Stories of change

The Southeast Asian Queer Cultural Festival took place at the beginning of this year, with more than forty artists participating. Their work tells the personal stories of LGBTIQ+ people and their path to acceptance and inclusion. “We wanted to touch people’s hearts and make them better understand the LGBTIQ+ community.”

“For LGBTIQ people in our region, participation in local politics is essential to gain a voice,” says Toots Estrada-Rivac, founder of Gayon Albay LGBT. “That way we can stand up for our rights and get funding to help our community. Thanks to support from the Hivos-Oxfam Voice program, we have made great strides in this area in recent years.”

With Hivos’ support, the Kenyan organization Sullivan Reed developed a special initiative for LGBTIQ+ students from the rural region of Kakamega. They can now gather together safely, which makes them feel less lonely and more confident in being open about who they are.

We promoted the Gender Action Learning System approach in upholding equality in the smallholder farmers’ coffee ecosystem.

In Costa Rica they talked about HIV, but didn’t focus on the most affected populations. “Traditionally, these populations have been discriminated against and excluded – so much so that they even avoided health centers. This led us to work with a human rights perspective in the attempts of ensuring all rights for all populations.” Hivos’ Laura Sánchez reflects on our pioneering efforts to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV.

Together with partners, we empowered Syrian women activists to enhance women’s participation in the constitutional and transitional processes in Syria.

Voices of rights-holders

We celebrate the diverse voices and rightsholders who were agents of change pushing for gender inclusion in renewable energy, transparency in the extractives sector, dignified work for women in the horticultural sector, and healthy and affordable diets for low-income populations.

Open contracting in the province of South Cotabato

John Magbanua has been working in the provincial government of South Cotabato (Philippines) for 25 years. For 19 of those, he sat on the Bids and Awards Committee, which he thought was doing a good job.

Poor diets in low income countries are still hindering progress to reach the second sustainable development goal; to end hunger, ensure food security and improve nutrition.  However, donors and the private sector have a unique opportunity to help – but only if they embrace the crucial issue of diversifying food production and consumption.

Diversification continues to be a buzzword in Zambia right now, and for good reason. The Zambian food system is not delivering enough affordable or nutritious foods for the majority of the population – a direct result of the country’s high dependence on one crop: maize.