April 16-19, 2018 | London, United Kingdom

Purpose:

• Strengthen collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat as well as other partners such as the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Global LGBT Rights, Human Dignity Trust, Kaleidoscope Trust and members of the Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN).

• Explore opportunities to promote equality and inclusion of LGBTI persons with the business community and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in Commonwealth countries.

Main activities:

PGA Board member Senator Valerie Woods from Belize participated in several activities at the sidelines of the Commonwealth Forums on Women, Peoples, Youth, Business and NHRIs, respectively, that took place from April 16 to 18 in London, United Kingdom. Jennifer McCarthy, PGA’s Deputy Secretary General, and Mónica Adame, Program Director of PGA’s Gender, Equality and Population Program, joined her.

Reception hosted by Open for Business and the UK APPG on Global LGBT Rights

On April 17, Open for Business, a coalition of global companies making the case that inclusive, diverse societies are better for business, and Lord Michael Cashman, Vice-Chair of the APPG on Global LGBT Rights, hosted a reception in the House of Lords to launch a Report on strengthening the economic case for global LGBT+ inclusion. The report provides comprehensive evidence to demonstrate that successful businesses thrive in diverse, inclusive societies and that anti-LGBT policies run counter to the interests of businesses and economic development. The reception brought together APPG members, the business community in London, and representatives of TCEN from Belize, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia and Uganda.

In her remarks, Senator Woods referred to her experience as an entrepreneur in Belize’s tourism sector maintaining inclusive and non-discriminatory policies in hiring practices as well as delivery of services. She also praised Caleb Orozco’s fight for rights in Belize and shared that, while very slow, there has been progress in this area. Senator Woods noted the important role that business leaders can play in advocating for LGBTI rights with parliamentarians making the case for the country’s economic development and highlighted this could be a way to bring other Belizean MPs to support this issue.

Panel discussion on the relationship between NHRIs, parliamentarians and business leaders in advancing inclusion

On April 18, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK Branch hosted a panel discussion on the relationship between NHRIs, parliamentarians and business leaders in advancing inclusion. Senator Woods and Caleb Orozco, Executive Director of UNIBAM, from Belize participated along with Mr. Agostinho Neto, former Kenyan PGA Member; Ms. Kagwiria Mbogori, Chairperson of the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights; Ms. Deepika Udagama, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka; and Jon Miller, Partner at Brunswick Group and Co-founder of the Open for Business coalition. Representatives from NHRIs attended the panel as well as our program officers at Oak Foundation and Sigrid Rausing Trust.

The key themes raised by speakers were:

• LGBTI rights is a good governance issue and parliamentarians can become allies of LGBTI activists through listening to their testimonies and stories. Personal stories are the best way to convey their message, increase visibility of their challenges, and build understanding and empathy.

• Collaboration between Parliaments and NHRIs differ across countries. For example, in Sri Lanka, parliamentarians do not consider LGBT issues a priority and taking the conversation to politicians is challenging. In contrast, in Kenya, there has been good collaboration on reporting about violations from the NHRI to Parliament. The Commission answers directly to the President and to the legislative body.

• Open for Business is a collective business voice advocating for inclusive LGBT+ policies; activities are locally-led and stick to the business case and economics without touching on human rights.

• NHRIs from Cameroon and Uganda noted that, regretfully, in most cases, big international NGOs arrive in the country to ‘impose’ their human rights agenda and this is negatively perceived by policymakers and society at large. They agreed that local personal stories are more strategic to use than the language and terminology of international legal frameworks, which miss the emotional connection.

Meetings with PGA’s SOGI Campaign partners

On April 16, Senator Woods, Ms. McCarthy and Ms. Adame met with program officers of Oak Foundation and Sigrid Rausing Trust to update our partners about our current work and future plans. Ms. Julie Ward, UK MEP, joined the meeting with Oak. They were very interested to learn about Senator Woods’ experience collaborating in PGA’s SOGI Campaign, the challenges she faces as a female parliamentarian and a supporter of LGBTI rights in her country, and the status of Caleb Orozco’s case in Belize.

On the following day, PGA Member Mr. Nick Herbert, UK MP, Chair of the APPG on Global LGBT Rights, organized a lunch at the House of Commons for the PGA delegation with Mr. Paul Dillane, Executive Director of Kaleidoscope Trust, Frank Mugisha, Sexual Minorities Uganda, and APPG members from the House of Lords to discuss potential joint actions in the Commonwealth.  Earlier that day, April 17, Mrs. Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in her speech to the Commonwealth Forums’ attendees had said:

Nobody should face discrimination and persecution because of who they are or who they love…The UK stands ready to support any Commonwealth nation wanting to reform outdated legislation that makes such discrimination possible. Across the world discriminatory laws made many years ago continue to affect the lives of many people, criminalising same-sex relations and failing to protect women and girls.

These were very encouraging and positive remarks, even if not directly conveyed at the Commonwealth Heads of State and Governments meeting (CHOGM) later in the week. In line with Mrs. May’s speech, UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced a 5.6 million GBP grant for programs to support LGBT and gender equality. Among the organizations to receive this funding are Human Dignity Trust, Sisters for Change, Kaleidoscope Trust and the Royal Commonwealth Society for an “Equality and Justice Alliance” initiative. PGA hopes that, through partnering with these organizations, there will be more opportunities for parliamentary advocacy in several countries.

On April 19, PGA met with Human Dignity Trust (HDT) and Sisters for Change to discuss their project and explore how to collaborate. The three pillars of their two-year program are very much aligned with PGA’s SOGI Campaign: capacity building and social inclusion of CSOs, building diplomacy and decision-makers champions, and providing legal technical assistance on LGBTI and women’s rights.

Senator Woods attended several panels on women’s political participation, violence against women and girls, and economic empowerment at the Commonwealth Women’s Forum as well as the premiere of the documentary “Leitis in Waiting” featuring the important work that Joleen ‘Joey’ Mataele has undertaken for equality and non-discrimination of Leitis in the Kingdom of Tonga (“Leitis” is an inclusive term for the broad range of men who have sex with men, transgender people, gay and bisexual men).

Key results:

• Established key connections with Kaleidoscope Trust and Open for Business for future collaboration.

• Strengthened partnerships with the Commonwealth Secretariat, HDT and our donors Oak Foundation and Sigrid Rausing Trust.

• Equipped Senator Woods with information about the Commonwealth that otherwise, as an opposition Senator, she would not have had access to.

• Increased visibility of PGA’s SOGI Campaign among NHRIs, TCEN, and the business community.

For more information, please contact Mónica Adame at monica.adame@pgaction.org