Yahia Zaidi
Co-Founder and Board Member, MantiQitna Network.
Co-Founder and Board Member, MantiQitna Network. Yahia Zaidi is a committed human rights activist and specialist with extensive experience on LGBTI issues. Yahia has led the revival and establishment of associations, projects and organisations. Among other roles, he has been instrumental in rebuilding Abu-Nawas (an Algerian LGBT rights group) and Pan-Africa ILGA. In partnership with peers, he has established an HIV/AIDS prevention project for men who have sex with men (MSM) in Algeria, and an association by and for migrants from the MENA region seeking to eradicate homophobia in the migrant communities in Belgium. Yahia co-founded MantiQitna Network, the only LGBTI-led organization from the MENA region doing public advocacy.
Yahia was at the forefront of international advocacy toward the adoption of UN resolutions on SOGI in 2014 and 2016. He has provided strategic advice to several regional and international NGOs, In 2007, he became the UNAIDS and National AIDS Committee Focal Point for MSM.
