Rapid Research for Agile Policymaking The project#s idea is to study and develop tools for rapid research cycles to understand the LGBTQ+ community members# contributionto policymaking and transparency by governments, against a backdrop of publicly available academic and policy research. The projectenables marginalized communities to contribute to openly available knowledge about their needs, to simplify the use of publicly available information, and feed this data into policymaking mechanisms (particularly those related to enhancing access to healthcare).

To do this, the project will need to conduct research (needs assessment, key stakeholder interviews, focus group discussions) as well as policy analyses to understand:
# How is data by the LGBTQ+ community collected.
# How is the data shared.
# How is rapid research and prototyping currently incorporated into policymaking. We will then use this information to create semi-automated digital andin-person tools to facilitate rapid research and sharing of anonymized findings with the larger community, through a combination ofinitial prototyping workshops followed by web-based resources.

The initial Design Phase of the project focuses on understanding the needs and challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community in conducting robust research and in sharing results, where the bottlenecks are, how urban/rural communities are impacted, how data is shared across individual activists, civil society and local/national bodies.Other interesting areas are how indigenous methods of information gathering are used, what are local methods of creating knowledge,how is transparency imbedded into communities and governance.

The project aims to push the envelope on both decolonizing research methodologies as well as incorporating aspects of feminist research. Namely:
1. Seeking to challenge existing systemic, structural power relations.
2. Valuing the knowledge of research participants as expert knowledge, with #ways of knowing# rooted in their lived experiences, even as gender and sexual norms and power relations are constantly changing and fluid.
3. Rejecting the notion of research objectivity, requiring researchers to acknowledge how (their) positionality and power affects the research process and research results.
4. Prioritizing social accountability, meaning that knowledge produced through research is a resource that is co-produced and co-owned by research participants and available for their dissemination and use.

Through our experience in data leadership, and in cooperation with our three LGBTQ-focused partners, we will build a resource that is inclusive, re-usable, sustainable and scalable to bring the data voices of the community into the public sphere, with a particular focus on access to healthcare, in a safe and secure manner.

This project is implemented by a consortium of four organizations:
# Pollicy (leading partner) will serve as the technical expert. Icebreakers Uganda (IBU) is a respected organization in Uganda serving the LGBT community. FARUG serves the LBT community and has been at the forefront of amplifying the voices of this community. Similarly, Tranz Network has been hard at work to bring issues facing the rans community in Uganda into mainstream dialogue through meetings and research. IBU, FARUG and Tranz Networkwill be tapping into their networks, beneficiaries and resources to help in answering some of our key learning questions as part of this project.
# POLLICY: is a civic technology organization using data and technology to improve public service delivery for citizens in Uganda, and across Africa. There are major gaps within government and stakeholders in collecting data, analysing this data and using this data within planning, budgeting and programming. Pollicy believes in the power of data to revolutionize how governments deliver services to their citizens. By improving data processes, we can improve how services are delivered, how budgets are allocated, how citizens interact with governments and how organizations advocate for social change.
# ICEBREAKERS UGANDA: Formed in 2004, Icebreakers Uganda is a non-profit care and support organization for Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Transgender people focused on Sexual Health, Sexual Health Rights advocacy, community mobilization and HIV/AIDS awareness and preventionfor all LGBT people. They also fundamentally focus on breaking barriers for LGBTI people seeking health services in different places of their choice by creating partnerships,lobbying stake holders, orienting service providers and constantly reminding the LGBTI people of sexual risks and other factors that we all face as sexual minorities in Uganda. Icebreakers Uganda caters for LGBT Ugandans of 18 years and over # who are #coming out#, as well as men and women who are already #out, or having feelings ofloneliness or isolation due to sexuality or sexual related orientation.
# TRANZ NETWORK UGANDA: formerly known as Uganda Network for Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Persons (UNTGNC) was formed on the 23rd of July 2014. It is an initiative that through awareness and sensitization campaigns about trans issues, brings together transgender and gender non-conforming organizations as well as individuals. It also creates avenues for transgender people inUganda in order to ease access services in a harmonious environment. Tranz Network Uganda (TNU) is a network of organizations that work with transgender and gender non-conforming persons. The network has a secretariat which coordinates other 12 member organizations.
# FREEDOM AND ROAM UGANDA (FARUG): isa Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer (LBQ) diverse persons and womyn#s rights organisation based in Uganda and established in 2003. They are a feminist organization that reinforces feminist culture and principles, equality of womyn as stipulated in human rightsand international instruments. They challenge male chauvinism, patriarchy and cultures that aim at oppressing womyn. They create womyn autonomous spaces, challenge heteronomativity and forge sisterhood and solidarity. FARUG#s work includes raising awareness throughout the country about LBTI women, sexual and reproductive health, homophobia, and transphobia; increasing visibility in the media; lobbying locally, regionally and internationally; conducting skills and knowledge-sharing workshops, seminars andconferences; and challenging what the group sees as anti-LBTI beliefs and stigma on a day-to-day basis .