Bridging the gaps: Community resilience - Rising against the tide of repression

Numan Afifi is a Senior Research & Policy Officer at APCOM Foundation, based in Bangkok. He specialises in LGBTQ+ rights and HIV advocacy across the Asia-Pacific region, leading policy reform initiatives, community-led monitoring tools and high-impact public health campaigns.

Jota Vargas Alvarado (they/them) holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Universidad de Costa Rica and is a specialist in Notarial and Registry Law from Universidad Fidélitas. They also have an Advanced Diploma in Gender and Equality Policies from the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (Uruguay campus) and a Diploma in Communication with a Gender, Human Rights, and Diversity Perspective from the same Faculty (Guatemala campus).

Since 2012, Jota has worked with national and international human rights organizations such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and Mulabi – Espacio Latinoamericano de Sexualidades y Derechos. They served as the Presidential Commissioner for LGBTIQ Affairs of the Republic of Costa Rica (2022), as well as a consultant for ILGA World, and as an expert contributor to the drafting of the Declaration on Political-Electoral Rights of the LGBTTTIQA+ Population in the Americas (2022). Currently, they are a faculty member at the International Polytechnic University, Costa Rica campus.

Jota has also worked on various projects related to HIV with organizations such as HIVOS, Frente por los Derechos Igualitarios (2016–2018), Asociación Diversidad de Género de Puntarenas (2019), Asociación Esperanza Viva (2020), among others. Additionally, they have facilitated workshops on the human rights of people living with HIV, alternative sexuality, sexual rights and more.

Follow their social media: @jotavargascr