German LGBTIQ-inclusion concept: Webtalk and Workshop with activists on decolonial cooperation Thu, April 18th, 2024

Three years ago, on March 3, 2021, the German government's LGBTI inclusion concept was adopted. The concept references colonialism and missionary history as important aspects. The concept and this reference are a result of years of advocacy by LSVD, Hirschfeld-Eddy-Foundation, and the Yogyakarta Alliance. In its 13-point paper, the Alliance had called for the Ministry of Development (BMZ) to set up a program to promote research into gender histories and the history of homosexuality in partner countries. The first monitoring of the LGBTI inclusion concept is now due in 2024. Reason enough to discuss the situation from a civil society perspective.

Together with the Yogyakarta Alliance and activists from Namibia and Rwanda, we want to discuss the specific challenges of LGBTI inclusion in international human rights work. Join us in this web talk, followed by two workshops in which we will discuss this in more depth. The aim is to develop ideas together for a postcolonial approach to LGBTIQ* human rights work.

Language: The event will be held in English and German, with simultaneous interpretation for the plenary sections. The workshops are being held in English or German only.

Program:
15:30 Welcome by Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation and Yogyakarta Alliance
15:40 German colonial history: a very brief introduction, Prof. Dr. Henning Melber, Uppsala University
15:50 Keynote 1: Namibia: Colonialism and effects on gender images, Florence |Khaxas, Director, Young Feminists Movement Namibia (YFem)
16:00 Keynote 2: Effects of colonial history/mission history on queer ways of life in Rwanda, activist from Rwanda
16:10-16:20 Break
16:20-17:00 Two parallel workshops
Workshop 1 (English) with Liz Frank, Women's Leadership Centre (WLC) Namibia: Aspects of decolonial project work, postcolonial practice
Workshop 2 (German) with Rupert Haag, spokesperson Queeramnesty (Amnesty International Deutschland): Monitoring LGBTI inclusion concept, What are our demands to the German government?
17:00-17:10 Plenary: Summary from workshops
17:10-17:30 Discussion and roundup: What consequences for our/the NGO project work? What demands can we make of the German government?

Background Information:

• Website Yogyakarta-Alliance
• German Government´s LGBTI-inclusion concept for foreign policy and development cooperation

A Hirschfeld-Eddy-Foundation event as part of the project “Cultures and Colonialism ‒ The struggle for LGBTIQ+ human rights in light of the decolonization debate” from the Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation.