Foreward
For too long, the LGBT movement has worked in silos and been driven by external factors governing programming parameters and has been limited due to the lack of social and legal protections for LGBT in country. However, the preamble of our constitution cements our inherent rights and fundamental freedoms as Namibians. It is this premise that allowed for the strategic visioning of a movement that is built on shared principles, drive and vision, with a foundation rooted in human rights.
The Diversity Alliance of Namibia (DAN) came into being in 2017. The DAN is a collective of organisations representing sexual and gender minorities in Namibia, drawn from SOGIESC , feminist and sex work sectors to create a unified response to advancing human rights and strengthening advocacy. The primary aim of the alliance is movement-building, achieved through setting a common agenda and building the capacities of members within the alliance to contribute meaningfully and effectively to that agenda.
At present (2018), the DAN includes the following organisations, represented by their respective Executive Directors: Rights not Rescue Trust (RnRT); Tulinam; Young Feminist Movement of Namibia (Y-FEM); Out-Right Namibia (ORN); Wings to Transcend Namibia (WTTN); Transgender Intersex and Androgynous Movement of Namibia (TIAMON); Rights for all Movement (RAM); Rural Dialogue Namibia; MPower Community Trust; Voice of Hope Trust (VHT). The Alliance has elected Tulinam and RnRT as chair and vice-chair, respectively, and ORN as a secretariat and coordinating mechanism.
The DAN is also an aspiration, the first steps in a vision for a networked human rights community, seeking to include and incorporate other organisations working with and led by sexual and gender minorities across the country, as it matures and expands. The “Road to Recognition” convening is the first endeavor of the DAN to present this vision with other like-minded partners.
Why decriminalisation of same sex conduct as that first step? The Global Convening on Strategies Towards Decriminalisation of same-sex conduct that took place In Swakopmund, Namibia in May 2017 provided activists the opportunity to consider factors relating to and approaches for decriminalisation on a global scale with peers from around the world, and – through a subsequent one-day National Stakeholders meeting – the opportunity to reflect on relevance and implications of that agenda for sexual and gender minorities in Namibia.
The DAN recognized that decriminalisation of same-sex conduct could potentially present the young Alliance with an important opportunity to set a human rights agenda in motion and provide a focus around which the DAN might coordinate its ambitions. Additional consultations, however, would be needed to interrogate the issue within the Namibian context, to expand the range of stakeholders and community members actively engaged with the topic, and to test will and consensus.
This report covers the process of the four-day multi-stakeholder interrogative process convened by the DAN, 6-9 February 2018. It is the sincere wish of DAN that this report sparks your interest in becoming involved in the larger movement and walk in solidarity with some of the most marginalized groups in Namibia.
Madelene Isaacks
Tulinam Director
DAN Chairperson