HERAF to promote the right to health for sexual minorities in Kenya
HERAF is implementing a project entitled “promoting the fundamental right to health for sexual minorities in Kenya.” The project is supported by Akiba Uhaki Foundation, the human rights and social justice fund and commenced in July 2009.
The purpose of the project is to promote the rights to health for sexual minorities in Kenya. To achieve this, the project will create awareness of their rights to health among health care providers and policy makers. The project anticipates that through improved awareness and information the health providers will become key in promoting the rights of the sexual minorities.
Through this project HERAF intends to equip Health Workers with knowledge and information on the fundamental rights of the sexual minorities, especially with regards to access information and HIV prevention, care and treatment. They will also be encouraged to share this information with their colleagues so as to identify and address instances of stigma and discrimination at the health facility level among themselves.
It is hoped that the project will create public awareness of the rights of sexual minorities, enable health workers to recognize and respect the rights of sexual minorities. In long run the project hopes to reduce vulnerability to HIV and improve access to health care services for sexual minorities in Kenya.