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Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung

Congratulations to the LEGABIBO organization

Landmark judgment on decriminalization in Botswana

Deutsche Fassung hier

Good news from Botswana – on 11 June 2019 the country’s High Court lifted the ban on homosexual practices! Activists at the courtroom in the capital city of Gabarone broke into cheers and waved rainbow flags.

This landmark judgment, which resonates well beyond the borders of Botswana, will hopefully serve as a model in Africa and other Commonwealth nations! Our congratulations to the lesbians, gay men and bisexuals of Botswana and especially to the LEGABIBO organization (Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana), because it was instrumental in filing and successfully representing the case.

Criminalization violates the right to privacy

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Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung Projekte Veranstaltungen

The Long, Successful Fight to Decriminalise Same-Sex Relations in Botswana

Event with Caine Youngman, LEGABIBO in Berlin, July 18 2019 

Foto: Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung: Felix Reimer, Caine Youngman, Sarah KohrtThe GIZ Rainbow Network and Hirschfeld-Eddy-Foundation cordially invited to a talk and discussion with Caine Youngman, human rights activist from Botswana and advocacy manager for “Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals of Botswana” (LEGABIBO). In June 2019, the High Court of Botswana declared unconstitutional a colonial law criminalising consensual same-sex sexual relations.

The ruling came after years of legal action, advocacy and community-building by LEGABIBO, Botswana’s largest LGBTI organisation, and its allies.

 

Caine Youngman, Botswana human rights activist and LEGABIBO’s advocacy manager in conversation with Sarah Kohrt, Project lead LGBTI platform human rights at Hirschfeld-Eddy-Foundation.

A quick review of the event by Felix Reimer, GIZ Rainbow Network: 

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Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung

Decriminalization: our guidelines for international support

Proposed by the Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation

Deutsche Fassung hier

The Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation was launched in 2007 as th­e human rights organization of the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD). It supports non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in countries of the global South and East by calling for donations and giving all funds collected to these NGOs.

Another key focus is to raise awareness of the situation of LGBTI people among policy makers and the public. Long-term contact with our partner NGOs is crucial for international work on human rights.

Decriminalization of homosexuality and trans identities is a major aim of the Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation’s efforts, as is the protection of intersex people against medical procedures without their consent.

In recent years people all over the world have become increasingly aware of serious human rights violations against LGBTI people. There are now numerous important multilateral state initiatives as well as a growing civil society movement worldwide.

The Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation is one of the few organizations in Germany that focuses exclusively on these issues. We are often asked what a united international approach to decriminalization and human rights for LGBTI people would look like, so we have compiled some basic guidelines here. 

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Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung Recht Verband

Mandat des Unabhängigen UN-Experten für SOGI muss erhalten werden

Gemeinsame Erklärung von internationalen NGOs beim UN-Menschenrechtsrat

Die UN hat 2016 den ersten unabhängigen Experten für SOGI ernannt. Das Mandat ist für die Dauer von drei Jahren eingerichtet. Im Juli 2019 stimmt UN-Menschenrechtsrat bei seiner 41. Sitzung über die Verlängerung dieses wichtigen Mandats ab.

Der thailändische Rechtsprofessor Vitit Muntarbhorn hat das Amt zunächst inne. Er veröffentlicht seine ersten beiden Berichte hier . Im Herbst 2017 übernimmt  Victor Madrigal-Borloz sein Amt und veröffentlich im Mai 2018 seinen ersten Bericht hier. 

Die Website des Unabhängigen Experten zum Schutz vor Diskriminierung und Gewalt aufgrund der sexuellen Orientierung und Geschlechtsidentität ist beim Hochkommissariat der Vereinten Nationen für Menschenrechte (OHCHR) hier zu finden.

Um die Erneuerung des Mandats zu unterstützen haben über tausend  NGOs (Nichtregierungsorganisationen) eine Stellungnahme abgegeben. Phylesha Brown-Acton hat sie beim UN-Menschenrechtsrat vorgestellt. LSVD/Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung haben es auch unterzeichnet. Hier die Erklärung im Wortlaut in englischer Sprache.

Aktualisierung: am 12.7.2019 stimmt der UN-Menschenrechtsrat mit klarer Mehrheit für die Erneuerung des Mandats. Mehr hier.

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Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung

13-point-paper: Preliminary considerations from a civil society perspective for an LGBTI- Inclusion Plan

Requirements for the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

Communication, documentation and support

Update: On March 3, 2021, the German Federal Cabinet adopted the “LGBTI Inclusion Concept of the Federal Government for Foreign Policy and Development Cooperation”. All facts and background information in our blog: Finally! The German government approves an LGBTI inclusion plan for foreign policy and development cooperation.

Deutsche Fassung hier

The German Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) are planning to produce an “LGBTIQ* Inclusion Plan for Foreign Policy and Development Cooperation,” with input from civil society. This was announced on 1 June 2017 at the “Time to react” conference held at the Foreign Office in Berlin. One of the basic demands of the Yogyakarta Alliance is therefore being met. Here is the first draft of a list of requirements for the Inclusion Plan from the Yogyakarta Alliance. This list of requirements is intended to serve as a basis for discussion and to encourage far-reaching and critical input from civil society. Your statements, position papers and comments are very welcome. Now is the time!

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Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung Projekte

That’s exactly what we need

Experts respond to the 13-Point List of Requirements for the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

Artikel in deutscher Fassung

Throughout the world lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* and intersex people (LGBTI) face enormous discrimination and persecution and sometimes even the death penalty. Although Germany is one of the major players in development cooperation, it has no strategy for improving the situation of LGBTI people. In 2012 we therefore began assembling the fundaments for creating an inclusion strategy for development cooperation.

The goal was also part of the impetus for the founding of the Yogyakarta Alliance in 2012. In November 2017 we then had the chance to present our proposals to the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Foreign Office. We developed the following 13-point paper for that purpose. And we want the new German government to take up these demands. 

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Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung Projekte

It’s time for a postcolonial policy

Colonialism and Development Policy

Artikel in deutscher Fassung

“I deeply regret that such laws were introduced,” said British Prime Minister Theresa May in April 2018. This was her first public statement of regret for the suffering Photo: Plaque at the site of the 1884-85 Congo Conference in Berlin’s Wilhelmstraßecaused by the anti-gay laws of British colonialism. The British exported their homophobic legal system into most their colonies, instilling a legacy that continues to this day. Same-sex relations are still illegal in 36 of the 53 countries that make up the Commonwealth. British NGOs are attempting to address this part of their colonial history. For years they have been urging their government to apologize.

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Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung Veranstaltungen

Results from the conference “Time to react – Creating an enabling environment for civil society”

First conference on “shrinking spaces” with an LGBTI focus

Artikel in deutscher Fassung

Following a number of years in which liberation movements around the world were making successful progress, a dangerous counter-movement has recently arisen. It seeks to restrict the scope for action on the part of organizations and groups in civil society, and “shrinking spaces” is the term used to describe the phenomenon internationally. In many countries, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are being confronted with laws to preserve national values, bans on funding from abroad, and prohibitive administrative requirements, as well as the consequences of international laws to combat money laundering. These developments restrict primarily the freedoms of assembly and expression. Often they are accompanied by smear campaigns, hate speech in the media, and animosity toward minorities. 

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Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung Verband

Cultures of acceptance – On the roles of (Diaspora) literature

Olumide Popoola and Elnathan John in Berlin

Artikel auf Deutsch

Olumide Popoola, a German-Nigerian author and performer, has just returned from a reading tour in Nigeria to present her new book When We Speak of Nothing.

Olumide Popoola and Elnathan John at Afrika-Haus Berlin, photo: Afrika-HausPopoola’s novel tells the story of Karl, a young black Londoner, who travels to Nigeria for the first time at the age of 18 to visit his father, whom he has never met, in Port Harcourt. Karl is a trans man whose passport still shows the sex he was assigned at birth. In Port Harcourt he gets a serious case of culture shock, remains much longer than planned, falls in love, and loses contact with his best friend Abu in London. It is a novel about friendship and what it means to grow up black in London today. 

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Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung

Strategien gegen Homo- und Transphobie in Nigeria

Crossings and Alliances mit Elnathan John und Olumide Popoola

Elnathan John, Autor von „An einem Dienstag geboren“ und Olumide Popoola, Autorin von „When we speak of Nothing“ diskutierten am 07.12.2017 im Berliner Afrikahaus über Möglichkeiten, sich für die Verbesserung der Lebenssituation von Lesben und Schwulen und von transgeschlechtlichen  Menschen in Nigeria einzusetzen. Eine Veranstaltung der Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung in Kooperation dem Afrika-Haus Berlin und InterKontinental, Agentur für afrikanische Literatur im Rahmen der Reihe „Crossings & Alliances”.

Blog Artikel (Deutsch)

Crossings & Alliances with Elnathan John and Olumide Popoola

Elnathan John, author of Born on a Tuesday, and Olumide Popoola, author of When We Speak of Nothing, discussed ways of helping to improve the situation of LGBT people in Nigeria at the Afrika-Haus in Berlin on 7 December 2017. The event was organized by the Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation together with the Afrika-Haus Berlin and the InterKontinental agency for African literature, as part of the Crossings & Alliances series.

Blog article (English)