Faith* is a transgender woman, who, as a result of being persecuted because of her gender identity, fled Uganda for neighbouring Kenya. She now lives in Kenya’s Kalobeyei Refugee Camp. It is here where she can be found regularly handing out stationery — notepads, pencils, pens — to some of the camp’s children.
The camp’s general population face a daily reality described by the president and CEO of U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Eskinder Negashas, as the “rock bottom of our humanity”. For the camp’s queer people, however, being subjected to queerphobia from other refugees makes life even tougher.
A 2021 report noted “high rates of verbal abuse and physical assaults” being reported, with 80 percent of LGBTQI+ persons interviewed identifying safety and protection as their “priority needs”.
Masi Zhakata, the global director of refugee rights organisation, Safe Place International (SPI), describes life in refugee camps for queer people as “very scary”.
In a bid to make life for queer people in the camp a less scary reality, Safe Place International has been partnering with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide the refugee camp populations with some of their basic necessities.
That is how we are creating that kind of tolerance
These donations are made through “our community members, our LGBTIQ community members, who would then say, ‘Look, this is a donation from our side; from our organisation.’ That is how we are creating that kind of tolerance in the camps.”
Faith’s provision of stationery to some of the Kalobeyei camp’s children is part of this strategy.
Says Zhakata: “We’re looking at how our community members that are staying in there are being treated, and how we can bridge gaps [in order to make] it safe for our own community members that are residing there.”
The idea for this approach was born during a food drive in the Cape Town township of Capricorn, a subeconomic area in which unemployment, crime and violence rates are significantly high.
“We found that… when we were going into the community and feeding them, they wouldn’t worry about a trans woman being the one who’s feeding them. Or that a trans man is the one who’s feeding them,” says Zhakata. “We found out there is going to be some tolerance and the hate crimes are not gonna be that much when they see you coming up and meeting them with their needs; that what they need is what you provide for them.”
Partnership with the UNHCR
Through the organisation’s partnership with the UNHCR, it is now able to take the success of this initiative across the continent and provide for at least some of the daily necessities in refugee camps in countries such the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, South Sudan, Zambia and Malawi.
Through this partnership with the human rights agency, the organisation is able to provide everything from Faith’s stationery to more life-or-death needs such as tents, food and mosquito nets in malaria zones
By way of illustration, Zakhata says: “We’ve got a community member who is living in Kakuma. He has a farm that is providing food for some of the camp’s community. The UNHCR got us into the camp, so we were also able to give mosquito nets. So, there is that kind of thing: looking at the needs and meeting them, so that we are able to protect our community members in the camps.”
Engaging with human rights mechanisms for the rights of intersex people
With years of activism behind her, Crystal Hendricks, ILGA World’s Sex Characteristics Programs Officer, is a firm believer in engaging with human rights mechanisms to secure greater rights for intersex people across the globe.
“Intersex activists have been working directly with the UN for more than 10 years,” says Hendricks. “So, within the UN spaces, there have been a lot of submissions from different treaty bodies, like the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee Against Torture, and also the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. And then there’ve been a lot of recommendations for States to protect intersex people from medical harm and medically irreversible surgeries. We’ve also seen a number of reports from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.”
Hendricks adds that, for the past three years, she has been working directly with a core group of states — Finland, Australia, Chile and South Africa — who, within the UN, are pushing for greater rights for intersex people.
Historic 2024 resolution on intersex rights at the UN
In 2024, the group submitted the first ever resolution on intersex rights within the UN. It was a watershed moment because, Hendricks adds, “prior to that, there was never a resolution dedicated to intersex rights”.
Then, in September this year, in what she rightfully describes as an “historic moment”, the first ever intersex panel within the UN, focusing on discriminatory practices within healthcare settings, took place.
“On the panel, we had different states,” Hendricks says. “We had [representatives] from Chile, the European Commission, the Special Rapporteur on Health, an intersex activist from Asia, The panel was basically to… highlight the medical harm [intersex persons are subjected to] and for us, as activists, to explain to the states that intersex is not a gender identity or a sexuality. It’s people that are born with an innate variation in their sex characteristics. And that these people are facing great harm within medical settings. So, I think it was important to have this discussion, and to have this panel, because we saw a lot of States were really positive. There was no opposition on the panel. There was no opposition with any remarks or comments. It was basically like a full circle moment.”
Collaboration across sectors is key
Although both activists take different approaches to engaging with human rights mechanisms in order to foster acceptance of LGBTIQ+ communities, what they have in common is a firm belief in collaborating with activists and allies in other sectors.
In addition to partnering with agencies, such as UNHCR, and organisations, such as the Organisation for Refugee, Asylum and Migration) — both of which have a similar focus to them — Safe Place International also collaborates with those in other sectors.
In September 2025, the SPI partnered with the feminist- and labour rights-centred International Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG), in putting together a Feminist-Queer School. The five-day event, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, “[brought] together activists, organisers and change-makers [and created] a space to explore how feminism and queer liberation intersect in the fight against rising right-wing oppression, neoliberalism, patriarchy and capitalism”.
Says Zakhata: “We have to be open and say, ‘How can we be able to collaborate?’ Not just coming into a space and saying, ‘We know everything’. But rather giving others a chance to lead.”
For her part, Hendricks acknowledges the role played by queer rights allies in the successes of intersex rights activists within the UN.
Allies of the intersex rights movement, she says, “made sure that they submitted their submissions to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. There were a lot of different organisations that do not just focus on intersex rights, but focus broadly on, you know, feminist rights and the rights of women and children. And this really made [it clear] that intersex rights is not a standalone issue. It’s a feminist issue. It’s a women’s rights issue. It’s a children’s rights issue. So, I think allies played a big role by showing the intersectionality of the issue and why it’s important for the UN to recognise intersex people on this level.”
The broader human rights movement can learn from intersex activists
Hendricks believes the broader human rights movement could learn from the approach taken by intersex rights activists in how they are using human rights mechanisms, such as the UN, to secure greater protections for vulnerable groups and communities.
“Whenever there’s an opportunity, I would suggest that intersex organisations or queer organisations make their submissions, because these submissions, at the end of the day, are public,” Hendricks says. “They can be read by everyone. And it might not have immediate change, but you’ll see a shift. It took almost 11 years for intersex people to see a shift in the UN. And I feel like the hard work is only starting now. But, I think, if people are persistent, and they are continuously engaging with the UN, at the end of the day, we can push for greater rights for everyone.”
Carl Collison*
*Carl Collison is a journalist, photographer, filmmaker and researcher, who focuses specifically on producing LGBTIQ-related content from across Africa. While a researcher with Human Rights Watch, Collison worked on projects centred around LGBTIQ+ migrants and asylum seekers in South Africa as well as the impacts of Uganda’s most recent Anti-Homosexuality Bill. He is the founder and editor of the online publication and multimedia production company, Beyond the Margins, and the co-founder and co-executive director of Purple Mountain Arts residency, a creative safe-space for queer and marginalised African creatives.
- Side Event 9th Meeting — 60th Session of Human Rights Council:
Panel discussion on combating discrimination, violence and harmful practices against intersex persons (Start at minute 18:52)
Assembly Hall, Monday September 15, 2025 10:00am — 12:00pm CEST - Press release by OII Europe
- UN Human Rights Council report on intersex persons, entitled Report A/HRC/60/50 Discriminatory laws and policies, acts of violence and harmful practices against intersex persons
A publication for Hirschfeld Eddy Foundation as part of the project “The Pink Factor: LGBTQI+-Rights in the Geopolitical Conflict about Values and Resources”.
