Last Updated: 10 September 2026
The African Queer Youth Initiative (AQYI) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you share with us.
This Privacy Policy explains how AQYI collects, uses, stores, protects, and may share information when you visit or interact with our website, https://aqyi.org/.
Our website provides information about AQYI’s work, programmes, projects, resources, opportunities, membership, and ways to get involved. It also allows visitors to contact us, subscribe to our newsletter, register for membership, and submit information through various forms.
Because AQYI works with LGBTQI+ young people, activists, organisations, and communities across Africa, we recognise that privacy and security can be particularly important to our users. We therefore aim to collect only information that is reasonably necessary and to handle it responsibly.
1. Who We Are
The African Queer Youth Initiative (AQYI) is a pan-African, youth-led organisation working to advance the rights, wellbeing, leadership, and participation of LGBTQI+ young people across Africa.
Our website is:
For privacy-related questions or requests, you can contact us at:
2. Information We Collect
The information we collect depends on how you interact with our website.
You may provide personal information when you:
- Contact us through our website
- Subscribe to our newsletter
- Register for AQYI membership
- Create or maintain a member profile
- Apply for volunteer opportunities
- Apply for internships
- Contact us regarding partnerships
- Apply for or participate in AQYI programmes or opportunities
- Make or arrange a donation
- Request information or resources
- Communicate with us by email
The information you provide may include your:
- Name
- Email address
- Telephone number
- Country, city, or other location information
- Professional or organisational information
- Skills and areas of expertise
- Information contained in applications or enquiries
- Other information you voluntarily choose to provide
Our membership registration process may request additional information such as pronouns, date of birth, country of origin, country of residence, skills, expertise, and whether you wish to appear in a public members directory.
You should only provide information that you are comfortable sharing and that is relevant to the purpose for which it is requested.
3. Sensitive Personal Information
AQYI’s work involves LGBTQI+ communities, activists, and human rights issues. Some information provided to AQYI may therefore be sensitive or may reveal information about a person’s identity, community involvement, location, or experiences.
We recognise the importance of protecting such information.
Where sensitive information is collected, AQYI will seek to:
- Collect only information that is reasonably necessary
- Limit access to authorised persons
- Use the information only for legitimate organisational purposes
- Take reasonable measures to protect it from unauthorised access or disclosure
- Avoid publicly displaying sensitive information unless you have chosen or authorised us to do so
Please do not submit highly sensitive information through a general website form or ordinary email unless it is specifically requested and you are comfortable using that method.
4. How We Use Your Information
We may use the information we collect to:
- Respond to enquiries and requests
- Communicate with you about AQYI’s work
- Process membership registrations
- Manage member profiles and the members directory
- Process volunteer and internship enquiries
- Process partnership enquiries
- Administer programmes, fellowships, trainings, and other opportunities
- Provide resources or information you request
- Send newsletters and organisational updates where you have subscribed
- Process or facilitate donations
- Improve our website and digital services
- Understand how visitors use our website
- Protect our website against spam, abuse, fraud, and security threats
- Maintain organisational records
- Meet applicable legal or administrative obligations
We will not use your personal information for unrelated purposes without an appropriate legal basis or, where required, your consent.
5. Membership and Public Profiles
AQYI provides a membership registration system through which individuals may provide information to become members of the AQYI community.
Some membership information may be used to create a member profile.
Where the membership system provides an option to display your profile in a public members directory, we will use that information publicly only where you have chosen or authorised such display.
You should carefully consider the information you choose to make publicly available, particularly information that could identify your location, identity, or association with LGBTQI+ communities.
If you believe information appearing in a public member profile should be changed or removed, please contact us at info@aqyi.org.
6. Newsletter
AQYI provides a newsletter through which subscribers may receive updates about our programmes, opportunities, campaigns, resources, activities, and other organisational information.
If you subscribe to our newsletter, we may collect your name and email address and provide this information to our email newsletter service provider for the purpose of delivering these communications.
Our current newsletter signup links to Mailchimp, which processes subscriber information according to its own privacy practices.
You can unsubscribe from AQYI’s newsletter at any time by using the unsubscribe link included in our emails.
7. Contact and Other Forms
Our website contains forms that allow visitors to contact AQYI and express interest in activities such as volunteering, internships, partnerships, and other opportunities.
When you submit a form, we collect the information you choose to provide.
We use this information to respond to your enquiry, assess or process your request, communicate with you, or provide the relevant opportunity or service.
Please provide only information that is relevant and necessary for the particular form.
8. Cookies
AQYI’s website may use cookies and similar technologies to provide essential website functionality, remember preferences, maintain user sessions, improve website performance, and support security.
Cookies may also be used by third-party services integrated into the website.
You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect some website functionality.
Where applicable, we may provide additional information or controls regarding non-essential cookies.
9. Analytics
AQYI may use analytics tools to understand how visitors use our website and to improve its performance and content.
Analytics information may include information such as:
- Pages visited
- Approximate location
- Device and browser information
- Referring website
- Time spent on pages
- Website interactions
Where we use third-party analytics services, those providers may process information according to their own privacy policies.
Analytics information is used primarily to understand website performance and improve AQYI’s digital services.
10. Embedded Content and External Services
Our website may contain links to or content from third-party websites and services.
These may include social media platforms, video platforms, external resources, donation services, newsletter services, partner organisations, and other websites.
Third-party content may use cookies or collect information about your interaction with that content. These third parties operate under their own privacy policies, which may differ from AQYI’s Privacy Policy.
AQYI does not control the privacy practices of external websites.
We encourage you to review the privacy policies of third-party websites and services before providing them with personal information.
11. Who We Share Your Information With
AQYI does not sell, rent, or trade your personal information.
We may share information with trusted service providers where this is necessary to operate our website or provide services to you.
These providers may include services used for:
- Website hosting
- Email and newsletter delivery
- Website analytics
- Form processing
- Website security and spam prevention
- Membership management
- Donation processing
- Other essential website functions
We may also disclose information where required by applicable law, legal process, or where necessary to protect the rights, safety, security, or property of AQYI, our users, or others.
12. Data Security
AQYI takes reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.
However, no website, online service, or method of transmitting information over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
Given the nature of AQYI’s work, we encourage visitors and community members to exercise caution when submitting information that could place them or others at risk if disclosed.
13. How Long We Keep Your Information
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, to provide services, administer programmes and membership, maintain appropriate organisational records, resolve disputes, maintain security, or meet legal and administrative obligations.
The retention period may differ depending on the type of information and why it was collected.
When information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to delete, anonymise, or securely dispose of it where appropriate.
14. Your Rights
Depending on applicable data protection laws, you may have rights regarding your personal information, including the right to:
- Request access to personal information we hold about you
- Request correction of inaccurate information
- Request deletion of your personal information where appropriate
- Request restriction of certain processing
- Object to certain uses of your information
- Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
- Request information about how your personal information is being used
Some rights may be subject to legal or administrative limitations.
To make a privacy request, contact:
We may need to verify your identity before processing certain requests.
15. International Data Processing
AQYI operates across Africa and works with technology and service providers that may be located in different countries.
As a result, information you provide to AQYI may sometimes be processed or stored outside the country in which you are located.
Where this occurs, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that your information is handled with appropriate safeguards and in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.
16. Children’s Privacy
AQYI’s work includes programmes and activities involving young people. We take the privacy and safety of young people seriously.
Our website is not intended to encourage children to provide personal information unnecessarily.
Where a specific AQYI programme requires information from younger participants, appropriate safeguards will be considered based on the nature of the programme and applicable requirements.
17. External Links
The AQYI website contains links to external websites, organisations, resources, and platforms.
Once you leave the AQYI website, this Privacy Policy no longer applies to your activities on those external websites.
We encourage you to review the privacy policies of external websites before providing them with personal information.
18. Changes to This Privacy Policy
AQYI may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our website, programmes, services, technology, or applicable legal requirements.
When we make changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the beginning of this policy.
We encourage you to review this page periodically to remain informed about how we protect your information.
19. Contact Us
If you have questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or the way AQYI handles personal information, please contact:
African Queer Youth Initiative (AQYI)
Email: info@aqyi.org
Website: https://aqyi.org/
We will make reasonable efforts to respond to privacy-related enquiries in a timely manner.