Persons Marginalized and Aggrieved (PEMA) Kenya
Persons Marginalized and Aggrieved (PEMA) Kenya was founded within a context of tragedy and the desire to restore human dignity in primordial state of vulnerability. A young gay man shunned and stigmatized by his family because of his sexual orientation, died in May 2008. There was no one to honour his memory or give him a decent burial. Stunned by such level of loathing for gay people, a group of gay men in Mombasa came together to find a descent and dignified resting place for him. It was from this coming together of the gay men to support one of their own that gave birth to the Brotherhood now PEMA Kenya registered on the 6th of August 2009 as a Community Based Organization (CBO).
Mission: The mission of PEMA Kenya is to champion the inclusion of Gender and Sexual Minorities (GSM) by providing space for advocacy, networking and capacity building of GSM and the general society with the needed tools and information.
Vision: An empowered society that embraces justice, equity, and diversity
PEMA's focus areas include
Policy Advocacy:
- Advocating for human rights of GSM
- Building and enhancing a robust mechanism for legal redress
- Engaging with other CSOs to address human rights of GSM
- Enhancing security mechanisms for GSM
Health promotion including HIV and AIDS:
- Building the capacity of healthcare providers
- Improving psycho-social support for GSM
- Integrating GSM in health policy forums
- Increasing the pool of knowledge about health that is accessible to the GSM (tools and information
Economic and social empowerment:
- Engaging GSM in training forums on economic empowerment
- Establishing a mechanism for GSM to access business credits/loans
- Developimg PEMA Kenya’s members skills-set
- Establishing IGAs owned by members but managed by PEMA
- Establishing partnerships with employers
Organizational strengthening and sustainability:
- Utilizing existing skills and capacities of PEMA Kenya
- Strengthening partnerships and linkages
- Developing and strengthening policies to enhance transparency and accountability
- Strengthening and improving PEMA Kenya’s governance and management structures & systems
- Increasing knowledge and capacity of human rights amongst GSM
