Ishtar-MSM engages in advocacy and policy engagement by being the link between the MSM (men who have sex with men) and MSW (male sex workers) community members and policy makers. Through policy engagement, Ishtar-MSM advocates for meaningful involvement of MSM and MSW in health programming. Ishtar-MSM also champions for the inclusion of MSM issues at the policy making level. This activity is aimed at promoting environments that support the human and health rights of MSM and MSW. Although great strides have been made to ensure that MSM and MSW issues are represented in policy formulating forums, there has been lack of support for MSM and MSW to access policy making forums. MSM and MSW also lack the capacity to clearly articulate the agenda items that concern their community in these forums. For effective advocacy, it is necessary to identify the key issues to be championed to ensure the political and social environment allows for equitable access to services for MSM and MSW. To build the capacity of more MSM and MSW in the area of advocacy and policy engagement, Ishtar-MSM developed a tool kit for MSM-led HIV & AIDS Advocacy for use in Kenya, called the Speaking Out Advocacy tool kit.
To read more about the lessons learned open the PDF-document below:
LL 45 Advocacy and Policy Engagement by Ishtar MSM in Nairobi Kenya
This lessons learned document was developed as part of the Bridging the Gaps programme
