The following were the components of the work over the course of the initiative:

1.    ACADEMIA: Conducting research and production of academic publications working in partnership with UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND and 10 other Southern African Universities.

2.    AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION: Accountability International conducted research, advocacy and capacity building amongst the continents bureaucratic and political leaders in the AUC on LGBTIQGNC matters.

3.    LITIGATION: DH supported the INITIATIVE FOR STRATEGIC LITIGATION IN AFRICA (ISLA) with a small seed grant, thereby investing in the training of lawyers on human rights for LGBTIQGNC people.

4.    MEDIA: ADVERTISERS ACTIVISTS COLLECTIVE: This saw Accountability International conduct advocacy and training of staff in South Africa’s leading advertising agencies to endorse and implement the #EqualityGuidelines in order to destigmatise being LGBTIQGNC and create inclusion of LGBTIQGNC Africans through changing public opinions.

5.    SPIRITUALITY AND INCLUSION: Lobbying and advocacy among the faith based community members working in partnership with INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS LIVING WITH OR PERSONALLY AFFECTED BY HIV AND AIDS (INERELA+) and AFRICAN MEN FOR SEXUAL HEALTH AND RIGHTS (AMSHER).

6.    SPIRITUALITY AND SCRIPTURES: Developing counter-intelligence based on the writings and knowledge of African spiritual leaders and other scholarly arguments to counter discrimination and stigmatisation of sexually diverse people, and building the capacity of sexually diverse and religious people to make these arguments, with THE HOUSE OF RAINBOW.

7. WHOSEMYTRIBE.COM a public campaign by Accountability International aimed at cisgender and heterosexual Africans with the objective to change social norms around sexual diversity with HokaHey Media company.

Phillipa Tucker (AI) conceptualised the DH overall project concept and the AAC portion. It is important to note that no allies work was being done back in 2012 in Africa. Then LGBTIQ partners were hand-picked and asked to design their own ideal projects as experts in their own field, but under the DH concept. We then advised on implementation, try to create cross-pollination of the work then monitored implementation and reporting (both narrative and financial) as well as implemented our own portions of the project.

Implementation at AI was done by various people over the years: Czerina Patel, Sheriff Mothopeng, Lucinda van den Heever and Phillipa Tucker.

This work was supported financially by funding partner Ford Foundation. We are grateful to Eka Esu Williams for her support and leadership on this.

This project ended in 2019. For feedback, questions or other info, please email INFO at accountability dot international