The following blog is written by Dumi Gatsha and Priscilla Ama Abdo
Dumiso Gatsha (they/them/their) is the founder of Success Capital, a grassroots feminist youth led, managed and serving organisation working in the nexus of human rights and sustainable development.
Priscilla Ama Addo (she/her/hers) is a young health advocate and W4GF National Focal Point, who works with civil society organisations and non-profit partners in strengthening meaningful youth engagement in HIV and SRHR programing.
The median age of African Youth is 19 years old. The average age of African Presidents is 65 years old. This generational gap cannot be justified for a population of more than 1.5 billion, with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which will not have any of the current leaders living by then to account for it. Whilst the trajectory of Agenda 2063 acknowledges the underdevelopment and complex structural challenges the continent has faced, the progress made so far is too little to justify the youth’s faith in it.
The state’s responsibility has always been negotiable. Particularly when political will is blamed for the lack of resources. In other contexts, it’s always regarded as taxpayers concerns. We argue that these two are related. As the criminalisation of key populations most at risk of HIV and of HIV itself, pose a risk to sustaining the gains made in technological, biomedical, community and policy advancements. Whether in harm reduction or sex work, sexual orientation or gender identity, disability or migrant status; communities are vulnerable without the duty of the state in achieving the right to health or universal health coverage.
Botswana’s historical elections heralded a new era of anti-corruption, human rights, and National Health Insurance among other electoral promises. On the other hand, Ghana has seen a significant regression in anti-rights, and anti-gender movements led by political and religious leaders. The Supreme Court upheld colonial-era laws that criminalise same-sex intimacy whilst there is significant push for further criminalisation of the LGBTIQ+ community and its allies. These have been justified with ‘family values’ and Africanness. Ghana’s impending elections mean a repeat of politicisation of the lives of LGBTIQ+ in Africa: a bargaining chip for populist favor and distraction from citizen accountability.
Since 2002, the Global Fund has saved 65 million lives. A partnership that not only supports HIV, TB and Malaria interventions but advances gender equality, climate adaptation, and emergency response measures including in conflict situations, MPOX, and the COVID-19 Pandemic.A key element of its success is multi-stakeholder engagement, ensuring communities are involved. Every three years, an opportunity to re-commit to the three diseases arises. The Global Fund replenishment process serves as a reminder of the gains made and those yet to be realised amidst shifting global priorities and geopolitics. Next year will be a challenging one for all of us, particularly the most at-risk and impacted communities.
These regressive developments pose a challenge. As they expand to reproductive rights issues, harmful gender norms, and poor respect for human rights. As young people, we must ask ourselves if the Africa we want is defined by regression and populism. The fragile landscape for sustaining the progress for HIV, TB, and Malaria for everyone starts at social, cultural, and political levels. Inherited punitive laws only restrict and narrow the potential of favourable health outcomes. Similarly, decriminalisation does not mean stigma and discrimination disappear. It reflects a long journey ahead for ensuring equality and non-discrimination in our countries.
The declining resources available for global health and not just the three diseases is worrisome. As states grapple with high living costs, difficult intellectual property barriers for generic manufacturing and healthcare workers leaving for better opportunities; communities are facing a challenging future. We ask ourselves whether African governments are ready to invest meaningfully in the three diseases without any development assistance. This poses a challenge for communities in transitioning countries that might not view the dignity and personhood of communities as worth safeguarding. The global goal of ending HIV, TB and Malaria will be unattainable if these realities are not put into consideration.
We list a few observations as key takeaways for inspiring connecting and action towards a better, universal and intersectional health and human rights or all Africans:
1. Community structures, infrastructure and collectives are an integral accelerant to ensuring impact and sustaining progress in development interventions. Increasing investments, particularly in diverse grassroots, nascent, emerging African Youth groups, collectives and movements is how you guarantee business unusual. At Success Capital we always ensure to connect with local activists in the margins that aren’t invited to the convening or event. This is how we continuously link those who continue to reshape Africa’s narratives in solidarity driven efforts.
2. HIV infrastructure and investments remain key catalysts for progress in strengthening health systems, advancing universal health coverage and ensuring the inclusion of communities whom are often left behind in broader SRHR efforts. Streamlining competing donor, cost and programming interests/objectives can unlock greater impact, efficiencies and broader movement synergies to counter regressive resourcing, policy and legislative measures that negatively impact communities.
3. Young Africans are not a monolith. As some of us are aging out, we need to harness partnership models among strictly youth-led organisations and initiatives to ensure lessons learned can be institutionalised. This will ensure that narratives of co-opting, weaponsing and linear engagement/participation are ended for good. It will allow for more organic and innovative approaches to solutions building without compromising autonomy and self-determination that institutionalisation and funders normatively impose under the guise of resource mobilisation, coalitions and NGO-ization.
4. There are always experts in the room. The coming together for the 8th replenishment and other advocacy forums must not discount the breadth and depth of diverse change makers as we have all diagnosed the challenges and problems our communities face. We should encourage better ways of bringing people together outside of panels and lighting talks to elicit business unusual. Pedagogical, experimental and community-centric solutions are needed to
5. The policing of women’s bodies isn’t the only foundation to phobias against sexual and gender diversity; but the policing of agency and autonomy in SRHR activism. Those in power (enablers, funders, INGOs, development practitioners) assume the worst of activists who don’t operate within their frameworks and theories of change; blinded by the privilege that shields them from the inequities, atrocities and conditions that warrant the more radical activist work.
These takeaways are reminders that the work to advance HIV and SRHR is never done. It’s rooted in acknowledging that people occupy the institutions and systems that allow us to thrive at some point, whilst threatening to scale back or narrow progress when the geopolitics change. Whilst the funding decreases and policy making competes against fundamentalist politics – communities remain impacted and denied constitutional rights. As we connect with others, we redefine how to navigate our work in service of others. This calling is never taken lightly, and in ensuring
