Mensenrechtendag: New York
A group of like-minded countries will co-sponsor a high-level event on homophobia at the United Nations on or around 10 December 2013 to raise awareness of the issue among the New York-based diplomatic community, UN accredited media correspondents and the general public. LGBT rights activists will be joined by UN leaders and world-famous sports stars, amongst which Martina Navratilova, to discuss the need for measures to combat homophobic violence and discrimination and promote respect for the rights of LGBT people. The involvement of major sporting celebrities in the event will help in highlighting the need to tackle homophobia in sport, generate media interest in the event, and potentially engage a broader audience.
The event will take place at lunchtime in one of the iconic meeting chambers at UN Headquarters and is expected to attract between 300 and 500 people – including ambassadors and other diplomats, UN staff, journalists, students and LGBT activists from New York and around the world. The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has been a prominent advocate of LGBT equality, will be invited to make the opening remarks (and the organizers will also seek a photo opportunity for the panellists to be photographed with the Secretary-General immediately prior to the event). The event will be co-sponsored and supported by the United Nations human rights office (OHCHR) and the NGOs United for Equality in Sports and Entertainment, Global Initiatives, Human Rights Watch and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.
Format
The event will last for approximately 90 minutes. The High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay will open the meeting and make introductory remarks. A moderator will then pose prepared questions to a panel of speakers comprising two or three prominent sports stars and two LGBT activists. These questions will be discussed with panelists in advance to provide an opportunity to prepare responses (although speakers will be asked not to read out written statements). After approximately 45 minutes of moderated discussion, the floor will be open for questions from the audience, to which panelists will be invited to respond. The event will be webcast and a photographer will be present. Panelists may be asked to make themselves available afterwards for short media interviews.
Background
An event on the theme of LGBT rights has been organized at UN Headquarters every December for the past five years. The event has become a fixture on the UN calendar, attracting increasing interest and high-level participation. In 2010, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took part for the first time, delivering a landmark speech – the first on this topic by any UN Secretary-General. He participated again at the 2012 event, in which the U.S. pop star Ricky Martin and South African musician Yvonne Chaka Chaka also took part. Last year’s event attracted one of the largest audiences of the year at UNHQ and generated a global online following. The event is promoted by the UN media service and typically generates extensive media coverage (including, in each of the past two years, several wires service stories which ran widely in newspapers and news websites in all regions and in multiple languages).