WE ARE THE RAINBOW
A Framework, Toolkit and Capacity Building Strategy for supporting LGBTQI+ Children and Young People’s rights and wellbeing.
GOAL: The best possible world for LGBTQI+ children and young people, through enhanced opportunities, strengths-building and reduced risk and discrimination
Announcing: We Are The Rainbow Grant Round 1
APPLICATIONS CLOSE SEPTEMBER 30 2022
Many Coloured Sky is excited to announce our partnership with Youth Voices Count to launch the first We Are The Rainbow x Ignite Grant Round supporting LGBTQI+ youth organisations across the Asia Pacific Region to change their world!
For further information about We Are The Rainbow: See below, and https://www.manycolouredsky.org/philippines
To apply for the WATR x Ignite Grant Round: https://rainbow.yvc-asiapacific.org
To access Many Coloured Sky’s Guidelines for the Implementation of We Are The Rainbow Projects: WATR Guidelines
We Are The Rainbow (WATR) is a development and capacity building project, establishing comprehensive programs and building a policy, programmatic, advocacy and community platform to affirm LGBTQI+ children’s rights and address the multiple risks and harms that LGBTQI+ children and young people experience in many parts of the world, including sexual exploitation, bullying, violence and harassment, HIV infection, discrimination and prejudice and family rejection.
The project is built on principles of empowerment and capacity building for LGBTQI+ people and communities and the growing evidence base for effective practice with marginalised and most-vulnerable young people; extensive focus group discussions with LGBTQI children and young people, LGBTQI organisations and key stakeholders in the Philippines, Australia and across the Asia Pacific region; and the expertise that Many Coloured Sky brings from similar work in other countries and in the development of HIV prevention resources for most-at-risk young people in the Philippines.
The core concept informing WATR is the recognition that LGBTQI children are both children and LGBTQI - that is they have the vulnerabilities and risks of children and the vulnerabilities and risks of LGBTQI people, the rights accorded to children and the rights accorded to people regardless of their SOGIESC. Successful responses to health, safety and wellbeing concerns for LGBTQI children must recognise these complex and interrelated risks and vulnerabilities, just as they must recognise children’s rights to special protection from abuse and harm and SOGIESC rights to sexual and cultural expression.
WATR has a development focus, building the capacity of LGBTQI+ organisations to work with children and young people, advocating to governments and large NGOs, working cross-sectorally and utilising two-way training and development tools and templates to ensure that policy and programmatic responses are contextualised and localised for specific communities.
In the second half of 2022 we are working with region-wide LGBTQI+ peaks, international child protection agencies, development organisations and other key stakeholders to finalise a framework for action and to trial key activities in a range of settings.
