Also available in: Español
Source: lacfondomundial.org
The ending of the Global Fund grants posed a challenge to RedTraSex, common to that of other initiatives supported by this mechanism in the region: to start a process of transition to sustainability of ongoing actions. The organizations of the network gathered to discuss and plan how to become a sustainable regional organization beyond the Fund.
The representatives of the 14 countries that make up the Network of Women Sex Workers of Latin America and the Caribbean (RedTraSex) met in Buenos Aires from February 21 to 24, in order to plan priority actions for this year, to share achievements and shortcomings as a regional organization and to carry out a review of goals and indicators of the regional project that they developed with the support from the Global Fund. They also discussed how to continue their work, once this project ends.
According to the executive secretary of RedTraSex, Elena Reynaga, “to be sustainable means to work every day to reach more and more sex worker fellows, to educate ourselves to become the protagonists in the defense of our rights. We are used to delegate others to represent us, but if we are able to change that logic and empower ourselves through education and political advocacy, we will be able to get the resources to support our actions.¨
The plan for the transition process was reflected in a work schedule on sustainability for the next months, which includes the review of the work plans of national organizations; internships among organizations to exchange experiences; technical visits and virtual training. Finally, these efforts will be shown in a strategic plan for 2018-2022, scheduled to be prepared in January 2018, within the framework of a new regional workshop.
It is expected that each organization will present a basic budget to support its operation. In addition, they will have to highlight the added value that the organization has at country level, for instance: 1) activities carried out by the organization without funding, including the human resources committed to the mission; 2) the impact of the actions at national level, such as the experiences with the Unions in Colombia or the judicial facilitators in Nicaragua; and 3) a list of the members of the organizations that are considered as reference points and key actors at a country level.
“Our Network will be sustainable if the national organizations focus on working in the education and growth of their social and political representativeness. Our organizations are not made to provide services but to vindicate rights. That difference was discussed in our last workshop, wondering if we are organizations that prioritize the demand of rights to the State or whether we focus on the provision of services as a priority, in which case we would be replacing the State instead of questioning it¨, said Elena Reynaga.