Salzburg Global Fellows meet with German Federal Foreign Office staffers
Participants of the Global LGBT* Forum had productive one-on-one meetings with their country’s respective desk officers from the German Federal Foreign Office. The discussions were joined by their colleagues from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development who travelled from Bonn, Germany to meet with participants.
During his meeting with his counterparts, Sudeshan Reddy, National Information Officer, United Nations Information Centre, Pretoria, South Africa emphasised the need for German diplomatic representatives to engage, in a sustainable manner, with LGBT civil society representatives from the outset and seek their advice on the type of support required. The conversation addressed many topics, such as where to focus initiatives, experiences of partnerships, or urgent needs.
In discussion with his counterparts, Dennis Wamala, Program Manager, Icebreakers, Kampala, Uganda reported on the increasingly dangerous conditions for human rights defenders in his country as they looked at how to best coordinate necessary urgent responses to the current situation.
As in other conversations, including on India, China, the MENA region or Russia, these encounters not only updated all parties on the situation on the ground but also allowed for invaluable brainstorming on short- term needs and long-term strategies. Now that personal contact has been made, the ground is set for ongoing dialogue and coordination.
Colleagues from the German Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development stated that this format of personal engagement helped them to better understand the quickly-changing situations in different countries.
The Salzburg Global Fellows in Berlin, with the support and partnership of the German Federal Foreign Office, are taking part in the high-level program Creating Long-Term Global Networks to Sustain LGBT Human Rights Organizations and will be conducting meetings with the German Foreign Office, representatives of foreign embassies, human rights groups, and other select partners. For daily summaries and Tweets, please see the session page: www.salzburgglobal.org/go/545 and the Twitter hashtag #SGSlgbt
* Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. We are using this term as it is widely recognized in many parts of the world, but we would not wish it to be read as in any way exclusive of other cultures, terms or groups.
