What: The 31st ILGA World Conference  
When: November 11-15, 2024
Info: https://worldconference.ilga.org  

Exciting news is that the 31st ILGA World Conference is taking place in Cape Town from November 11 to 15, 2024. The event which is returning to Africa for the first time in 25 years is hosted by local human rights organisations Iranti and Gender DynamiX. It is regarded as one of the largest gatherings of LGBTI changemakers. ”Built for and by community members from all over the world, over the course of five days the conference programme will bring participants to tackle pressing issues affecting LGBTI people in all their diversity.” Read on for more. Info as supplied:

Decriminalisation advocates, intersex, and trade union movement leaders will speak at the 2024 ILGA World Conference

One of the largest global gatherings of LGBTI changemakers will take place in Cape Town, South Africa between November 11 and 15 2024


On November 6, 2024,ILGA World announced Menaka Guruswamy and Arundhati Katju, advocates who led the court challenge to decriminalise consensual same-sex sexual acts in India, intersex people’s human rights defender Jeff Cagandahan, and International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Deputy General Secretary Jordania Ureña Lora among the speakers for the 31st ILGA World Conference.

The event will take place in Cape Town, South Africa from November 11 to 15, 2024, hosted by local human rights organisations Iranti and Gender DynamiX.

Returning to Africa for the first time in 25 years, the 2024 ILGA World Conference will bring together hundreds of LGBTI human rights defenders and development experts, policymakers, international human rights mechanisms experts, government representatives, researchers, journalists, funders, and allies from over 100 countries worldwide — responding in global, cross-movement solidarity to the ongoing anti-rights pushback.

Built for and by community members from all over the world, over the course of five days the conference programme will bring participants to tackle pressing issues affecting LGBTI people in all their diversity.

Other confirmed speakers include Reverend and activist Mpho Tutu van Furth, United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Graeme Reid, and National Secretary for LGBTQIA+ Rights of Brazil Symmy Larrat — as well as International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Director-General Dr. Alvaro Bermejo, UK Black Pride CEO Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, CREA Executive Director Geeta Misra, and Afghan LGBT Organization (ALO) Director Artemis Akbary. More keynote speakers and panellists will be announced in the coming days.

A constellation of many more events will happen during and around the ILGA World Conference — including the ceremony of the inaugural International Pride Awards, a joint project by ILGA World and UNDP, and a strategic summit for intersectional and inclusive democracies.

Over 1,200 people are expected to take part in the 2024 World Conference. More information is available at https://worldconference.ilga.org

About:

ILGA World is a worldwide federation of more than 2,000 organisations from over 170 countries and territories campaigning for the human rights of people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics. https://ilga.org  


Iranti is a Johannesburg-based human rights organisation which advocates for the advancement of the rights of LBQTI persons in Africa. With a specific focus on lesbian, trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex persons in Africa, Iranti works within a human rights framework raising issues on gender identities and sexuality through the strategic use of multimedia storytelling, research and activism.  https://www.iranti.org.za/ Gender DynamiX is the first registered Africa-based public benefit organisation to focus solely on the transgender and the broader gender-diverse community. Since its establishment in 2005, the organisation has been fundamental to the development of trans and gender-diverse movement(s) in South Africa and across Africa. https://www.genderdynamix.org.za/

Arundhati Katju, one of the advocates who led the court challenge to decriminalise consensual same-sex sexual acts in India is speaking at the 31st ILGA World Conference, taking place in Cape Town from November 11 to 15, 2024.

✳ Featured image: UK Black Pride CEO Phyll Opoku-Gyimah is speaking at the 31st ILGA World Conference, taking place in Cape Town from November 11 to 15, 2024. Sponsored content. Images supplied.