Towards Elimination of Violence against LGBTQ+ Refugees at Dzaleka Refugee Camp

The project promotes a whole-of-society approach, a shift from the old vertically led response, where the Malawi government and UNHCR lead a response in accordance with the normative framework for refugee protection without any room for refugee community to provide feedback on service delivery quality, to a horizontally coordinated response, where multiple actors respond to needs based on comparative advantages, rather than formal mandates. Led by CHeRA LGBTIQ+ Human Rights Camp Activists will conduct social accountability activities to monitor if NGOs and UN Agencies have mainstreamed LGBTIQ+ issues in their programming. The project activities are composed of training of LGBTIQ+ refugee activists in social accountability approach called community voice in action. It upskills representatives of the LGBTIQ+ refugee community to take up agency for the realization of their full rights, it facilitates non-confrontational dialogue between LGBTIQ+ refugee community and all UN agencies, NGOs and government departments delivering services in the camp. It promotes a culture of mutual respect, rights based and gender affirmative approach to social accountability through community voice in action. It promotes inclusion and equity through orientation of the host village leadership in community voice in action approach and through interface meetings with host community leadership. Inclusion is further promoted through the training of cultural and socio-economic mediators who provide meet and greet, camp orientation, refugee and asylum status determination process literacy and camp system navigation, and hand holding support for new arrivals, closeted and all at risk LGBTIQ+ refugees who need support in Dzaleka Refugee Camp.