On behalf of the Board of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), and hosts Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand and Purple Sky Network Foundation, it is our pleasure to invite you to attend the XXVIII ILGA World Conference to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from the 28th of November to the 2nd of December, 2016.
ILGA World Conferences are now a reference point for the LGBTI world. Over its entire existence, ILGA has held its world conferences on five continents. At these meetings, between 300 and 500 representatives of civil society organizations from around the world come together for one week, where public officials, legislators, academics, directors of cooperative institutions and representatives of offices of the United Nations also participate in enriching our analysis and discussions.
The World Conference is the most important decision-making body of ILGA in relation to its internal operations, approval of new members, adoption of important issues, programmes and campaigns for our regional and global agendas, the work plan to follow and the internal and external definition of the organization.
The principal objectives of the Conference are:
- educating our base of support;
- exchanging experiences;
- defining strategies;
- formulating projects and
- building alliances; and
- electing the co-Secretaries General, the Women, Trans, Intersex and Bisexual Secretariats, and the host city for the 2018 World Conference.
The conference will be preceded by pre-conferences starting on Monday 28th November– more information on these is forthcoming!
ILGA offers scholarships for activists who would otherwise be unable to participate in the conference for financial reasons. We are thrilled to announce that we have granted 110 scholarships for the conference in Bangkok. We encourage those who didn’t receive a scholarship to seek funding in advance within their own organisation or from other available funding sources.
On behalf of the ILGA Board we are now sending you the first of three conference mailings, asking full member organisations to submit:
- proposals (resolutions and amendments to the Constitution, the Standing Ordersand the Strategic Plan 2014-2018) they would like to see addressed by the conference;
- nominations of people for the two positions of co-Secretary General and the two positions of alternate-co-Secretary General;
- nominations of organisations for the Women Secretariat and for the position of alternate Women Secretariat;
- nominations of organisations for the Trans Secretariat and for the position of alternate Trans Secretariat;
- nominations of organisations for the Intersex Secretariat and for the position of alternate Intersex Secretariat;
- nominations of organisations for the Bisexual Secretariat and for the position of alternate Bisexual Secretariat;
- nominations of city/organisations to host the 2018 World Conference.
The ILGA World Conference is the privileged moment where members can have a direct impact on the work of the association, including electing its leadership and making amendments to its Constitution, Standing Orders and Strategic Plan. These three founding documents give shape to the democratic structure of the organisation and ensure its legitimacy as the world's largest and oldest federation of organisations fighting for equal rights of LGBTI people. The deadline for full member organisations to present proposals and nominations, set according to the Standing Orders, is the 5th of September 2016. Proposals and nominations must be sent to [email protected]
The ILGA office will send the received proposals, together with the preliminary agenda, to all members with the second mailing 10 weeks before the conference, which is on the 19th of September.
The members of ILGA will then have 4 weeks to react to these proposals and to amend them. These amendments will have to be sent to the ILGA office in Geneva, by email, 6 weeks before the conference, that is, by the 17th of October.
The final agenda will be sent by the ILGA office with the third mailing 3 weeks before the conference, i.e. on the 7th November.
Please keep checking our website conference related page http://ilga.org/what-we-do/conferences/ for updated information on the conference.
OTHER IMPORTANT DEADLINES
Scholarship applications - Ended
Workshop proposals - Ended
Registration and paying participants – Deadline: 29th of August 2016.
For all applications and registrations please follow: http://ilga.org/ilga-world-conference-2016-registration-open/
The final Conference and Workshops Programmes will be available by the end of September.
CALENDAR as by article 2.1 of ILGA Standing Orders
| Timeline | Deadline date |
| Call for proposals and nominations (from the office) 15 weeks | 15 August 2016 |
| Submission of proposals and nominations (to the office) 12 weeks | 5 September 2016 |
| Publication of preliminary agenda with proposals (by the office) 10 weeks | 19 September 2016 |
| Submission of amendments (to the office) 6 weeks | 17 October 2016 |
| Publication of final agenda (by the office) 3 weeks. | 7 November 2016 |
We look forward to seeing you all in Bangkok!
Ruth Baldacchino & Helen Kennedy
Co-Secretaries General, ILGA