For LGBTI communities, human rights violations are a daily reality, not an abstract risk. Activists face harassment, violence, displacement, arbitrary detention and online attacks, often while trying to keep HIV services running in increasingly restrictive environments. When rights are under attack, access to HIV prevention and treatment suffers for people who are already marginalized. 

UNAIDS is partnering with more than 130 LGBTI-led organizations and groups in over 50 countries to strengthen resilience, amplify community voices and protect hard-won gains for human rights and health. The initiative supports community-led responses in three areas: strengthening the leadership and advocacy of trans and gender-diverse people, providing rapid support to communities facing human rights emergencies, and shaping public narratives through strategic media engagement. 

Supporting trans-led organizations on the frontlines 

Trans and gender-diverse communities are among those most affected by the rise in anti-rights mobilization. UNAIDS and the Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE) are working together to strengthen the capacity, sustainability and leadership of trans-led organizations. The initiative provides support to country and local trans-led organizations to organize advocacy and strategic communications campaigns and human rights monitoring, enabling organizations to remain active in increasingly challenging environments. 

In Panama, a small grant helped open the door to the country's first trans-led engagement with the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Trans activists received training on human rights and advocacy and documented the barriers, discrimination and health-care challenges they face. A community delegation then presented the findings to diplomatic missions in Geneva, helping to ensure that the realities faced by trans communities informed recommendations on equality and non-discrimination. 

So far, the partnership has provided 14 grants to strengthen civil society's resilience against anti-rights attacks and seven grants to collect data and submit country reports to UN mechanisms such as the UPR. 

"When UNAIDS invests in civil society leadership, resources reach the communities most affected, lived experiences become evidence, and evidence becomes advocacy, protection and accountability. At a time when anti-gender movements are escalating and civic space is shrinking, this partnership shows that meaningful support to community-led organizations can transform vulnerability into collective power, and collective power into lasting change," said Erika Castellanos, Executive Director, GATE. 

Emergency support funds 

To help communities respond to urgent crises, UNAIDS supports regional emergency support funds that provide rapid, flexible assistance to organizations and individuals facing threats to their safety, rights and wellbeing. The funds are implemented through regional and global community networks including APCOM Foundation, East Africa Trans Health and Advocacy Network (EATHAN), Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity (ECOM), Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC) and Youth LEAD which place community leadership at the centre of decision-making so that support reaches people most affected as quickly as possible. 

Demand for assistance continues to grow. In 2026, partners in Eastern and Southern Africa and in West and Central Africa alone received more than 300 emergency requests. This year, the funds have supported more than 60 organizations and groups across four regions, in addition to the 42 that received support in 2025. 

The support has ranged from legal assistance in Kyrgyzstan to a safe community space organized in Fiji by a group working for LGBTI people living with disabilities, demonstrating the critical importance of community-led emergency responses. 

"At a time when LGBTI communities are facing growing hostility, this support is about far more than emergency protection. It helps sustain community leadership, protect access to HIV services, and ensure that those on the frontlines of defending human rights are not left to face these threats alone," said Micheal Ighodaro Executive Director, GBGMC. 

Telling stories that challenge harmful stereotypes 

Protecting rights also means changing the narrative beyond policy spaces. Recognizing the growing influence of social and mass media on public attitudes, UNAIDS is partnering in 2026 with SHUGA Global to support new approaches to narrative change. 

Working with LGBTI organizations in Côte d'Ivoire and Kenya, SHUGA Global will develop two short films that highlight authentic community experiences and challenge harmful stereotypes and misinformation about LGBTI people. Local LGBTI organizations will help shape the storylines, provide technical input, facilitate community consultations and ensure the films reflect the lived realities and priorities of LGBTI people. By putting community voices at the centre of storytelling, the films aim to foster understanding, strengthen empathy and contribute to more inclusive public conversations. 

"Stories can reach people in ways that facts and statistics alone often cannot," said Umunyana Rugege, UNAIDS Team Lead, Communities & Human Rights. "By working directly with communities, we can help ensure that LGBTI people are represented with dignity, authenticity and agency.