The Human Rights Council has renewed the mandate of the only human rights expert within the United Nations system that is specifically dedicated to addressing violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans (LGBT) and gender diverse persons.
Following a campaign by 1,259 non-governmental organisations from 157 States and territories, the UN human rights body adopted the resolution by a vote of 29 in favour, with 15 voting against and 3 abstaining.
Supporters included Chile, Germany, Kenya and South Africa while several African nations and Qatar opposed it. The USA has disengaged from the Human Rights Council under the Trump administration.
The vote sees the Human Rights Council reaffirming its commitment to combating discrimination and violence against everyone, reminding all States of their obligations towards people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.
The Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) will now be able to continue the work for three more years. The mandate is currently held by South African scholar Graeme Reid.
“The renewal of this mandate is a spark of hope in a time when reactionary powers worldwide are trying to dismantle progress that our communities fought so hard to achieve,” said Julia Ehrt, Executive Director at ILGA World.
“No matter where we come from, the colour of our skin, or the faith that keeps us going, we can all agree on a simple truth: no human being should face violence and discrimination — and there is simply no exception to that. With this vote, States showed they can live up to their commitment to leave no one behind. We will continue working with the Independent Expert on SOGI to ensure they turn their pledge into concrete actions.”
Created in 2016, and renewed in 2019 and 2022, the mandate of the Independent Expert on SOGI has been supported by a growing number of States from all regions. The current resolution to renew the mandate was presented by a Core Group of six Latin American countries – Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Uruguay – and was co-sponsored by 50 countries from all regions.
The Independent Expert is tasked with assessing the implementation of international human rights law, investigating violence and discrimination against LGBT and gender diverse persons, and helping States, UN agencies, other mandates and bodies in the international and regional systems to address them.
Since the post was established, three successive mandate holders have conducted official visits to 11 countries, produced 17 reports documenting discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity – including the impact of the criminalisation of same-sex relations between consenting adults, the need to legally recognise a person’s gender, and the situation of LGBT persons who are forcibly displaced, among others – and sent communications documenting allegations of human rights violations to 171 States across all regions.
