To Amplify: is the process of acquiring the means and support to express and raise your voice. Grantee partners and rightsholders demonstrated cre- ativity and strength in a dynamic context by continuing to employ different tools and avenues to amplify their voices. They rose above existing challenges and decided to re- think, re-strategise and re-energise how they approached their amplification activities. 2021 also saw Linking & Learning facilitating organisations take the centre stage in facilitating connections between grantee partners and sup- porting amplification in different forms. Below we share 3 stories from grantee partners highlighting these changes: Insisting on Be/Longing The ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC), a regional network of LGBTIQ human rights defenders and civil society organ- isations, organised the first-ever, month-long virtual Southeast Asia Queer Cultural Festival 2021 with the theme “Be/Longings” in March 2021. The theme ‘Be/Longings’ was inspired by words “kerinduan” in Bahasa Indonesia or Bahasa Melayu, and “pangungulila” in Filipino. It sought to express the duality that the ASEAN region and its insti- tutions are erasing a significant group of people from its memory. And from LGBTIQ persons point of view, they are missing a region that is genuinely caring, inclusive, and respectful of diversity. The festival’s programme featured 30+ works, performances and events by 40+ queer activists and artists from all over Southeast Asia using various dig- ital platforms. Through curating this cultural experience, ASC and their network of LGBTIQ activists, artists, culture workers and academics have engaged in a profound act of cultivating collective memory and generating social and cultural discourse on queer existence, thereby opening up a powerful alternative space for LGBTIQ people in the region to belong. “LGBTIQ people in Southeast Asia have always found ways to insist that we belong in our communities and in the region. We want to show that diversity of sexual and gender identities has always been part of our histories — this diversity even pre-dated colonisation and modern nation states that introduced laws that declared that our existence as illegal… With the help of Voice, this monumental festival was made possible, and LGBTIQ people from the region are given a space
in writing and most importantly, to present the characteristics of an inclusive world for persons with visual impairment that we must have in our country.” Beyond a Hashtag Nigeria’s youth stood hand-in-hand to protest against the excessive force used by special anti-robbery squad, popularly known as SARS. They caught the world’s attention through the #EndSARS movement which blossomed into the youth taking charge of their destiny for a better Nigeria. The sudden opportunity grant called “Beyond a Hashtag” brought creative youthful grantee partners like Youth and Students Advocates for Development Initiative, YSAD among others with the project “No Dey Give; Follow Traffic Rules” which used innovative digital campaigns and use of toll-free numbers to create awareness on the menace of extortion of Nigerians by the police & how it is connected with police brutality. The campaigns galvanised citizens to move from bystanders to activ- ists. Additionally, two countries; Kenya and Nigeria under one theme; Youth, Politics & the Digital Space held a knowledge exchange with the view to share experiences and lessons learnt in how the youth in both countries used digital tools to call out the police and in turn hold the government accountable.
to come together despite the many challenges that we are facing, a space where they can truly belong.”
ASEAN SOGIE CAUCUS, VOICE@5 MAGIC MOMENT
at a glance
Linking Arms, Joining Voices The Association for the promotion of youth in Kati APYK, works to strengthen the leadership and engagement of girls and young women in the political sphere in Mali. APYK found itself facing a challenge in involving young women and girls who are not in school into their project. The consortium of Femme et Tic and Kunafoni.com, the linking and learning facilitating organisation in Mali advised APYK to profile women and girl role models during the mobilisation and awareness campaigns instead of men, as was being done by APYK previously. APYK confirms that recalibrat- ing its outreach approach in this way has enabled them to start integrating young women and girls more readily in their project. In the Philippines, YGOAL, Inc., the linking & learning facilitating organisation in the Philippines, connected grantee partners and rightsholders with media practitioners. In some instances, this led to publication of news articles that documented grantee partners innovations to continuing reaching rightsholders and fulfilling their mandates in the context of the pandemic. In others, it result- ed in profiling the personal stories of empowerment of rightshold- ers in mainstream media. This includes the account of Fermin Yap, a 21-year-old student who dreams of becoming a teacher one day who is also a person with visual impairment. Fermin won a nation- al essay competition organised by the National Organization of Visually Empowered Ladies (NOVEL) in the Philippines in August 2021. Fermin says: “Winning for me validates my capacity, through my writing skills, to participate in such an advocacy campaign and to contribute to raising awareness on how to build an inclusive world for persons with visual impairment. I want to grab this opportunity to thank NOVEL Philippines and Preen.ph because you gave us this kind of moment to show our skills
823 (Informal) groups, organisa- tions and networks have built diverse alliances, initiating an agenda to amplify rightsholders’ voices 164 online and offline campaigning activities undertaken 1389 publications linked to amplification such as the Echos from Madagascar by Natural Justice, a sudden opportunity grantee partner whose project “Solidarity with African Environmental and Land Defenders” aims to support indigenous peoples and local communities and their grassroots organisations in up to seven countries in Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and Madagascar).
Undoubtedly, the youth play a vital role in their communities as they are a creative force and a dynamic source of innovations as they are contributing greatly to the political systems.
PARTICIPANT AT THE KENYA AND NIGERIA’S COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE WEBINAR
As Voice completed the set-up of a fully localised linking & learning infrastructure in the 10 Voice focus countries, the Linking & Learning facilitator organi- sations embraced their role as a conduit for creative brainstorming, exchanging solutions and wider sharing of grantee partners and rightsholders stories. In the spaces of connection created by the Linking & Learning facilitator organisations, grantee partners found solutions to problems they faced in project implementation, found opportunities to strengthen their own skills on communicating their stories, and diversified and broadened their networks for wider reach.
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