Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

Labris – the organization for lesbian human rights, along with partner organizations from the United States and Germany, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Institute and Hirschfeld Edi Foundation, and with the financial support of USAID, Astrea and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, organized the conference “Democracy for All: Political Participation of LGBTI Persons in Western Balkans” on 15, 16 and 17 September, in Belgrade.

The conference on the topic of political participation of LGBTI persons in Western Balkans, held at the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia on 15 September and thereafter in the Belgrade hotel “88 Rooms” on 16 and 17 September, is the crowning point of the one-year project by Labris (in cooperation with the Gay and Lesbian Victory Institute and NDI), implemented during 2014, and wherein 22 outed LGBTI persons from Serbia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo completed training in political leadership, thereby gaining the basic experience on political activism, as well as the ways they can impact overall social trends from the standpoint of political engagement.

The meeting in the House of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia was attended, in addition to the activists from the civil sector, representatives of embassies and independent institutions at the local and national level, by deputies from Albania, Serbia and Ireland, as well as a representative of the Government of Montenegro, while deputies from Slovenia, Montenegro and Macedonia took active part in the panels during the conference.

This was the first time in a Western Balkans country that LGBTI activists, along with decision makers, discuss the increased degree of participation of underrepresented groups, which certainly includes the LGBTI community.

One of the goals of this meeting and the entire conference was networking deputies from Western Balkans countries with colleagues from EU member states to exchange ideas on their role in the promotion of the human rights of LGBTI persons and improvement of the equality of this minority group.

More information on the Conference can be found at labris.org.rs.