Council of Europe

 

The Unit is the focal point for LGBT-Issues within the Council of Europe. Its objectives is to implement  Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)5, to organise and support relevant conferences and activities, document relevant developments and be the home of the Council of Europe LGBT Project.

The LGBT Issues Unit was created in October 2011 under the Directorate of Human Rights and Antidiscrimination (DGII).

The staff

• Annachiara Cerri, Head of Unit
• Bastiaan Winkel, Project Co-ordinator
• Karina Forsyth-Lotz, Principal project assistant
• Thomas Pavan-Woolfe, Assistant
• Tatjana Kostovska Stojanova, Assistant
• Kerttu Tarjamo, Programme Officer

 

Activities

Council of Europe Activities

• 11 and 12 October 2012, in Utrecht, The Netherlands, the Council of Europe’s LGBT issues Unit co-organised with the EPAS and the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation a conference entitled “United against homophobia in sports : the contribution of policy-makers, researchers and sports movements”. The conference was namely opened by Mrs Edith Ingeborg Schippers, the Dutch Minister for Health, Welfare and Sport, and Ms Filloreta Kodra, Deputy Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of Albania. It revolved around interactive workshops grouping together different stakeholders on themes such as the safety of LGBT athletes, attitudes of supporters in stadiums, possibility for “same-sex” couples to participate together in certain sporting disciplines, and the integration of transgender athletes in recreational and competitive sport
• 2 April 2012, Strasbourg, closing session of “Mois de l’Autre 2012”, which was attended by the LGBT Unit of the Council of Europe.
• 27 March 2012, Strasbourg, the LGBT Issues Unit co-organised with the Government Equalities Office of the United Kingdom, under the auspices of the United Kingdom Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, a conference entitled “Combating discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity across Europe: Sharing knowledge and moving forward”. 
  Speech by Thorbjørn Jagland | Speech by Thomas Hammarberg  | Conference Conclusions
• 24 November 2011, Bern (Switzerland), the LGBT Issues Unit  participated in a roundtable organised by the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights on “Opportunities for governments in implementing the recommendations of the Commissioner’s report “Discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity in Europe” and in the 7th Roundtable. A presentation of the CoE LGBT-Project was given.

 

External events

• 13 November, in London, United-Kingdom, the Head of the LGBT Issues Unit addressed the participants of one of the breakout sessions on Global LGBT Mobility, during the conference “Out on the Street: Europe”. This event convened senior LGBT and straight ally leaders of the international financial services industry to focus on business opportunities and leadership strategies for and within the LGBT community. This first European summit concentrated on the role of the financial services industry in advancing LGBT people equality.
• 17-21 October, in Dublin, Ireland, the LGBT Issues Unit attended ILGA-Europe’s Annual Conference. The theme of this year's conference was Advancing LGBTI equality in challenging economic times. The conference and its 25 workshops gathered 400 participants from LGBT NGOs and international institutions from all over Europe, including non-EU countries. The Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights notably addressed the audience.
• 28 September 2012, Oslo, the LGBT Issues Unit took part in the meeting of the Informal Network of Governmental LGBT Focal Point as an observer.
• 6 July 2012, London (United-Kingdom). A workshop on "The labour market discrimination of LGBTI people: European law and good practices"  took place in London. The workshop was an occasion to discuss the current situation of and the possible policies against the labour market discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, intersexual people (LGBTI).The workshop gathered law professionals and policymakers from European countries and supranational institutions, especially those responsible for labour market policies at the local level. The LGBT Issues Unit of the Council of Europe was present to this event.
• 5-6 July 2012, London (United-Kingdom). The Global LGBT Workplace Summit brought together people from around the world to consider ways to build greater equality in the workplace for LGBT people. Participants, such as executives, LGBT employees, human resources professionals, diversity & inclusion staff shared their best practices, engaged with colleagues from around the world in order to strengthen the diversity of their workplaces. The LGBT Issues Unit of the Council of Europe also participated to this summit.
• 27 June - 01 July 2012,  Budapest (Hungary).The EuroGames, the European Gay & Lesbian Championships, is an annual European sporting event governed by the European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF). FRIGO (Friss Gondolat Egyesület - Fresh Thought Association) hosted the 14th EuroGames 2012. The games were held in venues throughout the city, and were followed by a number of cultural and social events. The Council of Europe was a partner of this event.
• 26 June 2012, Belgrade (Serbia), the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade addressed the Conference for the Pride Day. This event focused on LGBT young people and the problems they are facing on an everyday basis due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. It was part of the Project “LGBT young – Fight against stereotypes and prejudices”, sponsored by the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Directorate for Human and Minority Rights and Royal Netherlands Embassy in Serbia and gathered participants from civil society, international organisations and the authorities.
• 14 June 2012, Tirana (Albania) “Stop the Violence: LGBT rights are human rights” was a conference under the official auspices of the US State Department and the Department of Justice. The Head of the Council of Europe Office in Albania was present to this event and addressed the audience.
• 17 May 2012, Tbilisi (Georgia), a Roundtable Discussion  on LGBT rights took place in Georgia to celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO). It was hosted by the U.S. Embassy,  Identoba, WISG and LGBT Georgia and focused on issues faced by the LGBT community in Georgia and the need for civil society and the government to strengthen their work together in order to find solutions. The event included a session about Council of Europe Recommendation CMRec.(2010)5 on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, which was introduced by the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia.
• 17 May 2012, Tirana (Albania), under the framework of IDAHO, the Council of Europe was present at the Diversity Festival of Tirana, notably at the Information Fair, where the Council of Europe Office in Albania informed visitors about the Organisation’s work in the field of human rights in general and of LGBT people in particular.
• 17 May 2012, Novi Sad (Serbia), The Gender Equality Institute and the Provincial Ombudsman of Vojvodina held a press conference with the Government of Vojvodina to mark the International day against homophobia on 17 May in Novi Sad, Press Hall of the Government of Vojvodina. The activities of the Gender Equality Institute and the Provincial Ombudsman of Vojvodina in the fight against discrimination of LGBT population was presented, together with a research on homophobia and transphobia by the University of Novi Sad. The Head of the Council of Europe  Office in Belgrade presented the recommendations of the Council of Europe related to the fight against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.
• 28 March 2012, Strasbourg, the LGBT Issues Unit took part in the meeting of the Informal Network of Governmental LGBT Focal Point as an observer. Current plans and activities of the LGBT-project were presented.
• 19 March 2012, Budva (Montenegro), the LGBT Issues Unit and Mr Ralf-René Weingärtner, Director, Directorate of Human Rights and Antidiscrimination of the Council of Europe attended the Conference “Together against discrimination”, organised by the Government of Montenegro.
• 7 March 2012, Geneva (Switzerland), the Head of the LGBT Issues Unit attended and made a short statement at the 19th UN Human Rights Council Panel Discussion on “Human Rights, sexual orientation and gender identity”.
• 8-9 December 2011, The Hague (Netherlands), the Head of the LGBT Issues Unit participated in ILGA’s Conference “Joining forces to combat homophobic and transphobic violence in Europe Law enforcement agencies and civil society cooperation”.
• 25 November 2011, Bern (Switzerland), the LGBT Issues Unit  took part in the meeting of the Informal Network of Governmental LGBT Focal Point.