Supported by Wan Smolbag, a grassroots NGO working in areas such as youth, environment, sexual health and governance, Ms. Gillio Baxter leads Vanuatu Pride. The PIRMCCM Oversight Working Group (OWG) met with Baxter as she explains how Wan Smolbag and Vanuatu Pride support the LGBT and Sex Worker communities in Port Vila, some of the at risk populations when it comes to HIV.
“Wan Smolbag is the only safe and friendly space for members of our community to access healthcare,” says Baxter. “The LGBT community is stigmatised throughout Vanuatu and we all agree that having this space helps us feel valued and respected.”
“Going to hospital for testing is very different. Everyone knows everyone, so when one of our members goes to hospital it’s very difficult to deal with. We would never choose to go there and we are so thankful to have the support of Wan Smolbag.”
Baxter goes on to explain that Wan Smolbag peer educators advocate strongly for LGBT people in the community, offering information about sexual health, distributing condoms in nightclubs, and encouraging members to visit the Wan Smolbag clinic for testing. She hopes that in the future peer education and community events will continue to spread through Vanuatu in order to lessen the impact of discrimination and stigma felt by the LGBT community and encourage at risk populations to access reproductive health testing.
“Wan Smolbag also has branches in Santo and Pentecost,” Baxter continues. “Peer educators visit these branches once per year to advocate for the LGBT and Sex Worker communities. Nurses also visit Santo and Pentecost every three months to conduct reproductive health testing.”
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) such as Wan Smolbag are invaluable in contributing to the health and wellbeing of marginalised groups such as the LGBT and Sex Work communities in Vanuatu. PIRMCCM aims to encourage greater collaboration between CSOs and Government in order to expand the reach of healthcare to such communities throughout Vanuatu.
To learn more about the work of Wan Smolbag, visit: