Stories of Change

Network Strengthening

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KP REACH has been working with trans advocacy organisation, Gender Dynamix (GDX), to strengthen the Southern Africa Trans Forum (SATF) towards the programme goal of the four regional KP networks being better able to work strategically and efficiently together and with others to contribute to the effective development, monitoring and reporting of HIV prevention, testing and treatment services, programmes and policies for KPs at regional and national levels by 2018.

The SATF is an alliance of trans-led and trans-focused partner organisations across the region. PV has been supporting their movement building by facilitating processes with the Steering Committee to formalise structure, develop a strategic plan, terms of reference and a Meaningful Dialogue, Representation and Advocacy (MDRA) Plan, which has resulted in increased collaboration through a shared advocacy agenda and strategic planning process.

The process PV followed for the MDRA plan’s development was widely considered to be best practice, including by Global Fund, where LILO Identity and Voice were used as a catalyst for its development. LILO Identity is the start of PV’s personalisation methodology and saw trans individuals explore their own identities, become aware of who they are, resulting in an increase in confidence and agency; LILO Voice was used to help individuals understand the power dynamics surrounding them, and then work to find and claim a voice in this space; the MDRA process was about finding a collective voice, which resulted in a true, ‘bottom-up’ approach and inclusive representation of advocacy points and needs.

Trans leaders across the region are now connected based on the collective efforts of PV, GDX and SATF, and are stepping more confidently into spaces of not just advocacy, but also ensuring their voice is heard in the ‘traditional’ Queer contexts. This increase in self-acceptance and understanding, personal power and self-efficacy can, anecdotally, be assumed to have also led to an increase in health-seeking behaviours.

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