Plugs pulled on LGBTQI agenda funding
A massive $470 million youth project that was launched last year is among several local initiatives now in limbo as the Trump administration moves to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
With several USAID programmes, in recent years, being pro-LGBTQI focused, some Jamaicans are supportive of the US government’s recent move to sanitise the organisation.
USAID launched the US$3M Youth Empower Activity (EMPOWER) five-year project last September. The programme was implemented by the Education Development Centre and was expected to benefit 5000 at-risk Jamaican youths.
“The USAID Youth Empower Activity focuses on several key areas to support and uplift young people. It aims to build youth-friendly systems that enhance resilience and access to livelihood opportunities while encouraging greater involvement in civic activities and leadership roles. The programme also strengthens peer support networks to boost community engagement and improves job prospects through targeted skills training and work experience,” the US Embassy in Jamaica stated.
There were concerns that this project was likely to go the path of several other youth projects in Jamaica that received funding from the USAID in recent years.
USAID was instrumental in the establishment of the Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network (JYAN), a youth-led advocacy programme and training organisation that addresses issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights and human rights, among other things. The group had emerged out of an advocacy training workshop hosted by the USAID-funded JASTYLE Project that was held in August 2006.
Globally, the right to have sexual relations with someone of the same sex is considered a sexual right as well as a human health right. Some of the youth advocates at JYAN have since moved on to take up key leadership roles in strategic sectors in Jamaica.
Attorney-at-Law and human rights practitioner Christopher Harper, who was a policy and advocacy officer at the JYAN, is now a senior constitutional reform officer at the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs, and was named as one of the 14 members selected by Prime Minister Andrew Holness to guide the process to create a new constitution for Jamaica.
Shannique Bowden, the JYAN’s executive director, in a column that was carried by a local newspaper in 2018, brought public attention to the fact that the Supreme Court of India ruled that Section 377—a 150-year colonial-era law that criminalised same-sex intercourse and intimacy, among other offences—should be repealed.
“Around the world, the intolerance of LGBT persons has largely been driven by religious ideals. This is no different in Jamaica, which has strong beliefs rooted in Christianity. However, some Jamaicans have failed to appreciate that individual rights do not start and end with Christianity,” she wrote at the time as a human rights and social justice advocate and the policy and advocacy officer at Equality Foundation.
“The history of LGBTQI rights and issues in Jamaica is just one example of Jamaica’s slow realisation of rights for marginalised groups,” she noted in the column.
USAID has also funded several pro-LGBTQ rights groups in Jamaica, including the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals, and Gays (JFLAG), which has been re-branded Equality For All Foundation (EFAF). USAID has been listed as a donor in some of the organisation’s annual reports.
“In the pursuit of enhancing LGBT+ community employability, EFAF had undertaken various initiatives aimed at equipping individuals with the necessary skills and support to secure gainful employment. Through funding from USAID, EFAF supported the Larry Chang Foundation shelter with a comprehensive array of programmes and interventions, which have birthed notable successes in empowering displaced youth to achieve their employment goals and improve their overall well-being,” Equality Jamaica noted in its 2023 annual report.
“The partnership with the Larry Chang Foundation has enabled the organisation to provide housing and support to displaced youth with automatic enrolment in a skills development program at Distinction College and Children First Agency in St. Ann. 33% of youths enrolled in developmental programs successfully secured employment. Additionally, there was a notable 44% improvement in soft skills among youths housed at the shelter, reflecting the effectiveness of their collaborative efforts,” the organisation stated.
EFAF generated a total income of $131.9M in 2023. For the year ended December 31, 2023, 99% of the Foundation’s revenue was derived from grants amounting to $130.2M. The organisation generated a total income of over $180 million in 2022. A total of 99 percent of that amount, or just about $177 million, was derived from grants.
In its 2021 annual report, the Equality For All Foundation stated that USAID provided funding to the EFAF for the Strengthening Community Support Structures to Upscale LGBT Rights Advocacy Project. This funding was used to provide support for the Larry Chang Foundation, which is the only existing LGBT-specific homeless shelter in Jamaica. While the Strengthening Community Structures Support to Upscale LGBT is linked to USAID, the website page that would provide more details on the scope of the project is no longer available.
