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Africa's Change Makers Magazine
African states
narrowly fail to stop U.N. gay rights envoy
work
Uganda police officers question a member of Uganda's LGBT community during their pride parade in Entebbe near capital Kampala, before police asked LGBT members to abandon their gathering September 24, 2016. RETERS/James Akena
Russia, several African countries and Egypt said they would not recognize mandate of gay rights investigator and would not cooperate with him
Being gay is a crime in at least 73 countries, the U.N. has said. The issue of gay rights consistently sparks heated debate at the United Nations.
African states narrowly failed on Monday for a second time to halt the work of the first U.N. independent investigator appointed to help protect gay and transgender people worldwide from violence and discrimination.
The attempt was voted down in
the U.N. General Assembly 84 to 77 with 16 abstentions, a month
after African states made a similar unsuccessful move in the
General Assembly's third committee, which deals with human
rights.
The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council, based in Geneva, created the position in June and in September appointed Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand, who has a three-year mandate to investigate abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.
Women's rights and gender equality, we highlights issues affecting women, girls and transgender people.
Being gay is a crime in at least 73 countries, the U.N. has said. The issue of gay rights consistently sparks heated debate at the United Nations.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said the bid by the African states on Monday was "rooted in a real disagreement over whether people of a certain sexual orientation and gender identity are in fact entitled to equal rights."
"And it is being driven by a group of U.N. member states that believe it is acceptable to treat people differently because of who they are or who they love," she told the General Assembly.
International Migration
Almost everywhere on
the world, international migration is a hot topic. Most of the time
the debate about migration is fierce and charged with prejudices
and fears.
At the
political level, this has far-reaching consequences, ranging from
electoral victories of populist right-wing parties to the
increasing isolation policy of Europe and the United
States.
But what
exactly is migration? What are its causes? And what are problems
and opportunities?
Russia, several African countries and Egypt, speaking on behalf of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, said last month they would not recognize the mandate of the gay rights investigator and would not cooperate with Muntarbhorn.
Last week, Russia prevented the United Nations Security Council from thanking outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon specifically for promoting gay rights during his decade in office, diplomats said.
In 2014, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said the U.N. would recognize all same-sex marriages of its staff, allowing them to receive U.N. benefits. Russia unsuccessfully tried to overturn it last year, with Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, India, Egypt, Pakistan, and Syria among 43 states that supported Moscow.
In February, the African Group, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the 25-member "Group of Friends of the Family," led by Egypt, Belarus and Qatar, protested the launch of six U.N. stamps promoting LGBT equality.
Thomson Reuters Foundation
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