Announcement: Pan Africa ILGA Hosts a Regional Consultative Meeting

PAI will be bringing together 25 key LGBTI human rights activists from across Africa. Participants will share their thoughts on the role of PAI as the largest LGBTI membership organisation in Africa. Work will include mapping out a regional strategy, including but not limited to representing and advocating for our community in international institutions.

The meeting aims to support the efforts of the board of PAI to revitalize the organisation and strategize with key activists in the region to best serve the needs of the LGBTI community in Africa. Immediate plans look at organising a Pan African regional conference.

PAI is the African regional chapter of Brussels-based ILGA, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association which held its XIX world conference in Johannesburg in 1999. It currently consists of 84 organizations throughout the region working for human rights and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people and is the largest federation of its kind in Africa. In May 2007, activists gathered in South Africa’s capital for the first regional conference of ILGA on the continent and decided to establish a regional federation. They created and elected an 11-member interim board to govern the newly formed Pan Africa ILGA. Along the years, there has, however, been attrition of board members and in December 2012 at the ILGA world conference in Stockholm, the African Caucus agreed to co-opt new representatives to help steer PAI business along its stipulated mandate and lead it to a regional conference. This group is known as the Interim Steering Committee.

Expressing enthusiasm in PAI’s revival co-chair Yahia Zaidi stated “This is an exciting time for Pan Africa ILGA. A challenging one as well as the federation is coming to a crossroads and needs to define how to best serve its members and community. The African LGBTI community is made up of brave activists often working in hardship. They should know that PAI is their federation. We, as African activists deserve a federation that accompanies and represents us with pride, a federation we can be proud of.”

For more information please contact us: Pan Africa ILGA email: [email protected] Find us on Facebook
Contact the co-chairs: Yahia Zaidi: [email protected] and Linda Baumann: [email protected]