Mid-term review summary of the LGBT Project: South Africa By Renugan Raidoo, 2015
introduction
This report comprises the lessons learned by Oxfam and its South African partners (Triangle Project and The Inner Circle) during the first half of the implementation of the project Promoting and Protecting Human Rights of Sexual Minorities in 3 countries, known as the BuZa Program. It highlights the challenges faced and lessons learned by program implementers as they are articulated in the program reports.
Lessons learnt by Partners
Triangle Project (TP)
TP reported a lack of institutional capacity to develop training manuals, which stymied their ability to produce results. TP would like to hire someone to dedicate himself or herself to this, but in the meantime are making use of skilled interns.
The Director of TP resigned in October 2014. The reallocation of duties and lack of capacity had an impact on workload and timely delivery of the programme and report. A new director has since been instated.
TP is facing a funding crisis; while project funding is available from a range of donors, it is much more difficult to raise funds for core costs associated with critical staff and overheads. The challenge is to find ways to fund these functions while carrying out programme work. This matter is being addressed by the new Director and the Board of Trustees
TP also identified staff wellness as an enduring challenge, as the work can be emotionally taxing. It began to address these through group activities.
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With the support of Oxfam, TP is in the process of examining systems to develop key performance indicators for individuals and to institutionalise support and development for staff in a way that ensures that organisational targets and goals are met.
TP experienced problems with the quality of training implemented by the University of Cape Town (UCT) Black Student Lawyers Forum, who implemented with facilitators who had limited Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) knowledge and poor facilitation style. The lesson for TP is to continue discussions with the service provider to ensure that facilitation style and process promotes learning and understanding appropriate for the target group.
Challenges arose from TP having limited funds to support computer training courses. This caused tension among Safe Space members, many of whom are socioeconomically disenfranchised and unemployed, and who thus wanted to participate. To alleviate this challenge in the future, TP wants to develop guidelines, criteria, and principles for participation in agreement with Safe Spaces. Oxfam would be able to guide and assist TP in this process.
TP has learned that Whatsapp is more cost-effective than SMS. TP discovered in 2014 that participants who attended the peer counselling course required more debriefing sessions. Monthly two-hourly debriefing sessions were thus included.
Whilst working with the Safe Spaces, TP has found that many of the groups have serious challenges in dealing with conflict management. This leads to groups losing members, or having opposing factions within one group. Thus conflict management and leadership workshops were undertaken. TP has envisioned that the Safe Spaces will ultimately become independent from the organisation and possibly become registered CommunityBased Organisations, but is concerned at the ability of solidarity circles to raise and manage funds, as there was some mismanagement of funds. This is an area to be monitored by TP as they support and guide the newly-formed organisations, but it is uncertain whether TP has the institutional capacity to do this monitoring. Financial literacy workshops may also be helpful. Another solution could be increasing support for woman leaders, as they were found by TP to be more effective in managing the Safe Spaces and conflicts. Gender sensitivity training would also be helpful for these organisations, as some challenges around discrimination against young cross-dressing men. The leadership forums have been of limited success as efforts to resolve internal conflict; leadership needs to be raised with all members, and not just solidarity circle leaders. In addition, TP identified not having clear entry and exit strategies with solidarity circles as a hindering factor in making these solidarity circles self-reliant.
TP has found that working with the elders (“gogos,” meaning grandmothers) in the community goes a long way in transforming discriminatory cultural perspectives and antiLGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) prejudice. As the “keepers” of culture their voices in support of LGBT persons can influence and contribute to changing of attitudes and behaviour of the broader communities. This group of men and women in the community has become allies to TP in educating community members, especially the mothers, on SOGI acceptance and non-discrimination. Unfortunately, the programme was stopped in 2015 due to changing management and human resource challenges mentioned above. TP plans to resume it in the future.
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The Inner Circle (TIC)
After an “Open Mosque” (SOGI-affirming and open to all faiths) opened near the TIC office, TIC received severe backlash from religious fundamentalists. While this did not impact programmatic performance, it did pose a risk to them. TIC had to step up its own security by installing a CCTV system, mounting panic buttons in their office, and by notifying their security company to be more vigilant. They must also carefully assess their involvement with the mosque, as it also provides a great opportunity for collaboration.
TIC has discovered an increase in the number of straight Muslims who are requesting participation in TIC’s training interventions. TIC plans to explore ways to leverage these emerging allies.
TIC has been increasingly approached to conduct interfaith and same-sex marriages because other Muslim organisations generally will not. Imam Muhsin has being successful in registering as a marriage officer, which means that any civil union or marriage conducted by TIC will now be legal in terms of South African law.
TIC was only able to recruit one woman for its Training of Trainers as a result of institutionalised patriarchy. They plan to re-strategize for future recruitments.
In order to expand reach, TIC identified that they need to find funding for advertising beyond their SMS network.
Coordinating logistics for International Personal Empowerment Programme (IPEP) trainings (given the different socioeconomic means of its participants) posed a challenge for TIC. Retention in the IPEP is a concern.
Lessons learnt by oxfam
Oxfam
There was a delay in partners being contracted by Oxfam, and consequently a delay in the disbursements of funds to partners. The challenge was aligning the BuZa grant to Oxfam’s internal ways of working and contracting brought about by a different financial year and programme design.
It would be valuable for Oxfam staff to engage with other donors (such as COC and Hivos) who are funding the two partners. In this way, more linkages and connections can be made to learn and leverage the work. This will need to be discussed with Oxfam Novib first given their own discussions in the Netherlands.
The finance officer training and joint partner workshop highlighted the need for closer collaboration between the finance and programme staff
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Lessons learnt together
TP & TIC:
TP and TIC have dealt with the problem of changing or redundant mobile numbers in their SMS databases by reviewing their databases.
TP has been receiving requests from young people (under 18) and their parents to provide services to young people. Both TP and TIC have thus identified the need to work with young people. Institutional capacity at TP is a challenge to expanding service delivery to young LGBT; TIC said they would feature youth as a track at their 2015 Annual International Retreat.
Partners have identified the need to learn and liaise with the Oxfam partners in the other two countries in the BuZa Program. Partners will explore the use of social media to connect with other partners in these two countries.
The organisations have requested assistance in strengthening staff members’ capacity in financial management. Oxfam will assess how they will be able to assist the organisations beyond the BuZa grant.
Oxfam, TP, & TIC:
Partners and Oxfam have identified the need to adjust the current tools for data collection to reflect beyond sex-disaggregated data to include disaggregation on SOGI. They also identified the need to better collect beneficiary numbers. Reviewing the collection tools would help collect data relevant to SOGI work. In addition, more effort should be made to standardize data collection across organisations; this stands to improve, for example, the collection of hate crimes data that can be used in advocacy.
Collaboration with Iranti-org proved fruitful, and partners agreed that future collaboration with Iranti-org and other organisations with similar expertise would significantly improve the sustainability of the whole programme in terms of managing virtual spaces.
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