On April 14th, 2021 the 1st ever Human Rights Inclusion for People of Diverse Sexual Orientation and Gender Expression (SOGIE) Advocacy event was held at the Melanesian Conference Room in Port Vila with over 50 high level policy makers and organisational representatives attending. The United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) officially sponsored the event as part of its Born Free and Equal Campaign and offered a special video message.
Participants in the event included representatives from the High Commissions of Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and France. The Vanuatu Government participated through representatives from the Ministries of Education and Training, Health, Internal Affairs, and Justice, the National Statistics Office, and the Department of Police, along with the Leader of the Opposition, the Honourable Mr. Ralph Regenvanu. Also in attendance were representatives from UNDP, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Vanuatu Women’s Centre, CARE, Oxfam, IsraAid, KOBLE, APTC, Alliance Francaise, and ANZ Bank. In addition to the UNOHCHR, the event was also sponsored by VPride, Human Capacity Development International (HCDI), Sista, the WeRise Coalition, Oxfam, and Wan Smol Bag (WSB).
The event was concluded with focused policy discussions in each of the key areas, with concrete recommendations offered for next steps.