The Naz Foundation India Trust

Naz Foundation's Care Home, designated a Community Care Centre by NACO, offers holistic care to HIV-infected orphaned children. It ensures medical attention, Anti-Retroviral Therapy adherence, and nutritious diets. Education is paramount, with school attendance, tutoring, and vocational training. The home fosters growth through yoga, sports, books, and outings, involving children in decisions. With a focus on independent living, it aids young adults in transitioning to jobs. Naz Care Home serves as a Center of Excellence, training other institutions and producing a handbook on positive caregiving for children with HIV/AIDS.

Naz Foundation's Young People’s Initiative (YPI) empowers adolescent girls and young women aged 12 to 18 from economically disadvantaged backgrounds through sports, life skills, and leadership development. The programme has expanded to include the LGBTQIA community and partnerships with reputable organisations. YPI addresses gender disparities, early marriages, limited education, and gender-based violence, aiming to transform participants into change agents. With a focus on knowledge, skills, attitudes, leadership, and confidence, YPI envisions enabling girls to access resources, fulfil their potential, and drive positive community change. The initiative's three pillars encompass sports and life skills access, fostering female leadership, and promoting economic empowerment through the "Aath Kadam" approach.

Naz Foundation advocates for diversity, inclusivity, and understanding of sexuality, empowering members of the LGBTQIA+ community to access their rights. Naz offers counselling, care, and support services, including medical assistance, counselling, and referrals. The helpline provides guidance on sexuality, relationships, safe practices, HIV testing, and discrimination-related issues. Since its inception in 1994, Naz has worked with the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly through the Milan Project (2004-2008), the first Indian programme focusing on transgender and homosexual men. The Milan Project earned recognition and awards, contributing to safe sex education and interventions. Naz envisions establishing a community centre to provide services, address mental health, discrimination, and abuse, and offer skill-building, aspirational mindset development, and career pathways for mainstreaming.

Naz Foundation engages in partnerships with various organisations to share its impactful models, fostering ecosystems that promote the development of change-makers. Recognizing its programme's effectiveness and its challenges in reaching out to marginalized youth, Naz adopted a systematic approach to collaborate with organisations working with these communities. The partnership model for the Young People’s Initiative (YPI) focuses on delivering career pathways to adolescent girls and young women, fostering female leadership, and adapting the YPI to suit the specific needs of young people within their local context. This approach involves creating awareness among advocating organisations, offering customized support for adaptation, and implementing a regranting model that provides funds, capacity building, and organisational support for sustaining youth development programmes. Through partnerships, Naz aims to enhance its impact and contribute to the development of change-makers.

Naz Foundation is a robust advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights, actively participating in legal battles to promote sexual health and rights within the LGBTQIA+ community. Collaborating with the Lawyer’s Collective, Naz spearheaded a 17-year legal battle against Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalized homosexuality. In 2018, the Supreme Court's verdict decriminalized Section 377, ending an archaic law that penalized same-sex relationships. Naz also champions the rights of marginalized groups like People Living with HIV and AIDS, advocating for stigma-free education opportunities for affected children. Under the philosophy of 'Abhayam', Naz prioritizes child protection across its programmes, believing in equal rights for all children to be safeguarded from abuse. It engages children in their protection, empowering them to understand their rights and stand up against violations, aiming to create a secure environment for their growth and development.