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Our Background

Founding of Hope Trans Initiative, Kenya

Founded on 3 February 2022, Hope Trans Initiative is non-profit advocacy organisation founded by trans individuals who had the passion and desire to support intersex, trans and gender non-conforming (ITGNC) people to gain access to affirming care and equal opportunities. The organisation was founded as a support group by Faith Blessing, Beryl Achieng, Brian Muchere, Vicky Masinde and Rinah Olukusi due to lack of an inclusive organising within Kenya for rural and peri-urban areas along the coast of Kenya in Mombasa County that could provide safe spaces, gender-affirming services and advocate for ending the injustices that this segment of the community face. The organisation is registered, but not as an LGBTQIA+, trans or intersex organisation due to government regulations.

Country Context

The support group was formed to support ITGNC persons that were vulnerable to lack of safety and security, and further exploitation based on the myths around homosexuality and its relation to gender identity. According to Hope Trans Initiative, homosexuals and gender variant people in Kenya, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas,

“ITGNC persons are largely depicted as a taboo, curse, devil worshippers and repugnant to the culture of our society with majority being denied their right to an identity, suffer stigma and discrimination and sexual violation and social marginalization. This has kept them from socializing and being active members of the community thus hindering the development of self-confidence, and in-turn leading to social anxiety and depression.
Specifically, within healthcare setting, medical professionals, directly and indirectly, discriminate against ITGNC persons by miss-gendering individuals, breaking confidentiality at facilities, and asking intrusive questions. On the other hand, affirming health care for intersex, transgender and gender nonconforming persons is unavailable while at the same time, sex reassignment and HIV programming rarely considers the situation of ITGNC persons. Additionally, ITGNC persons within coastal region face wide spread of violation spanning from arbitrary arrest and detention, humiliating body checks and frisking to determine one’s biological sex, false accusation of intent to impersonate of false pretense as our physical anatomy might not match our gender expression and identity and by virtue of having bodies that often fall outside of the culturally accepted norms.”

Customer-Centric Approach

Goals/Objectives

1) To provide holistic, effective and reliable care and support for ITGNC persons within the Kenyan coastal region, spanning from safe spaces, psycho-social support, and ITGNC-friendly counselling services.

2) To advocate for the human rights of ITGNC people and change the attitudes of the society towards sexual and gender minorities to end stigma, discrimination and all forms of violence and social marginalisation against sexual and gender minorities that deny these communities an opportunity to live dignified lives to their full potential.
3) To galvanise a sustainable, self-sufficient and resilient movement of ITGNC people to promote access to gender-affirming healthcare services.

4) To step in the gap of other similar organisations that overlook rural and per-urban coastal regions and to advocate for the rights and equal treatment of ITGNC
persons who have had lived experience of deeply rooted stigma, rights violation and social exclusion in order to promote the overall well-being through psychosocial and socio-economic empowerment.

5) To provide a platform for ITGNC persons to assert their power in numbers energy and imagination to transform society to be a beacon of hope for all its people and to build a better society.

Sustainability Initiatives

Our programmatic Areas

we recognize the responsibility we hold in shaping a more sustainable future for fashion. Our commitment to eco-friendly practices and sustainable fashion choices is at the core of what we do.

• Advocacy: Facilitate advocacy campaigns to advocate for the fundamental needs of ITGNC persons and to send an unambiguous message to the communities they serve that all humans, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation, deserve the same respect, protection, and realisation of their rights while challenging existing power struggles to improve care, demand resources and influence policies wherever they are needed as we remain open to equality, diversity and at the same time safeguarding confidentiality and lobbying for institutional policy changes so that they remain resolute in advancing justice, often in the face of ongoing violence, inequity, and exclusion.
• Psycho-social support: Provide access to competent psycho-social support for ITGNC persons within the Kenyan coastal region through counselling, formation of mentorship and support groups that are specific to the needs of ITGNC persons, support provision of access to psychiatric care
• and rehabilitation, and facilitating a holistic approach to mental and broader individual well-being that enables a healthy environment for an individual to manage normal stressors of life and identify positive coping mechanisms.
• Awareness building and sensitisation: To increase awareness and understanding of ITGNC people and share knowledge to empower the community and to help service providers, professionals, families and the public to better understand ITGNC needs.
• Safety and security: To reduce violence against ITGNC within coastal region through community-led safety initiatives focused on improving conditions for people most affected by systemic violence and discrimination within ITGNC communities, based on their sexual and gender orientation/expression. On the other hand, we work to increase ITGNC affirming protections that promote full inclusion and equal opportunity while increasing social inclusion and public support for the ITGNC community.
• Organisational system strengthening: aimed at building a strong, dynamic, resilient institution that is effective and efficient in delivering its mandate.

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Year-by-Year Priorities

Year 1 (2025): Establish Foundations
▸ Register and operationalize HTI under updated regulatory framework
▸ Recruit and onboard core staff team
▸ Establish first safe space hub in Mombasa
▸ Launch M&E system and baseline data collection
▸ Submit 3+ grant applications to international donors
▸ Train first cohort of healthcare providers
Year 2 (2026): Consolidate and Expand
▸ Open second safe space hub in peri-urban coastal community
▸ Scale mobile health outreach program
▸ Achieve first clean audit from independent auditor
▸ Launch livelihoods pilot program with 50 participants
▸ Engage county government on ITGNC-inclusive health guidelines
Year 3–4 (2027–2028): Scale and Sustain
▸ Open third safe space hub; finalize network of 3 permanent hubs
▸ Graduate 200 participants from livelihoods training program
▸ Achieve documented policy gains at county and/or national level
▸ Establish revolving micro-grant fund with seed capital
▸ Diversify funding to 5+ active donor grants
▸ Commence knowledge-sharing and replication planning for model expansion