The Voices Unbound Project was established to address the severe health, protection, and human rights challenges faced by LGBTQI+ individuals in Borno State, Nigeria. Operating within a context shaped by legal persecution, social stigma, insurgency, and widespread discrimination, the project adopts a comprehensive community-led model that integrates healthcare access, strategic advocacy, psychosocial support, and rights awareness. Through funding support from the Embassy of Ireland under Irish Aid’s ICMPS 2025 program, Society for Equal Health and Rights (SEQHER) implemented interventions across Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Jere, Biu, and Bama LGAs to strengthen healthcare access pathways for vulnerable LGBTQI+ populations.
A major achievement of the project has been the establishment of formal collaborations with the Borno State Ministry of Health, State AIDS and STI Control Programme (SASCP), primary healthcare centres, and major treatment facilities. These partnerships enabled the development of safer referral systems for HIV testing, treatment initiation, gender-based violence support, and psychosocial care. Within the reporting period, the project screened 1,269 individuals for HIV, identified 102 reactive cases, conducted 683 GBV screenings, and established four Positive Support Groups that provide peer-led psychosocial support, treatment adherence counselling, and economic resilience initiatives. Eight trained Peer Navigators now serve as frontline community health agents, facilitating outreach, accompaniment, case tracking, and confidential support services for beneficiaries across the four LGAs.
The project also focused on public engagement and systems strengthening through World AIDS Day campaigns, online legal and health symposiums, institutional advocacy visits, and intensive community training programs. Despite operating in a hostile environment marked by anti-LGBTQI+ sentiment, security threats, and community backlash, the project successfully built trust among marginalized populations while strengthening relationships with health institutions and local stakeholders. Through strategic adaptation, trauma-informed care, and community-driven interventions, Voices Unbound continues to restore dignity, improve healthcare access, and create safer support systems for LGBTQI+ individuals living in Borno State.
