A/HRC/35/36
Sustainable Development Goals. Interestingly, in Goal 16, the target is to eliminate
violence against children totally in the next 15 years; this also implies a relationship with
sexual orientation and gender identity, in order to leave no children behind.
45.
OHCHR has been instrumental in preparing various reports and studies on violence
and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. In particular, the
publications Born Free and Equal: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in International
Human Rights Law and Living Free and Equal offer very useful information with global
coverage.27 OHCHR supports the human rights treaty bodies, the universal periodic review
and the special procedures in their work and helps to mainstream the issue into a crosscutting United Nations setting. Together with other partners, it helps to organize the annual
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia event. Its field
presences around the world assist in disseminating information, collecting information and
addressing cases where there are violations, with a view to strengthening human rights
protection on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Its Free and Equal
campaign is a broad information campaign, with publications, films and videos raising the
profile of sexual orientation and gender identity from the angle of action against violence
and discrimination. Particularly popular are the videos Faces, which captures the myriad
contributions by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons to families and
communities, The Welcome, which provides a human rights message with a Bollywood
touch, complete with music, and The Riddle, which examines the abuses facing lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender persons across the globe.
46.
UNDP has a large number of programmes worldwide on lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and intersex issues, and the outreach is both to the pillars of the State (the
executive, legislative and judicial branches) and to pillars of the community, such as
national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations and human rights
defenders, including platforms for dialogue with local governments. Pursuant to the
Sustainable Development Goals, UNDP is working on a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
and intersex inclusion index to help generate more data, which will also contribute to policy
formulation and programming. Some of the activities are on strengthening HIV responses
for men who have sex with men and transgender people, and access to health care, while
others are more directly on the legal and social environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender persons and civil society in a number of countries.
47.
UNFPA concentrates on the issue of sexual and reproductive rights and their
relationship with health, including for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex
persons, through four areas: policy formulation, capacity development, information and
knowledge and delivery of services. It has developed a stigma index tool to help expose
stigma, and has enabled access to condom and lubricant programming based on the
principles of non-stigmatization and non-coercion. It has reached out to vulnerable groups
to reduce HIV-related stigma, and it has called for the reform of punitive laws that drive
people underground, in relation to same-sex relations, sex work and drugs-related
situations.
48.
The work of WHO, particularly in the area of sexual health, has already been
referred to above, as has the work of UNHCR on refugees, asylum seekers and stateless
persons, particularly in relation to the intersectionality issue. UNHCR has been facing new
challenges in regard to recent outflows from the war-related situations in Middle East to
Europe and other regions, and it has done key work to raise the profile of sexual orientation
and gender identity issues. Meanwhile, UN-Women has been highlighting the rights of
lesbians and bisexual, transgender and intersex women and girls; thus has included the
mapping of country situations and support for follow-up to the recommendations of human
rights treaty bodies and the universal periodic review. For instance, there is an awarenessraising programme on action to end violence against women in Malawi, which includes
references to lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. Complementing this, the
International Labour Organization is infusing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
27
14
OHCHR, Born Free and Equal: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in International Human
Rights Law (United Nations publication, 2012), and Living Free and Equal.
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents