June 30: a day for the worldwide promotion of family equality

On Tuesday, June 30, International Family Equality Day (IFED) and the Global Interfaith Network for People of All Sexes, Sexual Orientations, Gender Identities and Expressions (GIN-SSOGIE) will co-host the United Nations (UN) online side event The Recognition and Respect of Diverse Families in Times of a Global Pandemic, held during the 44th session of the Human Rights Council, and co-sponsored by the delegations of South Africa and Switzerland.

This UN side event was initially going to be carried out during the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council but was postponed due to the pandemic. IFED and GIN-SSOGIE believe it is essential to still organise it and underline the ongoing impact of Covid-19. More specifically, with this side event, they aim to provide information and fostering discussion regarding the varied realities of family life all over the globe and how they have been especially impacted by the Covid-19 worldwide crisis.

Derricia Castillo-Salazar (Belize), IFED Co-president, said: ‘It is our objective to make family diversity increasingly visible and represent experiences and realities from rainbow families in different regional, cultural and religious contexts. There is not one model of family formation and promoting this discourse is deeply harmful and undermine our efforts to promote all human rights.’

The upcoming event will be the perfect opportunity for IFED and GIN-SSOGIE to forge new alliances and connections. ‘We are optimistic that the discussion and the personal exchange of experiences with our partners will not only strengthen our coalitions, but also create new ones and thereby enhance our efforts to advocate for broad and inclusive definitions of family,’ added Andrea Rivas (Argentina), IFED Board Member.

This UN side event will be online and you can pre-register by clicking here. 

Find more info, click here.

For extensive background information on IFED click here and GIN-SSOGIE click here,