International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA)

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

The application, under the heading ‘Human Rights, Democracy and Empowerment’ resonates with the Cross-cutting objectives ‘Elimination of discrimination’ and ‘Greater openness and inclusion’ of the Human Rights Action Plan 2013-2015 of the MFA, particularly as LGBTI persons are considered a vulnerable group, and shares the aims actions like strengthening “international acceptance for the interpretation that the concept of discrimination includes discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, and promotes efforts to define objectives for realising the rights of transgender and intersex people,” (pag.16), especially within the context of the promotion of human rights in international organisations, both the UN and regional relevant bodies (e.g. the African Commission for Peoples’ and Human Rights), as mentioned on page 24 of the Human Rights Strategy of the MFA. It is ILGA’s strong conviction, based on the experience of our member organisations in the last two decades, that the main obstacle to the recognition of LGBTI rights internationally lies in the lack of belief as to the true universality of human rights: the existence of strong, autonomous LGBTI movements firmly rooted in the global South (and East), working for social and cultural acceptance and for the abolition of discriminatory legislation at the national level, is the best (if not the only) argument to defeat the notion that LGBTI human rights are not genuinely universal. The proposal marks the second phase of the immediate objectives of developing the regional chapters of ILGA in the global South (Pan Africa ILGA, ILGA Asia and ILGA LAC) and ensuring that progress is made towards the universal decriminalisation of homosexuality. Activities related to the first objective range from the setting up of offices to organising regional conferences, while those related to the second objective range from supporting the participation of local LGBTI organisation to the UPR process to the coordination of advocacy strategies aimed at regional intergovernmental bodies. While the three regional structures of ILGA and the local LGBTI groups involved in the activities are the most direct beneficiaries, the proposal will benefit the LGBTI community in the global South at large.