Etihad (The Union) is a consortium of civil society organizations (CSOs) from across the MENA (Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan and Lebanon) which plans and implements joint advocacy projects that promote broader societal support for the rights and inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community across the region. Targeted in scope, The Union enables organizational, individual and activist partners to work in their countries of origin as well as across the region to promote holistic social and societal inclusion for LGBTQIA+ peoples.

The Union works by creating spaces for CSO partners to collaborate on individual and organizational capacity building initiatives, joint advocacy campaigns, and cross-regional learning and exchange opportunities. Bringing lessons and ideas from and among its members, The Union was created to enable our CSO partners to create meaningful, responsive and strategic opportunities which work together to make a clear and sustainable difference for the MENA’s LGBTQIA+ communities.

Our primary goal is to achieve profound social change that leads to a deeper understanding and recognition of the full rights of LGBTQIA+ people and to achieve equality among members of the region’s societies in accordance with the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The consortium was launched at the beginning of 2019 and has conducted a number of trainings in the areas of advocacy, digital advocacy, monitoring and evaluation, and digital security. These trainings resulted in Union partners planning and implementing five joint advocacy projects in five countries.