Ukraine's First-ever National Forum Presses for LGBTIQ Inclusion in Humanitarian Response

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its third year, has created havoc in the lives of Ukrainians and their long quest to achieve a stable and thriving democratic nation. Nearly 15 million people now need humanitarian assistance, including about 3.7 million people who are internally displaced. Continued attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure have left the country without stable power supplies, and ongoing strikes on civilian targets terrorize the population, especially in the south and east.

For many months now, Ukrainians have been coping with displacement, job loss, disruptions in access to essential care, and other challenges. Among them are thousands of LGBTIQ people, who, as they did before the full-scale invasion, must also contend with societal stigma, discrimination, and exclusion. Now, however, the stakes are even higher: lack of equitable access to humanitarian assistance can be life-threatening.

Advocating for Meaningful Inclusion

Since the start of the war, Outright International has sought to meet the specific humanitarian needs of Ukraine’s LGBTIQ communities, initially through emergency grantmaking.
 
Since January 2023, with support from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, Outright has also undertaken a multi-year effort to strengthen LGBTIQ inclusion within the humanitarian response in Ukraine. Specifically, the program seeks to:

• Assess and continuously monitor the needs of LGBTIQ people in Ukraine and how humanitarian assessment, response, and recovery plans are meeting or failing to meet those needs,
• Make LGBTIQ inclusion visible in key humanitarian spaces through meaningful participation, convening and connecting all relevant actors, and
• Advocate and raise awareness for LGBTIQ inclusion among humanitarian organizations and agencies for application in Ukraine and in other countries in the future.