Amplify Trans Advocacy Fellowship Open Call

Background:

In the Asia and Pacific regions, trans and gender-diverse people continue to face stigma, discrimination, and criminalization of their identities. They endure various forms of violence, including conversion therapy and transphobic hate crimes, perpetrated by individuals, religious and political leaders, institutions, and state actors. These challenges place communities in vulnerable positions amid ongoing armed conflicts, climate crises, and economic instability. As a result, they often cannot access essential sexual and reproductive health services, social welfare, and human rights. Many trans and gender-diverse individuals experience unique and multi-layered forms of oppression due to intersecting marginalized identities, such as being people living with HIV, drug users, sex workers, or migrants. Additionally, anti-rights and anti-gender movements have emerged across the region, further challenging progress on trans rights.

There are no regional human rights mechanisms in Asia and the Pacific that monitor and protect the rights of transgender and gender diverse individuals. The region is exceptionally diverse in terms of race, language, and religion, which adds layers of complex factors when tailoring programs, interventions, and approaches. Due to the lack of legislation, policy and protection for trans and gender diverse communities in the Asia-Pacific Region several countries have introduced and implemented anti-gender and anti-trans policies and laws which seek to criminalize trans people, in violation of their obligation to afford equal protection to all people without discrimination in accordance with the international human rights legal frameworks such United Nation Human Rights Conventions and Treaty Bodies (in cases where they are consenting parties).

We have known that the crises would have wide ranging impacts on the lives of people in the trans and gender diverse community and the critical work they do across the Asia and Pacific region. The COVID-19 pandemic and other crises has starkly revealed the vast social, economic and health disparities experienced by trans and gender diverse communities even further. The trauma for many trans people associated with the increasing difficulties of accessing gender-affirmative health care such as hormones and experiencing the physical side effects of stopping their medical transition is having an overwhelmingly negative effect on their mental health. Due to the underlying chronic health conditions in our community, trans people are vulnerable to exposure and risk of COVID-19 infection.

The present moment also sees an unprecedented rise in fascism and authoritarianism, including the emergence of an anti-gender movement that allies itself with the right wing and hyper nationalist rhetoric despite using the language of feminism and equality. This has directly led to pushback on progressive laws and policies addressing trans people’s rights as well as increasing transphobic hate crimes and forms of violence. 

What is the APTN Amplifying Trans Advocacy Fellowship Programme?

Building on the successful fellowship initiative launched in 2020, APTN is committed to expanding our standing Amplify Trans Advocacy Fellowship programme, taking into account the evolving landscape of activism and the changing needs of trans communities across our regions. 

In light of the status of trans rights of in the region, the Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN) 2nd series of the Amplifying Trans Advocacy Fellowship aims to support emerging trans and gender-diverse movement leaders and organizers from across Asia and the Pacific to; 

1. Amplify and strengthen their fresh and creative advocacy ideas, youth activism and foster intergenerational dialogue to address contemporary and emerging issues affecting trans and gender diverse individuals nowadays;
2. Change harmful narratives against trans and gender diverse people in societal and grassroots contexts, as well as tackling anti-right and gender right movements through storytelling and campaigning; 
3. Utilize the national judicial and non-judicial mechanisms and international human rights accountability mechanisms, such as UPR, treaty monitoring bodies for amplifying their existing advocacy work around trans rights at national and international levels;
4. Enhance their leadership, movement building, and project and social entrepreneurship management skills to forge stronger collaboration of trans and gender diverse people, across intersectional identity groups as well as allies and likeminded stakeholders and; 
5. Address  challenges of burnout, mental health, and well-being within trans communities and movements.

The Fellowship programme is designed to build on the strengths and knowledge of trans and gender diverse HRDs on national and international human rights advocacy spaces, narrative changing, and movement organizing through an online course which will be held between November 2024 – March 2025. After the completion of the online course, 16 fellows will be selected to attend an in-person training in Thailand between March – May 2025 (dates may change due to unforeseen circumstances or security reasons). A select number of fellows will then be invited to submit a proposal where they will be provided with a seed grant to implement their interventions centered around international human rights mechanisms, national legal advocacy, movement building and/or storytelling and campaigning. 

Fellows will receive guidance and technical support from APTN as they implement their interventions. The fellowship programme will also provide valuable networks and opportunities to learn from mentors and peer advocates working on areas such as human rights, sexual and reproductive rights, and Feminism.

Terminologies

Trans and gender-diverse activists are the key beneficiaries of this fellowship programme. The following terminologies will be used to describe the beneficiaries, and guide the implementation of the fellowship programme:

• Transgender person/trans person is used to describe someone who identifies as a gender that is different from the sex assigned to them at birth. Some trans people identify within the binary as men or women, while others have a non-binary identity.
• Trans man is used to describe someone who identifies as a man or boy but was assigned female at birth.
• Trans woman is used to describe someone who identifies as a woman or girl but was assigned male at birth.
• Non-binary person is used to describe someone who doesn’t identify exclusively as a man or a woman (or as a boy or a girl) and may identify as neither.

Benefits and Opportunities 

The selected fellows will receive opportunities to participate in multiple online workshops over November 2024 to March 2025 hosted and organised by APTN with involvement from mentors  who have relative experience in the fields related to trans rights advocacy and movement organising. After the completion of the virtual workshops and performance assessment, 16 fellows will be given a fully funded scholarship to participate in an in-person series of workshops for 10 days in Bangkok, Thailand between March to May 2025.

Following the in-person workshops, a selected number of fellows will then receive at least one of following opportunities based on their proposed interventions:

• A seed grant to implement their interventions centered around international human rights mechanisms, national legal advocacy, movement building and/or campaigning. Fellows will receive guidance and technical support from APTN as they implement their interventions;
• A chance to participate, learn and engage with peers in a fully sponsored trip to selected regional and international advocacy human rights conferences and convenings;
• Internship opportunities with APTN and other National NGOs and CBOs working on trans and gender diverse issues. 

Who can apply for the APTN Amplifying Trans Advocacy Fellowship programme 

1. Between 18 to 35 years old.
2. Identify as a trans and/or non-binary person.
3. Residing and working in Asia and Pacific countries. 
4. Staff members/volunteers from APTN’s partner organizations are eligible to apply for the fellowship programme. To avoid conflict of interest, those who are direct implementers of an existing APTN project or grant must declare this conflict of interest at the time of application. Specifically, applicants who are directly involved in project management and coordination will not  be eligible.
5. Available and committed to participate in the fellowship programme – 6 virtual training sessions across November 2024 – March 2025, and 10 days in-person workshop in Bangkok between March – May 2025.
6. Have a strong command of both written and spoken English, demonstrating the ability to effectively communicate and understand complex ideas and information in English.
7. Demonstrate a track record of engagement with activism and advocacy  in progressing trans rights. If you are fairly new in this work, provide us with a short statement on how you will take this knowledge and acquired skills back into the community and country. 

Application Process

To express your interest in this opportunity, you will need  complete and fill out the following application by 4 October 2024, 23.59 ICT (Bangkok time)

Timeline:

If you have any questions about the Fellowship programme, please email advocacy@weareaptn.org