What we do

Most people in the world want to make their dreams come true. Unfortunately for marginalized groups, their dreams just remain dreams. They are silenced and face discrimination, exclusion and violence if they stand up for themselves. But the Voice program sees their potential for positive change.

Leida is a representative of the Latin American Platform of Sex Workers (PLAPERTS) in Hivos’ Positive Leadership Alliance and Key Populations (ALEP) project. She is also an activist, mother and sex worker.

Zambia is being hard hit by climate change. The impacts of which are most felt by already marginalized groups such as women, differently-abled people, and young people, who are rarely in decision-making positions. Read how Lucy Dende, a 40-year-old smallholder farmer, is trying to make a difference.

Fake news in the press and on social media is a growing problem in Tunisia. With support from Hivos, the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) set up the fact-checking platform Tunifact in 2021

Through the Voice program we fund civil society groups that breathe and live NOW-Us! (NOthing about us, Without Us) in our collective journey to an inclusive world. Let us first take you to Indonesia where we support the Ardhanary Institute to improve the lives of lesbian sex workers.

Leonardo Ortega uses open data to defend the rights of the LGBITQ+ people in Guatemala. “This is how we demonstrate that violence against us exists and that we experience it.”

“Whether you live in the country or in the city, we don’t want anyone to be left behind,” says Jap Ignacio, director of Babaylanes Inc. The Philippine NGO helps LGBTIQ+ organizations in rural areas to professionalize and grow.

Our VCA program is actively engaging young people to help shape Zambia’s climate change agenda with innovative, locally-relevant and viable solutions. “This conversation about climate change should be a young person’s problem and concern.”

Lucy Minayo is a lawyer and pan-African feminist. She’s been working in human rights for close to two decades and has gained invaluable experience in Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR). Today Lucy is the Global Program Manager of the We Lead Program at Hivos.

Mendi Njonjo is Hivos East Africa’s Regional Director. She has been firmly anchoring Hivos in the human rights space across East and West Africa for more than a decade. She went on to push a feminist agenda across social justice initiatives all over Africa. From the Darfur region to Kenya, she’s played an important role in leveraging the power of feminist approaches in community building.

Saida Ali is a mother, feminist and Atlantic Fellow. She works for equality and gender justice by advocating for the recognition of underrepresented voices in the human rights movement. Saida is now the Global Manager of Hivos’ Free to be Me Program.

LEHA has now grown into an organization where LBQ people learn about their rights and how to use existing laws to defend themselves.