Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | October 9-11, 2013

The Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic hosted Members of Parliament from Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa in an historic meeting on October 10-11, 2013 entitled, “Protecting Human Rights, Combating Discrimination and Addressing HIV/AIDS of Persons with Diverse Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities.”

This is the first international meeting of parliamentarians designed to raise awareness about sexual orientation and gender identity in international human rights law, to identify actions Parliamentarians can take to protect the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) persons, with an emphasis on the right to health, and to discuss challenges and opportunities in achieving equality for all.

At the closing ceremony, parliamentarians adopted the Santo Domingo Plan of Action and launched the Global Allies Network (GAIN), a resource for education, raising awareness and providing support to fellow MPs interested in working on issues of human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI).

The Santo Domingo Plan of Action commits MPs to establish a dialogue with the LGBTI community in their countries and to receive training on human rights as well as facilitate exchanges of best practices on the topic with other legislators – PGA’s stronghold. It has a special accountability clause for Dominican Republic to use the momentum created last week and mobilize legislators to consider protective legislation.

PGA’s international delegates represented Costa Rica, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Uganda and Uruguay, while representatives from regional civil society came from Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.

From Dominican Republic, an estimated 50 legislators participated during the discussions and 15 representatives from civil society working on LGBTI in the country were able to approach their legislators, an opportunity they rarely have. The UN was well-represented by UNDP in the country as well as a speaker from the regional office based in Panama. Moreover, Ms. Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, shared with PGA and participants a video message on three urgent tasks parliamentarians can take on to fight discrimination.

The seminar was organized by Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) in cooperation with the PGA National Group in the Dominican Republic, and the Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Gender, Health and Human Development Committees of the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic with the financial support of the Open Society Foundations and the Arcus Foundation.

Contact:
Mónica Adame, Program Officer
Parliamentarians for Global Action
Email: