 2022 we went full steam ahead on all areas of programme im- plementation to make up for time lost at the peak of the pandemic. This meant redoubling our efforts to launch the bulk of the call for proposals and subsequently, approving the majority of grants within the year. It also included leveraging on our decentralised teams and ways of working to deepen linking and learning at the local, national and regional levels. Finally, it involved the laying of groundwork for new partnerships and nurtur- ing of existing ones, to strengthen systems of support for Voice rightsholder groups. As an example, this year we are proud to have finally brought to fruition Voice’s collaboration with the FREE fund. Through pooling resources and learning, we together channelled support to nine (9) initiatives for economic empowerment by young women and adolescent girls in Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania, a dire necessity in the wake of the COVID- 19 pandemic. Voice is happy to share with you the 2022 Annual Report, unfolding narratives from various components of the programme. You will be inspired by strides of pride from grassroots LGBTQI+ organisations in Mindanao, Philippines, Tanzanian women making waves in creating a gender-equal fisheries industry, people with disabil- ities in Nigeria taking flight towards more accessible air transportation, and an indigenous community in Indonesia retracing their cultural heritage through food with the intention of keeping it alive for the generations to come. We are excited to turn the pages with you, with hopes of continuing on with more passion and grit.
A rightsholder under the Artvocate project performing at an event hosted by Street Project Foundation on International Youth Day.
DR. CHIKE OKOGWU, FOUNDER AND CHIEF RESPONSIBILITY OFFICER, CARE NIGERIA
Rightsholders from Indonesia demand for access to health and employment for people with psychosocial disabilities
Aluta continua In 2022, the storm clouds of war, polarisation and re- pression further darkened over all of us. What continued to hold us aloft is the steadfastness, creativity and spirit of rightsholder groups and their movements. Often holding the line against further regression came at great personal and collective cost to them. Yet, they persisted! In recognition and in gratitude, this document is an effort to lift up the narratives of determination, fortitude and enthusiasm of the five rightsholders groups that Voice serves. We do not take your sacrifices for granted and dedicate this annual report to you.
“I would rather spend time in prison than allow a company to steal our forests” ANONYMOUS AFRICAN ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDER SPEAKING AT THE FIRST-EVER AFRICAN ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS REGIONAL MEETING
Elderly farmers in the Philippines advocating for their rights to social services 1
An Artvocate performing on stage on the event hosted by Street Project Foundation on International Youth Meeting
IMAGE SUGGESTIONS ?
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Who
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Love is Diversity, a grantee partner from Cambodia, celebrating IDAHOBIT in 2022
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Reality check!
techniques became the anchor for a moving performance delivered by the NOW-Us! Award winners and organizers to close the Partos Innovation Festival 2022. Another significant moment of reconnection was the Voice Annual Reflection Meeting organised after a gap of 2-years in Siem Reap, Cambodia. As in pre-COVID times, the annual reflection meeting is the only instance in the entire year where all Voice team members come together to pause, reflect and re- fresh on values and principles, ways of working, and bonds across the vast nodal network that is Voice.
(Jeuness’ART, Mali) and digital media (NEARY, Cambodia) to raise awareness against gender-based violence and negative gender ste- reotypes to creating a TV series to dispel stigma around mental health issues (WeCare, Laos) and facilitat- ing women with disabilities from the pastoralist community in leadership development (NONDO, Kenya). The common thread running through these initiatives is the importance of shifting cultural narratives towards advancing inclusion, and the great power of artivism to enable these shifts. At the bootcamp, the Butterfly Works team facilitated the 11 partic- ipants to exchange learnings about diversity and inclusion, creative storytelling techniques, artivism, project management and funding. The exchange of creative storytelling
Strength and beauty in diversity With cautious optimism and due regard to safety, we stepped into 2022 aiming to be in closer connection with our partners, key stakeholders and team members. And undoubtedly, the most inspirational moments of the year were those where we could be in community. The ‘in-person’ events best exemplified our principled belief that there is strength and beauty in diversity. The Global Nothing About Us Without Us (NOW-Us!) Awards Bootcamp 2022 was a particular highlight. It brought together 11 activists representing first place winners of the NOW-Us! Awards and the NOW-Us! Awards organisers from Cambodia, Kenya, Laos, Mali and Tanzania at the Butterfly Works facilities in Amsterdam for five days in October. Over 2021-2022, the award winners have been implementing innovative ideas to further social inclusion for their communi- ties. These initiatives range from using slam poetry
The basis of our collective work at the annual reflection meeting was the context analysis update 2022, the final such exercise for the Voice extension phase. While in previous years, the context analysis update had been the primary source of consultation with the national Community of Stakeholders on the situation of the five rightsholder groups Voice serves, in 2022 the premise of the context analysis update was a ‘reality check’. As country teams, we asked ourselves: are we really reaching those left most behind? Who did we not reach and how could we reach them better in the future? How were the rightsholder groups impacted by
Stella Cheboi posing with artwork she created at the Global NOW-Us! Bootcamp 2022
“The more different and diverse we are, the more beautiful we become when we co-exist, and co-create and find a way to have each of us involved by contributing to the process through leveraging on each person’s strengths.” STELLA CHEBOI, EMERGING LEADERS FOUNDATION (ELF) AFRICA, SHARING HER TAKEAWAYS FROM THE GLOBAL NOW-US! BOOTCAMP 2022
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Growing the Voice com- munity While we continued to grapple with transitions within the team and among main stakeholders of Voice, we were also very excited to usher in new members to the Voice commu- nity. We welcomed three new mem- bers to the Voice advisory board: Aapurv Jain, Associate Director, Bilateral Relations, Disability Rights Fund and Disability Rights Advocacy Fund (DRF/DRAF); Devi Leiper O’Malley, Feminist Organiser and Founder, Closer Than You Think; and Maureen Ava Mata, board member of of several organisations of persons with disabilities (AKAP- Pinoy, WOWLeap) and a Council Member of the National Anti- Poverty Commission Persons with Disabilities Sectoral Council. We are grateful to have such powerful activ- ists and development practitioners guiding the work of Voice.
to rise and organise as they always have. It is up to us as funders and fa- cilitators to decide whether we stand by them for the long-haul or not.
reflective, and more intersectional. We also identified as a concrete area for future exploration a learning process with different participatory and trust-based grant makers. This is to learn from their experiences and to identify practical ways forward to work together with and serve the rightsholders concerned— an eco- system approach. We laid the foun- dations for these explorations by refreshing relationships with existing partners such as the Transparency and Accountability Initiative and the FREE fund. We also established new or closer connections with the Global Philanthropy Project, the Sex Work Donor Collaborative, and the Disability Rights Fund. Through these strategic engagements our hope is to establish connections and disseminate information in a way that contributes to the current and future sustainability of grantee partners’ and rightsholders groups’ initiatives, with or without Voice.
Moving on from Voice post-2024
As a way to validate this final departure point in light of the end of Voice in 2024, this year, we also started discussions at various levels to understand how we can move on responsibly after the closure of the programme. We undertook one-on-one conversations with the Voice steering committee, the Voice advisory board, and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These were complemented by a collective visioning exercise at the Voice annual reflection meeting, where we reaffirmed our commitment to be more participatory, more respon- sive and agile, more flexible and
Advocacy by Voice’s grantee partners on the Equilibrons influence grant to the National Transitional Council (NTC) for the for persons with disabilities to be taken into account in nominative and elective positions.
A member of Sehati Indonesia sewing an item for sale. They are an Innovate and Learn grantee focusing on increasing perople with disabilities’ access to livelihood.
of various identities, visible and invisible. Rightsholders groups iden- tified as requiring further outreach by Voice include women living with HIV and indigenous youth impacted by drug policies in Cambodia, rural and female youth in Tanzania and ethnic minorities and the elderly in Niger. The fall out of the COVID-19 pandemic particularly in terms of economic hardships and rise in violence, including gender-based violence, the rollback of democratic freedoms under the guise of pan- demic control measures, have led to the rise of exclusion as a whole!
Where we continue to see hope and opportunity is the increase in grassroots collaboration and networking among civil society, advanced leadership development across all rightsholder groups, particularly women and youth, more attention to mental health issues at various levels, and the improved information flows among rightshold- er groups. Ultimately, the context analysis update continued to vali- date the underlying assumption of the Voice theory of change— while the struggle for a just, equitable and inclusive world is a protracted one, rightsholder groups will continue
power shifts in various spheres, including the vagaries of the COVID- 19 pandemic? And finally, what are the change agendas and aspirations of rightsholders that Voice can con- tribute to the achievement of, up to 2024 and beyond? The stakeholders affirmed in all countries that the intersectional focus of Voice on the five key rightsholder groups has facilitated outreach to a broad range of grassroots civil society initiatives. However, the complex lived realities of the rightsholder needs us to further hone in on the intersections
Voice team with other participants at the ILGA Asia Conference 2022. Photo Credit: ILGA Asia
Voice teams envisioning empow- ered rightsholders in the future
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Figure 2 - Grant funding allocation per country and type of grant
Laos
€ 242,620 € 681,495 € 1,658,715 € 2,682,519 € 433,027 € 5,698,375 Philippines
uganda
niger
€ 292,685 € 409,940 € 985,611 € 1,349,117 € 155,830 € 3,193,181
€ 249,995 € 519,096 € 1,268,082 € 1,127,097 € 87,217 € 3,251,487
€ 445,973 € 2,614,127 € 1,092,957 € 384,047 € 4,537,104
Cambodia
Kenya
€ 242,511 € 554,381 € 1,046,096 € 1,796,717 € 46,765 € 3,686,471
indonesia
Mali
€ 249,122 € 395,199 € 1,914,590 € 1,531,105 € 324,245 € 4,414,262
€ 342,957 € 871,993 € 3,098,555 € 1,969,291 € 150,420 € 6,433,215
€ 393,231 € 2,043,695 € 1,740,231 € 35,076 € 4,212,233
Nigeria € 289,496 € 506,787 € 1,450,945
MULTI-COUNTRY € 419,401
Tanzania
€ 1,215,118 € 1,048,374 € 4,510,720
€ 347,295 € 792,460 € 1,492,659 € 1,281,203 € 189,838 € 4,103,456
€ 6,235,064 € 3,980,197 € 592,498 € 11,227,160
fu Who
€ 55,267,664 Grand total
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and contract value and also the countries where the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was most disruptive.
In 2022, Voice hit a new milestone in its grant making reaching a cumulative total of 631 grants versus the planned total of 629, over its 8-year implementation period! Through the upheavals wrought to the civic space brought by the pandemic, Voice has continued to find inspiration, direction and relevance in supporting rightsholder-led organising in Asia and Africa. This year the Voice team focused its efforts on making grant approvals, releasing 33 calls for proposals and awarding 106 grant contracts. Of these only one contract was awarded as a multi-country grant to the Linking Learning Facilitator organisation. Alongside grant ap- provals, all teams continued to facilitate the closure of phase 1 projects. In 2022, we have officially closed 399 projects in the system. We continue to face challenges in closing projects in Indonesia, Philippines, and Nigeria. These are the team with the largest grants portfolio in Voice both in terms of the number of grantee partners
As of December 2022, over EUR 55.2 million have been allocated to Voice grantee partners from all funding sources, meaning a 91% allocation of the total grant budget which stands at EUR 61 million. Seen distributed over the various grant types and country/multi-country portfolio, we see that Influencing grants and Innovate and Learn grants have seen the highest volume of grant budget allocation. Even though Empowerment grants come in at third place in terms of grant budget volume, Voice has awarded the highest number of contracts, a total of 251 to empowerment grantee partners. Thus, in terms of contracting, Empowerment grants make up one-third of the total projects underscoring the impor- tance of supporting local, emergent, rightsholder-led initiatives
Grandma Lao Sru_ 64-year-old holding the message “I need cash support for the elderly”. She is a member of the Older People Association (OPA) in Veal Vong village, Battambang Cambodia.
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Relative to Empowerment projects, Voice has supported a total of 189 Influencing projects and 185 Innovate and Learn projects. We continued to struggle with the uptake of the sudden opportunity grant. This is evidenced by the low grant volume and projects (47). This failure is teaching the Voice programme valuable lessons about the limits of our current grant management system to respond to emergency opportunities and threats. These are planned to be documented for further learning. Finally, the Empowerment Accelerator grants are low in budget volume and projects due to their relatively recent initiation in 2021. The basis of Empowerment grants is to offer seed funding that will enable rightsholder-led organisations to kickstart or ramp-up their nascent initiatives towards furthering inclusion for themselves and their communities. While a majority of these grants went to smaller, communi- ty-based organisations, we noted the sharp increase and need for these grants globally, evidenced from the high volume of applications. In Kenya for instance, while we planned to support up to as many as 12 rightsholder-led projects, the team received over 160 applications. Similarly, in Indonesia the team launched a special Empowerment call for proposals to explore #Artivism as a powerful tool for self-advocacy of rightsholders and artists: V-21169-ID-EM Power in Artivism CfP. This call received over 125 applications over a wide geographical reach, with groups applying from Papua, Sambas- Kalimantan, Pare-Pare Sulawesi, and Banda Naira.
Innovate & Learn grants support rightsholder groups who want to test, scale and share new inclusive approaches. In 2022, we released six new calls for proposals to invite new innovations, re-engage the Linking & Learning Facilitator organisations who work hand-in-hand with the other grantee partners, and launch the second edition of the national NOW-Us! Awards. After the success- ful rollout of the national NOW-Us! Awards in 2021, the Voice teams in Cambodia, Laos, and Kenya added a second cohort of NOW-Us! Award winners while Nigeria, Mali and Niger made the award for the first time. In addition to the NOW-Us! Awards, Voice in Uganda issued a call for proposals titled ‘Mentally Mindful’ which sought to support inclusive and bold ideas around innovative integration of mental health into programme, policy and practice. Similarly in Mali, an Innovate and Learn call for propos- als was issued to support projects that use digital technologies to improve access to education and economic empowerment for right- sholder groups. It bears mentioning that these two calls for proposals were issued in response to the fall- out from the COVID-19 pandemic. Innovate & Learn grants
Empowerment Accelerator grants are described as the sister/gradu- ation grant to our Empowerment grants. These have been instru- mental in scaling up projects that have just picked up momentum in their empowerment phase, they have helped drive bold solutions to existing problems, and galvanised partnerships that might have begun in probably the final phase of the Empowerment grants. The design of the accelerator grants has proved useful in considering projects or programs that have proven to have a longer life span than just 12 months and thus created opportunities for rightsholders to think through the impact and sustainable solutions with regard to deepening their movement building. In Uganda, three former grantee partners and in Nigeria seven former grantee partners who previously received Empowerment grants were support- ed with a second round of funding to upscale and deepen their efforts. Empowerment Accelerator
Influencing grants seek to strengthen the lobby and advocacy capacities of organisations to better represent, include, and amplify the rightshold- ers’ voices. Approvals were made for 12 Influencing projects in Niger, Uganda, and Tanzania. Only one Influencing call for proposals was published in 2022 at the multi-coun- try level aimed at contributing to the strengthening of the LGBTI rights movement in West Africa. This call for proposal aimed to address a gap in Voice’s programming thus far and will take further shape in 2023 in the form of 15 Empowerment grants to be made in the Voice focus countries to LGBTI rightsholder-led organi- sations. A final note on Influencing grants is that the majority of approv- als for this grant type were made in 2021 to allow for the implementation period of 18-36 months required by this grant type. Influencing grants
Sudden Opportunity grants respond to specific, unanticipated opportu- nities and threats through collective action remained open in the exten- sion phase. Four calls for proposals were released, two in Cambodia and one each in Indonesia and Niger. However, no contracts could be awarded as the projects received did not fulfil the criteria highlighted at the start. Sudden Opportunity grants
Poster featuring the NOW-Us! Awards Round II Winners from Laos.
Ms Chanhpheng Sivila, Founder and Director of the Lao Disabled Women’s Development Centre during the second round of the Now-Us! Awards in Laos
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Themes
Increased space for political participation and citizen engagement Access to productive resources and employment Access to improved social services
37% 35% planned
36% 30% planned
27% 35% planned
Elderly survivors of the gross violations of human rights in 1965 in Indonesia receive the green book. The green book grants them access to free medical care.
Grant modalities
6% 14% planned
Extension Phase
Sudden Opportunity Empowerment Influencing Innovate & learn
25% 26% planned
46% 14% planned
23% 46% planned
The transition of Voice from phase 1 to the extension phase carried into 2022, as the final re-allocations from the phase 1 budget to contracts made during the extension phase were completed this year. We have finally expended EUR 35 million of the phase 1 grant budget, pending a small amount tied up in irregular- ity cases. Additionally in 2022, we received a cost-extension approval from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs to continue grant im- plementation up to June 2024. This has provided much needed time both to the Voice teams and current and potential grantee partners to be able to carry out their work effectively. The table above presents an over- view of the initial targets set for the Voice programme in terms of per- centage distribution of the overall grant budget as disaggregated by the key criteria outlined on the left. As seen above, there is consistency in key trends across all the criteria as seen from year to year. This con- cerns not only those criteria where
there are minor variations from the set targets, such as the rightsholder groups but also those where there are significant differences such as grant modalities and types of organ- isations. Regarding grant modalities the variations can be attributed to the focus that has developed within the Voice programme to supporting local, emergent initiatives led by rightsholders. The variations concerning types of organisations can be attributed to the contractual requirement placed upon Voice to not make grant agreements with unregistered organisations. Finally, regarding themes it is important to mention that the final context analysis update was carried out by Voice teams in the first semester of 2022. Some calls for proposals were released prior to the finalisation of the context analysis update keeping in view the impending close of the overall programme. As a consequence, all thematic priorities highlighted in the context analysis update may not have been addressed by the calls for proposals.
Total Funds € 61 million
rightsholder Groups
22% 20% planned
16% 20% planned
Approved € 55.2 million Balance € 5.8 million
Vulnerable youth and senior citizens Indigenous people & ethnic minorities People with disabilities LGBTI People Women facing exploitation, abuse and/or violence
46% 30% planned
26% 25% planned
26% 25% planned
Types of organisations
10% 23% planned
8% 27% planned
Informal organisations (grassroots and CBOs) Formal organisations Platforms and networks
80% 50% planned
Indicative targets reached per rightsholder group, grant modality, type of organisation and theme.
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Capacity strengthen- ing through grant-making Voice believes that supporting right- sholder groups and activist move- ments and their allies strengthens the change-making impact of social change processes for empower- ment, amplification and influencing. The stories below illustrate how (informal) groups, organisations and networks of rightsholders are influencing, finding strategic allies among powerholders and duty-bear- ers, and promoting collaboration within civil society to defend rights in an ever-shifting civic space.
Voice dreams of a world where empowered rightsholders are able to express their views and demand their rights for responsive and inclu- sive societies. All our grant-making and -management, monitoring and evaluation and linking, learning and amplification approaches were geared towards the pursuit of this vision. In this section, we aim to share examples of the outcomes from the journeys of grantee part- ners and rightsholders down the three pathways of change: Empower, Amplify and Influence. This section is broken down into the two core components of Voice: 1) capacity strengthening through grant-making and 2) linking and learning. Finally, it shows the cumulative progress against the overall results frame- work of Voice.
doing are
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Empower
In 2022, the Jigiyaso Centre Association supported the rightsholders to conduct aware- ness-raising and income-generating activities. These activities included the making of videos, theatre, and dance. Additionally, the young people were taught to make jewel- lery and accessories which would be sold with the help of the association and profits shared among the youth. These initiatives were especially significant because they helped the rightsholders, as well as the com- munity members, get a real view of what the lives of these young people are like and helped them to get an appreciation of their innate capaci- ties. These efforts helped dispel the stigma surrounding disability and provided opportunities for the right- sholder to build social networks, a key step in promoting their societal integration.
alongside other champions to co-create a community of practice where advocates and allies are joint- ly working to contribute to widening the political space for LGBTQIA+ people. This space provides oppor- tunities to amplify collective nar- ratives and voices of rightsholders which will in turn continue to make the grassroots and invisible voices more visible. It will also contribute to continued learning which con- tributes to the enhancement of the impact and sustainability of these alliances. The future is today Stretchers Youth Organisation, a grantee partner in Kenya through their project titled “Mobilize Empower Actualize Transform” (MEAT) aimed to promote increased peaceful inclusion of youth in po- litical processes in the Kenyan gen- eral elections in August 2022. Even though young people represent the largest demographic and political constituency at about 75% of the general population, their partici- pation in actual decision-making is very limited. In recent years, strides have been made in enhancing youth engagement in politics and political processes. However, a lot still needs to be done to ensure that they are participating in a meaningful manner. To address this challenge, youth affiliated with the project mentored Youth Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) including support- ing them to develop their manifes- tos. These efforts contributed to significant breakthroughs for some
of the youth leaders and the visions they have to transform the lives of youths in their wards. Specifically, three aspirants mentored by the project won elective posts as MCAs and were all first-time office holders. Their wins were important as they will likely encourage other youth to take bold steps and work on their own leadership journeys. These examples are evidence that ongoing empowerment processes are shaping the journeys of right- sholders at various levels, from the socio-economic to the political. As rightsholders and grantee partners take stronger ownership, demon- strate proactiveness, and lead with boldness they contribute to shifting disempowering narratives and trans- form their own lives. I want to thank Stretchers Youth Organisation for engaging with me during the campaign trail through their activities at Tsimba golini Ward. It is through these engagements that I got to learn of how as an MCA needs to conduct myself and prioritize community needs. After which I restructured my manifesto to a people centered manifesto. Today I am glad to say am an elected MCA. HON YUSUF SENGEZA
203 rightshold- er groups have a safe space to convene, share concerns and exchange ideas and experiences 64 formal and informal groups presented their own change agendas to external stakeholders
Edward Sakwa, Stretchers Youth Organisation sharing experiences at the Voice Regional Knowledge Exchange on Youth and Political Participation
Tools made by young people with psychosocial disabilities from JIGUIYA SO in Mali
Channelling life into dreams
51 Empower- ment projects supported 2016-2022
The Jigiyaso Centre Association has been implementing a project aimed at promoting the socio-economic empowerment of youth with mental disabilities in Kati, Mali. The young people are often heavily constrained by stigma, discrimination and even repression in some cases. As a result, some family members also have a hard time letting them take part in socio-economic activities. These and other reasons continue to limit their socio-economic integration. Nonetheless, the right- sholders remain undaunted by these challenges. They are committed to pursuing their dreams, building their social networks, and earning their dignified place within their communities. “My daughter used to be isolated and hardly spoke to anyone, but as soon as she started her activities with the centre she blossomed. She helps me with the cleaning, and we talk together sometimes and she is always excited to tell the other kids what she is doing. Now my daughter is blossoming, and I am happy.” A MOTHER OF ONE OF THE RIGHTSHOLDERS
Living the pride
Initiatives and Movement for Gender Liberation Against Discrimination (IMGLAD), an Empowerment grantee partner has been implementing a project aimed at shaping an equitable, free, and safe society in Mindanao, Philippines for the LGBTQIA+ community. Their inter- ventions have been particularly important considering the increas- ing attacks on the LGBTI movement and rightsholders in many parts of the world. Anchoring on the gains of their previous project, the aim of which was to empower and elevate the voices of LGBTQIA+ people, IMGLAD is taking the lead to strengthen their movement. Specifically, in 2022 they rallied
To Empower: A process by which rightsholders gain power over their own life and take their own decisions by creating safe spaces to meet, increasing their confi- dence and building awareness and skills. In 2022, grantee partners and rightsholders continued to consolidate and strengthen their own efforts geared toward protection of their human rights and their access to development opportunities. Despite various challeng- es ranging from the high levels of inflation and insecurity to the shrinking civic space in some countries, the anecdotes below reconfirm the key assumption of the empower pathway of change— that real power comes from within. Further, nurturing and developing innate strengths and learning how to leverage them for one’s own good cascades to uplifting whole communities.
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“Young people like me are embarrassed to eat local foods like tubers and corn. We reasoned that if something quick is available, why should we eat the locals’ food? We feel confident eating local food after joining Lakoat because it represents our true identity. We were willing to pay a high price in the past because we were unwilling to eat local food due to the influence of other people’s lifestyles. We are now proud of our food.” NORTH MOLLO YOUTH Radioing gender equality In Niger, Non-Governmental Organisation Cœur Citoyen, organ- ised weekly interactive radio pro- grammes where they invited elected women from the Tahoua region in a bid to encourage young girls to be part of the elected leadership and challenge the societal norms. They highlighted challenges spe- cific to their community and taboo subjects to which they proposed solutions. The participation of men was also encouraged in some of the programmes.
women with disabilities, tested out an ‘art for dialogue’ approach. In collaboration with artist and trainer Nika That, who is the first female blind massage therapist in Cambodia, they organised an art exhibition titled “Close Your Eyes and See: Touch, Smell, Hear, and Feel the World without Sight”. The art exhibition was focused on help- ing the public better understand the struggles of being blind, their needs and to build empathy. It gave blind women their own platform to share their struggles with key stakeholders and the public, engaging over 100 people and being spotlighted in the local news, Khmer Times “I am the first female blind massage therapist in Cambodia. I experienced multiple barriers growing up as a blind girl and continued to face the obstacles as a blind woman. I dream that all of us are given the opportunity for employment, social engagement and communication. I want everyone to value and recognise our abilities more than our disabilities.” NIKA TATH, TRAINER AND CO-ARTIST FOR THE EXHIBITION “CLOSE YOUR EYES”.
Wading into the ocean with a gen- der-equal agenda In Tanzania, Aqua-Farms produced a documentary on coastal commu- nities as part of the Bahari Yetu (Our Ocean) project. The project sought to break the silence on societal, cultural and religious barriers to women’s participation in the fisher- ies industry. To further amplify their work, Aqua-Firms Organisation car- ried out an art campaign where they painted 40 fishing boats with coastal Swahili proverbs. These proverbs were collected from the community to address socio-cultural and reli- gious barriers and negative concepts about feminism. The campaign aimed to increase male and female fisheries workers’ participation, collaboration, and understanding so that both genders can work towards one common agenda, inclusion. Voice grantee partners are using a range of innovative, cultural and artistic methods to take their mes- sages for equality and inclusion into the wider community. The creativity and specificity of each initiative highlighted above speaks to the vitality of rightsholders groups and social movements everywhere in an increasingly repressive context.
Amplify
The local artists and Buyuni women group out to the sea to collect materials for ocean art in Tanzania
110 (Informal) groups, organisa- tions and networks have built diverse alliances, initiating an agenda to amplify rightsholders’ voic- esideas and experiences 1093 publica- tions linked to am- 202 online and offline campaign- ing activities undertaken plification (blogs, articles, videos etc.)
To Amplify: The process of acquiring the means and support to express and raise your voice.
The forceful and rampant attacks on civic space around the globe including the Voice focus countries most significantly impacted the work of rightsholders and grantee partners on amplification. However, the exam- ples below illustrate that they have overcome these challenges with vibrancy and creativity, often focusing their efforts on the nearest sphere of influence— their immediate communities and those in their localities. Rediscovering local food, conserving in- digenous culture In Indonesia, Lakoat Kujawas, together with Bapak, Mama, and Indigenous elders, organised a festival called Festival Kecil Musim Panen (Small Harvest Festival) that sought to recognise the importance of retracing their nearly extinct agricultural and food culture. The festival allowed the community to document their cultural her- itage and pass on indigenous knowledge to the youth. They learnt about the Mollo indigenous elders’ agri- cultural and cultural practices and traditional arts and worked together to celebrate the arrival of the harvest season in the community.
Art for dialogue
Women Peace Makers in Cambodia who are working on an intersection- al agenda with women from indige- nous groups and ethnic minorities, women youth, LGBTI persons and
Nika That, first female blind massage therapist in Cambodia.
Exhibition visitors posing with signs calling for greater dis- ability inclusion in Cambodia
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Ensuring comprehen- sive health services for victims of sexual violence in Indonesia Indonesia’s Government Regulation No. 61/2014 on Reproductive Health (Health Law) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) Decree No. 3/2016 legalised elective abortion services, abortion provider training and the development of safe abortion proto- cols in rape cases. However, there is currently no government guidance regarding the implementation law and the decree are contradicted by other government policies. Findings of a policy study conducted by the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) and Yayasan Inisiatif Perubahan Akses menuju Sehat (IPAS) Indonesia revealed significant gaps between the Health Law’s objectives and abortion service delivery in Indonesia. Through the Decriminalization for Abortion and Rape (DARE) project the two organi- sations set out to create a supportive environment for the decriminalisa- tion of safe abortion for sexual vio- lence survivors. They worked togeth- er to strengthen public demand for the development and dissemination of national guidelines that underpin the Health Law. They engaged Civil Society Organisation (CSO) alliances and movements beyond traditional Sexual and Reproductive Health care, supporting them to advocate with media and allies in the Indonesian parliament in de- veloping and refining the Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) for vi- olence against women and children as well as a Technical Guideline for the Jakarta Police Force.
“I appreciate those who have worked hard to compile this SOP and Technical Guideline while collaborating with the Jakarta provincial government as well as activists, especially those working on women’s and children’s issues.” DR. H. MOHAMMAD FADIL IMRAN, Throughout 2022, IPAS Indonesia and ICJR successfully piloted the SOP at 13 district-level police offices and trained 168 special investigators on both the SOP and the Technical Guideline. Moreover, 52 stakehold- ers and service providers convened in Jakarta for the first time to specifically discuss comprehensive health services for victims of sexual THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE JAKARTA POLICE FORCE. violence, including emergency contraception and safe abortion. The SOP also takes into account the specific situation of women with disabilities. Removing barriers to accessible air trans- portation for People with Disabilities in Nigeria The project Accessible Aviation was borne out of the daily frustrations of people with disabilities (PWDs) at Nigerian airports when travelling. All but three of the 47 airports in the country have infrastructure that is inaccessible for PWD. With the project, the Center for Ability Rehabilitation and Empowerment (CARE) aimed at contributing to remove barriers to accessible air
transportation for PWDs in Nigeria. A key strategy of the project was ad- vocacy visits led by PWDs to various agencies of the government, author- ities within the aviation sector and airline companies within the private sector to remove accessibility bar- riers for PWDs around airports and within aircrafts. To demonstrate how accessibility for PWDs can be achieved within the aviation sector, CARE procured assistive devices such as an ampi-lift device and a stair climbing wheel- chair to enable ease in boarding by wheelchair users. Before this advo- cacy intervention, wheelchair users were carried like cargo goods when boarding. Based on the project’s influence, the government agreed to order the production of more of these devices for Abuja International Airport. Through the influence of the project, the government made it mandatory for airline companies to make provi- sions for PWDs that indicate special needs during the booking of air tickets. As a result, assistive devices for people with speech and hearing impairments and wheelchair users were introduced at several major airports and a PWDs complaint desk was established at Abuja International Airport. Moreover, a newly announced government reg- ulation prohibits local airlines from charging wheelchair users an extra plane ticket during the booking process, which had been a common practice. Together with the change in regulations, the changes in the behaviour of these stakeholders led to an improvement in terms of service quality delivered to PWDs at Abuja International Airport, as was reported by PWDs when submitting feedback on their experiences.
Influence 63 rightshold- ers groups, CSOs and networks
report a benefit by using a diverse set of lobby, advocacy and campaigning tools 53 experts and 42 platforms have been deployed 121 Voice grantees have defined a change plan to strengthen their capacity to influence decision makers. with the support of Voice grants to strengthen grantees’ and their implementing partners’ social innovation and influencing capacities.
The launching ceremony of the SOP on violence against women and children was led by Dr. H. Mohammad Fadil Imran, the Inspector General of the Jakarta Police Force.
Influence: The process where rightsholders and their representatives will use a range of lobby and advocacy tools to influence individuals, families, communities, private business, religious leaders, (social) media, and other decision-makers’ policies, practices, and behaviours. In 2022, the gradual easing of COVID-19 restrictions al- lowed rightsholders and grantee partners in all countries to increase their face-to-face interactions and take their influencing approaches beyond online channels and platforms. Grantee partners increased their in-person training and knowledge sharing activities to interact with the communities and groups. Many grantee part- ners were also able to reach out and connect directly with local leaders and activists, while continuing their use of online channels and platforms to influence opinions via social media and radio campaigns. The following two examples from Indonesia and Nigeria make it clear that adding in-person interactions to grantee partners’ portfolios of influencing approaches can be particularly useful when targeting changes in decision-makers’ policies and practices.
Government representatives and aviation sector staff at Abuja International Airport during demonstration of an ampi-lift device that eases boarding of wheelchair users.
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lessons documented in the Voice@5 learning document, the global knowledge exchange brought to- gether over 100 participants drawn from Voice grantee partners and key stakeholders and asked if and how Linking and Learning contributes to enhancing inclusion. Towards the end of the year, we had opportunities to fulfil one of our planned aspirations for 2022— more regional and cross-regional knowledge exchanges that respond to specific thematic priorities. The Linking and Learning teams in the Africa region came together to build on a dialogue that started virtually in 2021, on the power of youth political participation in Africa. With elections concluded in Niger and Kenya and an upcoming one in Nigeria, the
knowledge exchange sought to anal- yse what have been the challenges, opportunities and the positive and negative impacts of the youth rising as a political force. Some of the key issues surfaced include the impor- tance of applying an intersectional lens in defining young people as a demographic and the immense power of digital activism in collec- tivising and unifying young peoples’ political demands. Similarly in the Asia region, the Linking and Learning teams came together with grantee partners at the ILGA Asia Conference to present a panel enti- tled ‘Rainbows and colours in faith and culture: Celebrating grassroots voices in Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, and the Philippines’. The partici- pants delved into their narratives, reflecting whether faith, culture, and
religions are facilitators or blockages of a harmonised and robust move- ment towards inclusive spaces. It was an enriching experience and at the same time a space that encour- aged mutual empowerment—from preparations until the session’s conclusion. 2022 was also a milestone as the Voice multi-country grantee partners embarked on a stand-alone Linking and Learning trajectory, with a multi-country Linking and Learning facilitator, the Constellation at the start of the year. Working through an extensive team of facilitators, the Constellation is bringing together Voice grantee partners in cross-re- gional and regional configurations to map out their learning dreams and thereafter, undertake collective learning on topics of interest. Complementing the work of the Constellation, the Coady Institute is supporting a learning trajectory for 17 grantee partners part of the ‘Open to Inclusive Governance’ collaboration with the Transparency & Accountability Initiative and the Hewlett Foundation called the Citizen Led Accountability Deep Dive.
Talented designer from the Tepsyort Art Fashion team showing their skills during IDAHOBIT celebrations at an event dubbed Rainbow Fashion Show in Cambodia
Linking and Learning
Seven years after the launch of the Voice programme and almost half- way through the extension phase, linking, learning and amplification is now well-established in all countries and at a multi-country level. Linking, learning and amplifier officers, a full-time position since April 2021, together with the country’s Linking and Learning Facilitator have adapt- ed strategies and ways of working suitable for the context and culture they are operating in. At the same time, online workshops and E-Meets created spaces to refresh on agreed ways of working, learn together and further develop the Linking and Learning component.
While mentioned in relation to Voice’s grant-making work, the impact of COVID-19 on Voice’s Linking and Learning work also requires consideraion. The COVID- 19 pandemic forced most Linking and Learning events and processes to move online or become hybrid, although in some countries face-to- face work continued. Voice had to rethink its “usual” ways of working and become more flexible. In line with these deep changes to our ways of working, the very first global Linking and Learning event for 2022 took place fully virtually in February. Seeking to further the
Grantee partners share their learning in a past Linking and Learning event in Kenya.
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Marginalised groups, CSOs and other key stakeholders develop and implement innovative and effective strategies to reach, empower and strengthen influencing capacities of rightsholder groups 55 Organisa- tions, informal groups and networks report the use and effects of new insights and innovative approaches
At a glance
Presentation of community of practice on organisational capacity strengthening
The Linking and Learning infrastructure continues to provide spaces for grantee partners to share and leverage each other’s strengths. This has facilitated cross-learning, capacity strengthening and the creation of alliances to raise awareness on various challenges facing grantee partners and rightsholders as well as conduct joint influencing initiatives in various contexts. COGNITO Studios and Imagery & Network of Incubators and Innovators in Nigeria (NINE), the Linking and Learning facilitators in Nigeria, ensured that stories and impact of grantee partners’ work are further amplified via the VoiceNaija microsite that was co-developed with and for the grantee partners. The microsite allows grantee partners to share their vlogs, blogs, learning moments, and outputs from their projects which are key in promoting learning. Based on the success of the microsite, Cognito and NINE create monthly newsletters highlighting the works of grantee partners that are further disseminated on different social media platforms and networks. Cognito and NINE also facilitated the cre- ation of a Twitter space where thematic issues affecting rightsholders are discussed on commemoration days, with the rightsholders participating and leading the conversation. Moreover, two grantee partners in Kenya namely Feminists in Kenya and Usawa Inc co-created a vodcast (video podcast) to commemorate the 16 days of activism 2022. They collaborated to develop the two-part series vodcast on the causes and state of femicide in Kenya, an initiative inspired by their engagements in linking and learning processes. While Usawa Inc has been in the podcasting space for longer, it was a great learning opportunity for Feminists in Kenya on the production and dissemination. They co-hosted two guests namely Hon Crystal Asige (a nominated senator) and Njeri Migwi (the founder of Usikimye) in insightful conversations about intersectionality, everyday activism and ending gender-based violence. The vodcast was followed up by the two grantee partners co-hosting a twitter space on digital feminist movement building.
In 2022, grantee partners implemented artistic storytelling approaches for self-empowerment and influencing with an aim to contribute to social change. Lakhorn Kumnit Organisation (LKO), a grantee partner in Cambodia is using “Theatre workshops or Forum Theatre” and performances as civic engagement tools. These initiatives are challenging discrimination and access barriers faced by LGBTQI+, women facing exploitation and abuse, and persons with disabilities. These workshops have contributed to the strengthening of the confidence and theatre skills of the various right- sholder groups and enabled them to build relationships among themselves. Such initiatives continue to help other stakeholders relate better with the narratives of rightsholders which is a great step in creating intersec- tional and vibrant dialogues that are powerful enough to contribute to the desired change. These inspiring approaches captured the attention and was amplified by the Guardian through an article titled “How Cambodian women are using theatre to speak out against domestic abuse” Moreover, the Indonesia Transgender Network (JTID), an influencing grantee partner has been working with the disability community to raise awareness about Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIE-SC). For the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOT) campaign in 2022, they collaborated with a Deaf Feminist Community activist and a transgender influencer to introduce Queer Sign Language to express the terminologies surrounding SOGIE-SC and reproduc- tive health rights. This new approach was well received on social media and many deaf sexual minority persons, allies, LGBTI activists, and sign language interpreters hope to see it used widely.
Instructor facilitating a session as part of the Zaw In Bayen project in Niger
A Linking and Learning infrastructure is in place that visibly contributes to the insights, understanding and innovation capacity of grantees and other stakeholders 100% of Voice grantees report use of the Linking and Learning infrastruc- ture
Global cumultive target 2021-2024
150
Global cumultive target 2021-2024
70%
One of the ARTvocates in costume and character ready to mount the stage during the youth festival organized by Street Project Foundation in Nigeria
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