UHAI EASHRI

Location: East Africa

Focus: Grant-making to support LGBTQI organisations

Website: https://uhai-eashri.org

UHAI-EASHRI are an activist-led fund for sex workers and LGBTQI communities across Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. They offer vital support to the Pan-African movement through participatory grant-making, capacity building, convening support, advocacy, and knowledge building. 

In 2020, many states in the region used their COVID response as a pretext to remove civil liberties. In Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda, targeted violence, arbitrary arrests of activists, and media censorship spiked. Tanzania de-registered sex worker and LGBTQI groups and increased surveillance. In Kenyan-Ugandan border towns, the authorities used contact tracing to identify sex workers and their clients. 

Nevertheless, UHAI have sustained activists in the region, focusing particularly on emergency response. They  raised $1 million for grant-making, supporting 50 applicants, making this the largest distribution since their inception. This included BAWA the first sex worker-led and focused organisation in Burundi and Ndabagas Sisters, the first exclusively LBQ organisation in Rwanda. UHAI’s grant successes include enabling the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition to give legal support to seven gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM) arrested and charged with sodomy; and enabling Addis Alliance to create an app to share information on COVID for those living with HIV in Ethiopia during lockdown. 

In 2021, GiveOut’s grant will support UHAI-EASHRI’s core costs as they continue their vital work in these areas.

GiveOut is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (Registered Charity Number 1176434).