LEARNING TOGETHER: THE WE ARE THE RAINBOW PILOT IN DAVAO CITY, PHILIPPINES
More than just a pilot, We Are The Rainbow began in Davao City, the Philippines, as a development project and partnership between Many Coloured Sky, the Davao City LGBT Coalition and the Davao City Social Services and Development Office, in response to concerns that LGBTIQ+ children and young people in the city experience high levels of discrimination, abuse and sexual harassment. With the support of a number of other government and NGO stakeholders, and four years of discussion, partnership development and several focus groups of LGBTIQ+ children and young people brought together by LGBT organisations from within and outside the LGBT Coalition, we initially developed and trialed peer group activities based on identified need, and revised and further developed them based on feedback and learnings.
While these activities were underway we also engaged with stakeholders including the Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare, ASEAN SOGIE Caucus, UNICEF, Save the Children and Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, and were invited to join the Davao City Council for the Welfare of Children. With these relationships in place and the continuing engagement and feedback of LGBTIQ+ organisations and young people we were able to map out the needs and the opportunities available to create change in key social environments – families, schools, services, local government and community and LGBTIQ+ organisations – through advocacy, professional development, capacity building and policy support and collaboration.
With these elements in place and a set of training modules, professional development activities and templates drafted we undertook a small-scale pilot in Barangay Lubogan, one district of the city. This required engagement with and the support of the Barangay (local government) council, the City Social Work and Child Protection teams, both government and independent schools, the local branch of the national youth association and of course local LGBTIQA+ organisations and groups.
From the above activity and relationship building, the Barangay Lubogan pilot was a proof-of-concept opportunity which delivered the following –
- a six-session program for LGBTQI+ children and young people focused on positive peer connection, health and wellbeing
- a second iteration of the above program with local LGBTQI+ community members and child protection / social workers trained to be the sole facilitators, via partnership development and train-the-trainer strategies
- a day-long training program, delivered twice to cover all government social workers across Lubogan
- a four-session program for parents of LGBTQI+ children focused on understanding LGBTQI+ experience and supporting LGBTQI+ children
- training and support of LGBTQI+ community members and local social workers to run the parent program, as above
- a two-hour introductory professional development program for leadership and teaching staff in three schools
- comprehensive meetings with school leadership, wellbeing staff and school students in three schools
- a two-hour program introduction to Councillors and senior staff of Barangay Lubogan Local Government Area
- extensive capacity building with local LGBTQI organisations and community members
- development of a common framework and set of principles across all these activities to ensure that each activity contributed to our broad goal of the best possible world for LGBTI children and young people, through enhanced opportunities, strengths-building and reduced risk and discrimination
The small scale of the pilot meant that our evaluation of these activities focused on proof-of-concept, feasibility and general satisfaction rather than outcome. Through the pilot we were able to demonstrate the relevance of the program and materials, its ability to engage with LGBTQI+ young people, LGBTQI+ organisations and other key stakeholders.
Content of the peer support program was co-designed by Many Coloured Sky with local facilitators (LGBTIQA+ youth leaders and social workers). Feedback and learnings from this pilot assisted us in further developing and redrafting the modules into the form they are in presently.
