Source description last updated: 6 December 2021

In brief: The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), formed in 1978 and based in Switzerland, is a federation of organisations working for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Annual reports by ILGA and by ILGA-Europe.

Covered quarterly on ecoi.net, for countries of priorities A-E (all available countries).

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

ILGA works for:

“the equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people and for liberation from all forms of discrimination and violence; […]

equality of all people who live and face discrimination and violence because of their perceived or actual sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics […]” (ILGA: Constitution of ILGA World, 2019, p. 2)

To work for these goals, ILGA creates a platform for LGBTI people, works for their equal representation, supports its members, collects and researches information, organises trainings, conferences and offers facilities for coordination (ILGA: Constitution of ILGA World, 2019, p. 2).

ILGA has consultative status at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOS) (see also “further reading” below) and has over 1,700 member organisations from 160 countries and territories (ILGA website: About us, undated).

For more details, see their respective constitutions:

ILGA: Constitution of ILGA, 2019
https://ilga.org/downloads/ILGA_World_Constitution_2019.pdf

ILGA-Europe: ILGA-Constitution as amended at Annual General Meeting 2021
https://ilga-europe.org/sites/default/files/Attachments/Constitution%20-%20October%202021%20-%20EN.pdf

Funding:

ILGA’s main source of income are donations from governments, foundations, member organisations and other institutional funders and individuals. In 2020, the total income of ILGA amounted to 2,213,268 CHF. (ILGA: Annual Report 2020, 2021, p. 38, for a non-exhaustive list of donors, see p. 2)

The funding of ILGA-Europe comes mainly from institutional funders such as public institutions and private philanthropy. In 2019, grants constituted 92% of ILGA-Europe’s total budget, 31% of which through a grant by the European Commission. (ILGA-Europe website: How ILGA-Europe is funded, 2019)

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: Worldwide. (Scope of ILGA-Europe is European and Central Asian countries).

Thematic focus: Rights of LGBTI persons.

Methodology:

Desk research. ILGA-Europe sometimes includes qualitative research, such as interviews and focus groups in their research (see, for example, ILGA-Europe: Communicating for Change, February 2021, p. 7).

For more information on ILGA-Europe’s “Rainbow Europe” index, please see: https://www.rainbow-europe.org/about

Language(s) of publications:

English (and some in Spanish and / or French)

Further reading / links:

Key documents such as ILGA World Constitution, Standing Orders, ILGA's Code of Conduct, Strategic Plans and Annual Reports can be found here: https://ilga.org/about-us/annual-reports-documents

ILGA: The history of ILGA: 1978/2012, undated
https://ilga.org/ilga-history

Freedom House: ILGA Granted UN Consultative Status, 30 June 2011 (as available on the Internet Archive)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140503102324/https://freedomhouse.org/article/ilga-granted-un-consultative-status#.U2TDpN_LdPY

UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC): Quadrennial reports for the period 2011-2014 submitted by non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council through the Secretary-General pursuant to Council resolution 1996/31 [E/C.2/2016/2/Add.15], 10 November 2015, p. 7-8
https://undocs.org/E/C.2/2016/2/Add.15

UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC): Quadrennial reports for the period 2010-2013 submitted by non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council through the Secretary-General pursuant to Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31 [E/C.2/2016/2/Add.28], 23 February 2016, p. 3-4
https://undocs.org/E/C.2/2016/2/Add.28

ILGA: ILGA and the ECOSOC Status Controversy, undated
https://ilga.org/ilga-ecosoc-status-controversy

 

All links accessed 6 December 2021.

 

Methodological note:

ecoi.net's source descriptions contain background information on an organisation’s mission & objective, funding and reporting methodology, as well as on how we cover the source. The descriptions were prepared after researching publicly accessible information within time constraints. Most information contained in a source description was taken from the source itself. The aim is to provide a brief introduction to the sources covered regularly, offering information on relevant aspects in one place in a systematic manner.