Today, ILGA World has announced Menaka Guruswamy and Arundhati Katju, advocates who led the court challenge to decriminalise consensual same-sex sexual acts in India, intersex people’s human rights defender Jeff Cagandahan, and International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Deputy General Secretary Jordania Ureña Lora among the speakers for the 31st ILGA World Conference.
The event will take place in Cape Town, South Africa from 11 to 15 November 2024, hosted by local human rights organisations Iranti and Gender DynamiX.
Returning to Africa for the first time in 25 years, the 2024 ILGA World Conference will bring together hundreds of LGBTI human rights defenders and development experts, policymakers, international human rights mechanisms experts, government representatives, researchers, journalists, funders, and allies from over 100 countries worldwide — responding in global, cross-movement solidarity to the ongoing anti-rights pushback.
Built for and by community members from all over the world, over the course of five days the conference programme will bring participants to tackle pressing issues affecting LGBTI people in all their diversity.
Other confirmed speakers include Reverend and activist Mpho Tutu van Furth, United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Graeme Reid, and National Secretary for LGBTQIA+ Rights of Brazil Symmy Larrat — as well as International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Director-General Dr. Alvaro Bermejo, UK Black Pride CEO Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, CREA Executive Director Geeta Misra, and Afghan LGBT Organization (ALO) Director Artemis Akbary. More keynote speakers and panellists will be announced in the coming days.
A constellation of many more events will happen during and around the ILGA World Conference — including the ceremony of the inaugural International Pride Awards, a joint project by ILGA World and UNDP, and a strategic summit for intersectional and inclusive democracies.
Over 1,200 people are expected to take part in the 2024 World Conference. More information is available at https://worldconference.ilga.org
