ZMINA held an advocacy training for LGBTQI+ community and allies in Lviv

On April 20, the training “Equality and non-discrimination. Advocacy of Civil Society Interests” for the LGBTQI+ community and allies was held in Lviv. It was organized by Human Rights Centre ZMINA with the support of Freedom House.

The event was attended by representatives of public organisations “Insight”, “Cohort”, “Alliance.Global”, “Bilkis”, “Feminist Workshop”, WUC “Hillel”, “Social Movement”, “Impulse.UA” Charitable Foundation.

During the one-day training, the participants learned to advocate the interests of the community, the topics they work with in their public organisations or their research and which are important for autonomous activists, to negotiate with officials, to unite in coalitions to strengthen their voices, to defend their positions, correctly submit analytical documents to various recipients.

Activists also completed a short basic course on human rights, recalled the first international documents in this area, got acquainted with the topic of equality and non-discrimination, considered specific cases of combating discrimination at various levels, in particular, considering the practice of court decisions in the European Court of Human Rights.

The trainers were Alena Lunova, the advocacy director at Human Rights Centre ZMINA and Serhii Burov, the head of the Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv. Freedom House program manager Oksana Suburai was also present at the event, she spoke about the activities of the international organisation she represents.

“With our training programs, we try to strengthen the LGBTQI+ community, as well as their allies, that is, everyone who shares democratic values. So that they can protect their interests, join the reconstruction processes in the country, counteract discrimination of vulnerable groups, become stronger and build a tolerant progressive society”, says Iryna Yuzyk, the project manager at Human Rights Centre ZMINA.