Deadline: 16-Jan-22
Applications are now open for the OutRight’s Religion Fellowship, a program created to train and work together with those who are combating religiously-based LGBTIQphobia on the grassroots level.
The program aims to add to activists’ toolboxes by providing entry points to international advocacy at the United Nations headquarters level, as well as training on professional development skills for international advocacy.
The OutRight Religion Fellowship is a 12-month program that supports LGBTIQ human rights defenders from around the world to harness the New York-based United Nations system to add value to their existing work and to collaborate with peers on strategies for combatting religiously based LGBTIQphobia.
Due to ongoing restrictions related to COVID-19, this year’s program will be completely virtual. The program is specifically designed to support existing work defending LGBTIQ people from the impact of religiously motivated violence and discrimination in the Caribbean, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
Goals
The goals of the UN Religion Fellowship are four-fold:
- Facilitate the use of United Nations spaces in the current online format for LGBTIQ activists to present and discuss issues regarding religiously-based LGBTIQphobia, enhance their networks and identify new advocacy entry points for the protection and promotion of LGBTIQ human rights.
- Increase visibility and engagement of LGBTIQ human rights defenders from the Global South within high-level UN and related political forums, specifically in response to religiously-motivated LGBTIQphobia.
- Build the capacity of the United Nations high level and expert stakeholders in the human rights of LGBTIQ people so that they can better contribute to the promotion, protection and fulfillment of these rights at the international level.
- Strengthen relationships with networks that focus on combatting religiously-motivated violence, anti-gender discourses, and discrimination against LGBTIQ people and women.
Why should you join?
- The OutRight UN Fellowship is primarily a 12-month advocacy training and mentorship program focused on the UN System. It runs from February 2022 – January 2023. The Fellowship will operate fully online due to COVID-19 security measures and travel restrictions. The program will focus on several key United Nations Headquarters advocacy opportunities, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, the High-Level Political Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals, UN General Assembly High-Level Week, OutRight’s annual Week of UN Advocacy, OutRight’s OutSummit Conference and any additional advocacy opportunities that may arise and are relevant to the objectives of the Fellowship.
- The Fellowship will include online advocacy trainings and regular mentor meetings with OutRight staff. OutRight will provide an internet stipend to facilitate participating in the Fellowship. During the Fellowship, OutRight will deliver professional development trainings to the Fellows to expand their advocacy toolset, especially in the current virtual advocacy world. Workshops on communications and development, such as social media campaigning, persuasive writing and grant writing, will be offered within the Fellowship program.
- As follow-up to the 12-month Fellowship, to put the learning into practice, the Fellows will have the opportunity to develop and present an advocacy project and submit a grant application to continue implementation of skills on the ground, including the sharing of what they have learned in the Fellowship. If approved, these projects will be supported with an implementation grant of maximum 6,000 USD per Fellow at the end of their fellowship.
Expectations
- OutRight Religion Fellows are expected to attend the trainings, monthly meetings and advocacy events and to actively participate in activities , including through social media communications and reflection blogs.
- To round off the Fellowship, a final individual reflection report is requested from all participating Fellows highlighting learning experiences. Six months after closing out, Fellows will be asked to participate in a follow up survey to measure the impact of the fellowship on their advocacy efforts.
Experience
OutRight’s UN Religion Fellows should:
- Reside and work in one of the following regions: the Caribbean, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific, or the Middle East and North Africa.
- Demonstrate an interest and track record in advocacy efforts toward the advancement of LGBTIQ people’s rights. Working on issues related to religiously based LGBTIQphobia or the anti-gender movement is a plus.
- Be available and committed to participate online in the high level meetings in the United Nations calendar and other relevant advocacy meetings.
- Be fluent in written and spoken English.
- Experience working with the UN system, including UN agencies and human rights mechanisms, is NOT a prerequisite for this Fellowship.
- Women, trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex LGBTIQ human rights defenders are especially encouraged to apply.
For more information, visit https://outrightinternational.org/2022-UN-religion-fellowship