1st TRANS*NATIONAL CONVENING
Niavasha 17th~19th of October marked the day representatives from all over the country held the first ever Trans Convening in Kenya at Naivasha.
Prior to the convening, the Key Population (KP) Consortium held a series of conversations with transgender leaders and activists to learn more about critical issues facing transgender communities as well as successful and potential strategies to address those issues; and unite to form a national Network hence how the convening came to be .
With representatives from Nyarwek ~@nyarwekC, LVCT ~@LVCTKe, HOYMAS ~@HoymasK, Pitch ~@PitchKenya, Jinsinagu~ @Jinsiangu, ISHTAR~@IshtarMSM, TRANS~ALLIANCE, The east-african-trans-health-network ..etc among many others present , key strategic objectives were outlined as follows;
i. To provide Transgender* leaders and allies from across Kenya with an opportunity to formalize a National network and engage in critical dialogue about key issues facing Trans* communities.
ii. To share information, ideas, and research (knowledge market) on best practice to inform national programming.
iii. To surface strategies and solutions that are ripe for interventions in Kenya targeting Trans*populations.
Some of the expected outcomes from the convening were;
i. Unified, inclusive and collaborative advocacy agenda and strategies formulated by Transgender Networks in Kenya to inform programming.
ii. Strong and effective partnerships from national to local levels especially KP CSOs and champions working collaboratively for the health and rights of Transgender movements in Kenya.
iii. Strong and inclusive Transgender coalitions, linking national and county levels established advocating with one voice for the Health and rights of Transgender communities in Kenya.
iv. Increased awareness among social change agents including state and non-state actors on Trans* Issues.
The convening concluded with an articulated manifesto on what the trans*movement outlined during the convening to the government .