Earlier this month, the Iris Angola Association (Associação Íris Angola) became the first civil rights organisation that advocates for LGBT+ rights to be legally registered by the Angolan government.
Mambaonline reached out to the association’s director, Carlos Fernandez, to find out more about the country’s historic moment.
Established in 2013, the association is part of the Angolan National Coordination Mechanism for Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
“We give psycho-social help to the community and promote the vision of community empowerment [with] civil society organisations working with HIV/AIDS in Angola,” Fernandez explained in an interview with Mambaonline.
“We provide care and support for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis and sometimes we have to go to community members abandoned by relatives in hospitals or at home.”
Among the organisation’s areas of expertise are gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and other issues concerning the LGBT+ community. Iris Angola Association has also worked with the Ministry of Education to help educate young people in schools about domestic and sexual violence and bullying. Read more via Mamba