Strategic plan

Act as a global leading organisation and voice for the rights of those who face discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and/or sex characteristics (SOGIESC).

Work towards achieving equality, freedom and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people through advocacy, collaborative actions, and by educating and informing relevant international and regional institutions as well as governments, media and civil society.

Support and empower our members and other human rights organisations in promoting and protecting human rights, irrespective of people’s sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and/or sex characteristics and to facilitate cooperation and solidarity among ILGA regions and members.

Promote the diversity and strengths of persons of diverse SOGIESC around the world.

ILGA [World]’s vision is of a world where the human rights of all are respected and where everyone can live in equality and freedom; a world where justice and equity are assured and established for all, including persons of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics.

Solidarity and collaboration

ILGA [World]’s work is grounded in international solidarity, fostering collaboration and partnership with our movements and with other sectors that promote equity and social justice, to achieve its vision.

The breadth of our movements

ILGA [World] values the diversity of LGBTI people and their communities across the globe. We seek to elevate and amplify the voices and agency of marginalised communities in our movements, and to empower community-based advocacy and activism.

Accountability

ILGA [World] is committed to transparency in its procedures and work with partners. We are accountable to LGBTI movements through democratic governance.

Social justice

ILGA [World] is committed to social justice, based on the belief that all persons are entitled to equal respect and concern irrespective of individual or group characteristics — including sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, sex characteristics, age, disability, ability, socio-economic status, national origin, race, ethnicity, religion, and historical, cultural and geographic experiences — nonetheless recognising the unique challenges faced by individuals with each of these characteristics and by those with intersecting identities.

Human rights

ILGA [World]´s work is predicated on the understanding that every human being is born free and equal in dignity and rights. Human rights are universal, interdependent, and inalienable.

Feminist and queer liberation

ILGA [World], in its work, embraces an intersectional feminist approach. We believe in and value collective care of activists and advocates in order to achieve long-lasting sustainable change, and practice feminism by critically examining and questioning power internally and externally.

Queer liberation will only be achieved upon the emancipation of everyone from social expectations towards our gender(s) and our sex.

Our view of intersectional feminism is that it should also recognise the fact that colonialism and racism have historically undermined racialised and marginalised groups and indigenous communities and their knowledge often enforcing and imposing Eurocentric ideas about sex and gender to the detriment of LGBTI communities.

We believe in the individual and collective responsibility of states, multilateral institutions, the corporate world, and civil society to acknowledge these injustices and actively work towards living up to the responsibility of reversing these by decentring Western perspectives and interpretations. Colonialism and racism have no place in ILGA World.

By strengthening the organisation and equipping it with the resources (human and financial) and infrastructure required to effectively conduct the work, ILGA World will be in a position to support and build on the existing capacities of its members.

They will then collectively be able to continue to build on the body of knowledge that has been created over the years about the legal, economic, and social status and conditions of LGBTI people as well as analyse existing contextual challenges and opportunities in order to strengthen our movements and inform advocacy efforts to ensure that the human rights of LGBTI persons are respected, protected, and fulfilled.

What follows the organisation’s objectives and outline the main underlying assumptions. While those pages allow for a clear description of the different Strategic Objectives, they should not be understood to suggest that each objective is self-contained. Rather, as noted above, they are in practice intertwined and mutually reinforcing.

Objectives 1, 2 and 3 relate to how ILGA World will conduct its external work, while Objective 4 corresponds to the internal organisational strengthening that will be needed in order to achieve the external objectives.

Doing what?

ILGA World maintains and strengthens its advocacy work and expands its reach in international fora, within and beyond the UN human rights system.

For what specific purpose?

• ILGA World continues to advocate in multilateral fora for the respect, protection, and fulfilment of the rights of persons of diverse SOGIESC
• ILGA World becomes more visible and is a key international reference organisation on LGBTI issues, as a reference for others and for media engagement
• ILGA World sets and shapes the agenda around SOGIESC issues in multilateral spaces
• ILGA World supports its members to effectively link its global and UN-level work to regional and national contexts.

Assumptions and requirements

• The staff must have the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources
• ILGA World must have a clear approach and defined roles
• ILGA World must know the advocacy needs of member organisations, in order to be able to effectively support them
• Actors targeted for advocacy efforts must be selected on the basis that they are able to give what is asked for and are willing to listen to ILGA World’s message because the organisation has a seat at the table
• ILGA World must have the financial resources to implement its advocacy strategies, as well as the financial and human resources to generate accessible knowledge on effective advocacy for its members, and to seek and gain strategic partners to ensure that policy and legal changes are also funded.

Doing what?

ILGA World maintains and strengthens its current work in this area and grows as a reliable source of knowledge management, data production, research, and monitoring, as well as a source of innovation in activism.

For what specific purpose?

• ILGA World is recognised as a key creator, repository, and disseminator of quality information by and about the rights of LGBTI people and SOGIESC activism, in an accessible form
• ILGA World’s knowledge products play an important role in strengthening the capacities of its members in order to support their effective advocacy
• ILGA World becomes a global thought leader on SOGIESC issues, developing and communicating knowledge.

Assumptions and requirements

• The staff must have the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources
• The staff is able to focus on the types of research that are needed to support ILGA World’s advocacy work, with access to relevant expertise and financial resources
• The staff understands the information and knowledge needs and priorities of ILGA World’s members, and is aware of and helps to disseminate the information created by its members and by the regional ILGAs
• ILGA World generates its own information and knowledge, not just disseminating the work of others
• The staff is able to develop and implement effective dissemination strategies.

Doing what?

LGA World remains an important capacity-strengthening resource for its member in support of their advocacy efforts, and reinforces its support for their organisational development.

For what specific purpose?

• ILGA World is a trusted and effective provider and disseminator of skills strengthening resources and activities for its members
• ILGA World supports its members to effectively link its global and UN-level work to their regional and national contexts
• ILGA World advocates with donor governments as well as private and public philanthropy for resources for the field.

Assumptions and requirements

• The staff must have the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources
• ILGA World is aware of the capacity-strengthening needs and priorities of its members and regional organisations
• ILGA World has access to donor governments and philanthropic organisations

Doing what?

Organisational strengthening: ILGA World is an agile learning organisation and improves its organisational performance, seeks to increase access to financial resources, and cultivates relationships with governments, multilateral institutions, and a wide range of CSO actors, while strengthening links to its members.

For what specific purpose?

• ILGA World is an effective, learning, and adaptive organisation with solid governance, strong infrastructure, and sound policies and processes
• There is a clear global programmatic direction that is aligned with the strategic and programmatic priorities of the ILGA regions, with a secretariat that has the required human and financial resources to implement it
• ILGA World has improved, more effective, and inclusive ways of working within the organisation, with ILGA’s regions, with members, and relevant stakeholders.

Assumptions and requirements

•  ILGA World’s governance is restructured to become more functional
• There is a clear engagement strategy with ILGA World’s membership and with the Executive Board
• The Board and its members have the appropriate skills, knowledge, and experience for their functions
• There is institutional continuity between Boards / co-Secretaries General and staff
• The organisation has clear internal rules, policies, and processes, as well as clear processes for updating them.