Pehchan means identity and recognition. It was one of the largest programmes in India for MSM, transgender and hijra communities, and it worked on a simple belief: communities are best served by organisations they run themselves.

Pehchan helped around 200 community-based organisations across 17 states become stronger, and Basera was one of them. Through Pehchan, we received training and support in how to run an organisation, plan HIV prevention work, manage money and report properly. The aim was to help community groups like ours become partners in the government’s own HIV prevention programme.

On the ground, the project helped us:

Link people to services: health care, nutrition support and government welfare schemes
Speak up for rights so that MSM, transgender persons and their partners could get sexual and reproductive health services without stigma or discrimination

Many of the skills Basera uses today, from running programmes to working with government, began with Pehchan. Years later, Basera went on to run its own Targeted Intervention with the Uttar Pradesh State AIDS Control Society.