HRC58: Here’s how LGBTI people’s human rights will be addressed during the 58th UN Human Rights Council

The 58th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC58) begins on 24 February 2025 in Geneva. ILGA World will be there, as always, representing and uplifting the voices of LGBTI people across the world.

Watch this video to learn more about how LGBTI people’s human rights will be addressed during the HRC58 session, and how ILGA World will engage with the Human Rights Council during these weeks!

Accessibility: A transcription of the video is available below. Captions are available in English and Spanish.

Transcription: “How will LGBTI people’s human rights be addressed during the 58th UN Human Rights Council? #HRC58”

Today marks the start of the 58th session of the Human Rights Council here in Geneva, and here are some ILGA World’s priorities for this session.

During the first three days of the Human Rights Council, the high-level segment is going to be taking place.

This is when top government officials come to Geneva and share what they are doing and other plans for human rights — both domestically and globally.

ILGA World is going to be tracking what are these commitments when it comes to
the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex persons.

During the high-level segment, we’re also going to have an annual high-level panel, and this year the theme of the panel is the 30-year commemoration of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

The Beijing Declaration is a landmark on women’s rights, and we are going to be highlighting how LBTI women were essential in the development of this declaration and how, 30 years later, we have still a long way to go to ensure gender equality and human rights for all women — including those who belong to marginalised groups and are victims of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.

Today, more than ever, it’s important that States reenact and reinforce their commitment to gender equality.

We’ll also be engaging with the Human Rights Council panel on HIV responses. During this panel, we are going to focus our interventions on how violence, stigma, and discrimination against key populations are still obstacles to a sustainable HIV response.

Reforming and abolishing laws and policies that discriminate against key populations — including those based on sexual orientation and gender identity — are central to a response to HIV that is focused on human rights.

We’ll also be engaging in interactive dialogues with Special Procedures.

We’ll engage with the Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights, and we will the attention to how cultural rights are essential to LGBTI persons — especially to trans, gender-diverse, and intersex persons.

We’re also going to be engaging with the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief about inclusive religious practices that are focused on dignity, diversity, and inclusivity.

Lastly, we will be engaging in an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The report is focused on the Beijing plus 30th anniversary and we are going to be highlighting how intersectionality is key to fulfilling the promises of this declaration — especially to women and girls with disabilities and who also belong to other marginalised groups.

We will also be engaging with the UPR outcomes of different countries, in partnership with our member associations and partners.

During the Human Rights Council, important resolutions are also going to be presented and negotiated and ILGA World is going to be following the negotiations.

This time we are going to focus on the negotiation of the resolution on human rights defenders, presented by Norway. The focus of this resolution is going to be on human rights defenders and new technologies.

As an organisation that has at its core the support of the work of LGBTI human rights defenders from different parts of the globe, we want to bring awareness about how new technologies can influence — and both potentialise and bring harm to — the work of human rights defenders.

If you want to follow closely what is going to be ILGA World’s engagement for the Human Rights Council, please follow us on social media.