Marginalized and minority populations, such as LGBTIQ+ people, people living with HIV, sex workers, and adolescents, often face unequal, unjust, and disrespectful treatment from service providers, policymakers, and program partner organizations, which is often done without conscious malicious intent and with little recourse that does not escalate punitive consequence. The minimum expectations of these populations in service settings and in policy considerations are simply to be treated with dignity and decency. In environments that are resistant or hostile to the diversity of identity and expression, the ultimate goal is to achieve dignity, respect, and equity for all.

It is in this regards, Pema Kenya has collaborated with a Positive Vibes, South Africa in a new project called Living the DREAM [LTD]. LTD is a project whose dream is dignity, respect and equity through advocacy for the sexual and reproductive rights of marginalized and minority populations. Living the DREAM builds on and from the work of preceding years, augmenting those actions, activities and strategies with several new features:

• The existing Community of Practice comprising civil society partners in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe will be further expanded to include partners in Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Ghana.
• The newly developed Integrated Monitoring and Accountability for Quality Improvement (IMAQI) system. IMAQI supplements existing processes and tools for systematic monitoring dubbed the Setting the Levels process. 

“Setting the Levels” (STL) is a 5 day systematic methodology for community-led participatory monitoring of health facilities. The process brings communities and populations safely into contained, constructive confrontation, engagement, and dialogue with healthcare workers in specific local health facilities to share perspectives, perceptions, and experiences of care, and to plan for measurable improvement that increases service access and uptake. The process is designed to be periodically repeated, to institutionalize a culture of monitoring through community participation in health is institutionalized, and to hold health facilities to account for commitments and undertakings for improvement over time.

STL deconstructs power differentials inherent in formal health systems, drawing service users into equitable dialogue with providers. That effect can be powerfully reorienting of the relationship and distance between communities and healthcare providers. Where responsive accountability to citizen participation is legitimized, public health is democratized. Monitoring is enabling and emboldening for those populations whose voices, typically, may be socially and structurally suppressed, who may be marginalized through silence and exclusion from participation. Communities gain confidence to claim rights and their dignity increases. They make themselves visible, known, demystified to health workers; in so doing, monitoring ultimately deepens the capacity of primary healthcare to be as close to the community as possible.

For more discussions on this please contact: 

1. Obwanda VINCENT, Head of Programs
2. Kidali MAXINE, Faith Engagement officer
3. Makhoveh COSAM, ICT & Program Officer
4. Wangari KELVIN, Policy and Advocacy assistant officer.
5. Wandera NEKESA, Health Promotion Officer
6. Ominde HENRY, Communications Volunteer

The Mechanism for Community Policing and the Court Users Committee will ensure that the gains made in this project are maintained and that the GSM community remains protected and secure. This dialogue aims to address the obstacles that the Gender and Sexual Minority (GSM) community faces in regard to protection and security, and obtaining legal recourse. To this end, a Mechanism for Community Policing for the GSM community will be created, as well as supporting the Court Users Committee in their periodic convenings.

This initiative will provide a platform to discuss and address issues surrounding the GSM community’s access to justice and safety, bringing together CUC members which include but not limited to; magistrates, lawyers, law enforcement and local administrators. We will also have members of the GSM community present for and in this dialogue. The ultimate goals of this engagement are to improve coordination between the judicial system and the GSM community, recognize and address the obstacles that the GSM community faces in getting justice, and promote legislative measures that safeguard the security and rights of the GSM community.

The expected results of engaging members of the CUC in Mombasa include increased cooperation between the judicial system and the GSM community and increased knowledge of and comprehension of the special difficulties faced by the GSM community among legal experts and law enforcement officers. Additionally, specific proposals and action plans will be developed to promote policy change and greater access to justice.

Strategic advocacy engagements will result in real advances to the legal system and the general security and safety of the GSM community. To ensure the sustainability of these gains, the Mechanism for Community Policing and the Court Users Committee will be maintained to ensure ongoing communication and cooperation between the GSM community and the legal system.

For more discussions on this please contact: 

1. Maundu MICHAEL, Advocate of the High Court, Mombasa Court
2. Wangari KELVIN, Policy and Advocacy assistant officer.
3. Ominde HENRY, Communications Volunteer

Gender and Sexual Minority persons living in Mombasa County faces various security and access to justice issues, and it is important that the law enforcers are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to will improve their abilities to address these issues in a manner that respect law, human rights and provide adequate protection to all members of society.

It is in the backdrop of the abovementioned issues that Pema Kenya seeks to engage law enforcers operating within different areas in & within Mombasa with the aim of enhancing their response to security, community policing, and access to justice issues for the Gender and Sexual Minority community. The training will be conducted over three days and facilitated by experienced trainers in security and access to justice. It will engage police officers from various police stations across Mombasa County.

The primary objective of this workshop training is to equip police officers with the necessary skills and knowledge to respond effectively to security and access to justice issues for GSM community. The training will enhance the capacity of police officers in community policing and engagement, foster access to justice through litigation, encourage policy change that benefits all members of society and equip police officers with practical tools and strategies for improving their response to security and access to justice issues.

The expected outcomes of this training are to enhance the capacity of police officers in community policing and engagement, improve access to justice through litigation and policy change, increase understanding of practical tools and strategies for improving police response to security and access to justice issues, and a broad-based training that benefits all members of society, regardless of their background or circumstances.

For more discussions on this please contact: 

1. Wangari KELVIN, Policy and Advocacy assistant officer.
2. Wandera NEKESA, Health officer 
3. Ominde HENRY, Communications Volunteer