ILGA Asia Annual Report 2018
ILGA Asia is pleased to present our Annual Report covering activities from 1 January 2018 – 31 December 2018.
Executive Summary
In 2018, ILGA Asia continued to achieve the goals that it had set out in the Strategic Plan of 2017-2019, with progress made in all 5 strategic objectives.
Through 2 trainings on human rights mechanisms, ILGA Asia reached 41 LGBTI activists coming from 19 countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The trainings not only provided these activists with skills and knowledge to work with various United Nations bodies and UN mechanisms, but also created an opportunity for them to share best practices on policy advocacy, social campaigning, and sustaining the LGBTI movement with each other. For the first time ever, ILGA Asia focused on the health and wellbeing of LGBTI human rights defenders, providing the space for self-care during all of our events, and skills to improve their wellbeing. The skills are necessary for them to continue their advocacy and sustain the movement in their local community.
Organizations that support and empower parents and families of LGBTI persons have grown in Asian countries over the past decade. These organizations have challenged the false narrative that parents who love their children must protect their children from an LGBTI lifestyle, even if it means disowning them. The Regional Meeting on Empowerment and Capacity Development for Parents of LGBTI Persons in Asia was convened in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in August, 2018 with participation of 26 participants from 9 countries, including 10 mothers who have LGBTI children. This first regional meeting of its kind found that stigma against LGBTI persons affected their family, who bore the same fear and shame imposed upon them by society. Education was the first step to overcome this stigma, although accessing to information in local language was a big barrier. Parents who overcame their own stigma became some of the most powerful champions of LGBTI people and had a huge impact on the movement. The meeting was successful in sharing best practices among parental groups on how to best advocate for the rights of LGBTI persons through policy advocacy and social campaigning.
A new Communications officer joined ILGA Asia team in late 2018 to management social media channels, develop original contents, and liaise with international and regional media outlets.
One of the most significant steps of ILGA Asia in 2018 was to successfully register as a non-profit foundation in Thailand. The legal entity will allow ILGA Asia to develop its own financial capacity, ease the operation of its office in Thailand, and work more effectively with its members and partners in the region and around the world. The Executive Board elected in December 2017 in Phnom Penh met two times in March and December 2018 to strengthen teamwork and governance, develop the Standing Orders, review the implementation of Strategic Plan, and finalize plan for the 9th ILGA Asia Conference in Seoul.
