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Community Spotlights

Trans Bantu Association Zambia

Transbantu Association Zambia (TBZ) is a non-government, youth-led, not-for-profit organization founded in 2008 and legally registered in 2012 with the aim of improving the socio-economic, political, and legal situation of trans-diverse and intersex persons in Zambia.

  • Published
  • 23 July 2021
Trans Bantu Zambia | 2021 GATE logo
© Trans Bantu Zambia | 2021

Safety and Security

Safety and Security have been one of the challenges that the community continues to face, as the risks are not only to community members but to the organization as a whole due to general hostility that prevents the creation of an enabling environment for our communities. Access to social justice is biased due to the harsh laws that do not support and protect trans and intersex individuals, leading to elevated police brutality and unlawful arrests of trans and intersex community members.

This hostile environment has contributed to high levels of unemployment, high levels of school drop-outs, and other community members being left homeless due to family rejection. Identifying as trans is still taboo in Zambian society and the country at large, with the influence of Christianity fueling high levels of stigma and discrimination.

To address these, TBZ reaches out to these communities through various interventions such as

  • Community Outreach
  • Focus group discussions
  • Virtual support group discussions
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TBZ’s Work

  • Vision: A world where Trans-diverse and Intersex people enjoy Human Rights and effectively contribute to development in Zambia.
  • Mission: TBZ is committed to creating an enabling environment where Trans-diverse and Intersex people enjoy their full potential and have access to social justice, better health outcomes and opportunities through a rights-based approach, advocacy and collaboration in Zambia.
  • Overall Goal: To increase access to Rights-responsive public health, socio-economic, and cultural services to Trans-diverse and Intersex persons in Zambia.
  • TBZ POSITIV VALUES: ✓ Professionalism ✓ Ownership & collective action Rights based approach ✓ Solidarity ✓ Trans-feminist ✓ Inclusiveness ✓ Versatile and Participatory governance

TBZ work is bound by five (5) Strategic objectives that will run from 2021 to 2024 and will provide guidance and the road map in the execution of activities in line with the needs of the Trans and Intersex Communities it serves:

  1. To increase the number of Trans-diverse and Intersex individuals accessing comprehensive rights-responsive Primary Health Care in local health facilities, in Zambia by 5% (findings from needs assessment) from baseline by March 2023.
  2. To increase the number of health care facilities in Zambia and health care workers demonstrating competence in providing effective health care services to trans-diverse and intersex individuals from the baseline, by 100%, by March, 2024.
  3. To reduce the prevalence of stigma and discrimination experienced by trans-diverse and intersex individuals from 5 out of every 10 persons in our catchment areas, to below 3, in social, economic, cultural, civil and political spaces by March 2024.
  4. To increase access to social justice for trans-diverse and intersex persons by 15% from baseline by March, 2024
  5. To strengthen TBZ internal organization systems (accountability and efficiency will be difficult to measure) in the areas of Governance, Administration Management, Human Resource Management, Financial Management, Performance Management and Project Management by _20% to deliver the 2021 – 2024 strategy