Asocijacija Duga/Association Rainbow

Asocijacija Duga (Association Rainbow) was established in June 2004 and operates on the territory of Serbia. It was founded by LGBTIQ persons with the aim to improve the lives of LGBTIQ people, primarily in small and rural communities in Serbia, with a special focus on multiply marginalized persons such as: LGBTIQ persons who live with HIV/AIDS, LGBTIQ Roma people, LGBTIQ people with disabilities, etc. Our mission is to improve the quality of lives of the LGBTIQ people and their families, through developing and providing health and social services which are not available to LGBTIQ people or do not exist in the legal system and through education of professionals from various fields about an adequate and sensibilized approach in working with the LGBTIQ people. We have three programs: 1. Social welfare system: LGBT people and their families. We have the first accredited training program for professionals in the field of social protection in Serbia for working with LGBT people and their families. So far, we have educated 983 professionals (38% of all professionals) from 146 centres for social work (CSW) in Serbia and 3 centres for Foster Care and Adoption, through 46 trainings. We have signed memoranda of cooperation with 84 CSWs and established a system of monitoring and evaluation (MIE) with all of them. 2. The program of prevention of HIV / AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). On the territory of 9 districts in western and central Serbia, we have developed an outreach service for counseling, and testing for HIV and STIs, with a mobile medical unit. We are one of seven NGOs in Serbia which has the possibility of providing health services outside the medical institutions. Our services include: psychosocial support, medical consultations, counseling, and testing and peer support. 3. Economic empowerment of the LGBT population. We have established the first LGBT social enterprise in Serbia which employs LGBT people.