Expert Group Meeting - Human Rights Cities For All - LGBTIQ+ Inclusive Cities

Event

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This Expert Group Meeting (EGM), part of a series on human rights cities for all, will bring together national and local authorities, activists, urban professionals, UN staff, and experts. The half-day session will explore approaches, policies, and practices at every level of governance—from grassroots activism to local and national measures—towards creating human rights cities where the rights of LGBTIQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer) persons are respected, protected, and fulfilled.

As of 2025, more than half of the world’s population—over 4.4 billion people—live in cities, a figure expected to rise to 68% by 2050. This growth makes local authorities and city-level policies, decisions, and activism increasingly central to building inclusive communities and societies. In response, more cities are adopting the concept of human rights cities: cities that embed international human rights principles into governance so that laws, services, and policies uphold the rights of all residents.

Progress has been made in protecting the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons—particularly in cities—such as ensuring access to housing and health care and promoting LGBTIQ+ cultural spaces. However, many cities worldwide are still not universally safe or inclusive. This EGM will therefore focus on advancing the human rights of LGBTIQ+ persons specifically within urban contexts.

This effort aligns with the New Urban Agenda, which commits to “leaving no one behind” by promoting equal rights and opportunities, eliminating discrimination, and creating inclusive public spaces—echoing, for example, SDG target 11.7 on universal access to safe and inclusive public spaces.

The meeting’s objective is to provide a platform for urban actors to:

• strengthen networks,
• assess the state of LGBTIQ+ inclusion in cities, and
• align efforts with human rights norms, the New Urban Agenda, and the SDGs.

The outcome will be an LGBTIQ+ Urban Agenda that identifies priority concerns, sets shared goals, and ensures LGBTIQ+ rights are reflected in upcoming UN events, including WUF13 in Baku (May 2026) and the mid-term review of the New Urban Agenda in 2026.

Finally, this EGM reflects the Geneva Human Rights Platform’s (GHRP) enhanced focus on local and regional governments and will feed into the GHRP 2025 Annual Conference, which will highlight the role of local actors in implementing human rights.

Access

Registration

Please register here to participate in this online event.