IGLYO

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer & Intersex Youth and Student Organisation (IGLYO) is an international LGBTQI organisation that was created in 1984 as a reaction to the need for better cooperation among regional, local and national LGBTQI youth and student organisations.

IGLYO
Formation1984
TypeNon-governmental organisation
HeadquartersBrussels, Belgium
Region
Europe
Membership
95 member organisations
Official language
English
Main organ
IGLYO General Assembly
AffiliationsESU, EYF
Websitewww.iglyo.com

IGLYO is a membership-based umbrella organisation that aims to empower and enable its members to ensure representation of LGBTQI youth and student issues. IGLYO advocates on behalf of members to international bodies, institutions and other organisations.[1]

IGLYO is led by an elected Executive Board who are mandated by the General Assembly, which is the highest decision making body of the organisation. Executive board members serve for a two-year mandate. The Executive Board is supported by a secretariat in Brussels, Belgium and led by two co-chairs.

IGLYO has more than 95 member organisations in more than 45 countries and is celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2019.[2]


Strategic Objectives

Building young activists
  • To work directly with young people to build their confidence and abilities and equip them with lifelong skills to become leaders within the LGBTQI and wider human rights movements
  • To widen young people’s perspectives and build international solidarity through peer learning, cross-cultural exchange and intersectional approaches
  • To provide young people with opportunities to explore and express their individuality in a safe and supportive environment
  • To grow a strong and diverse group of youth allies to support and advocate for the human rights of LGBTQI youth

Increasing the visibility and highlighting the diversity of LGBTQI youth identities
  • To change attitudes in society and influence decision makers on all levels by ensuring LGBTQI young people’s voices and experiences are present, heard and affirmed
  • To support and promote positive youth role models within the LGBTQI population and celebrate their diversity
  • To ensure youth perspectives are included within the wider LGBTQI movement and that LGBTQI perspectives are mainstreamed within the youth movement
  • To embed intersectional approaches throughout our own and our members’ work to ensure diversity within our movement is visible and actively recognised

Making education safe and inclusive for all
  • To ensure safe and inclusive educational environments for all LGBTQI young people by working with our members, governments, experts, teachers, parents, and learners.
  • To raise awareness of the issues faced by LGBTQI youth in education through innovative campaigns and resources

Developing and sustaining an engaged and connected network of member organisations
  • To support the work of IGLYO’s members, especially around youth engagement and development
  • To encourage international cooperation and increased partnership work across the network through international meetings and online platforms
  • To support younger organisations and groups to develop through mentorship and advice


Activities

As a youth development organisation, IGLYO builds the confidence, skills and experience of LGBTQI young people to become leaders within the LGBTQI and human rights sectors.

Through cross-cultural exchange and peer learning, IGLYO also creates a powerful collective of youth activists across Europe and beyond, who can share strategies and visions, and foster values of international solidarity. Finally, IGLYO ensures the voices and experiences of LGBTQI young people are present and heard by decision-makers at European and international levels.

IGLYO achieves these outcomes through international trainings and events, targeted capacity building programmes, intercultural exchanges and peer learning, online tools and resources, and digital story-telling and campaigning.

Building young activists

Activist Academy

This annual five-day event aims to provide a starting point for young people interested in LGBTQI rights to become activists. Through a menu of skills-based workshops and team challenges, this intensive training programme builds the confidence and skills of participants to become leaders.

Visit website

Study Sessions

Each year, through the Council of Europe Youth Centres, IGLYO runs a five-day educational event for young people on a variety of current topics. Regardless of the focus, however, the methodology and approach ensures that participants learn through experience, peer discussion and group work, building key skills and competencies

Online Capacity Building

IGLYO began its online capacity building programme in 2016 with a series of webinars. Over the next three years, IGLYO aims to develop this work substantially, offering a series of online interactive modules, which will greatly increase the volume and reach of our capacity building work with young people

Workshops & Trainings

IGLYO regularly designs and delivers a range of workshops and trainings for young people to increase their skills. These are run at LGBTQI events, European youth meetings, and at partner conferences.

Increasing the visibility and highlighting the diversity of LGBTQI youth identities

Representation at key LGBTQI events

IGLYO champions the meaningful inclusion of young people in all meetings, events and forums. Young people are still too often excluded or not taken seriously. IGLYO, therefore, strives to highlight the benefits of diversity of age as well as sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and variations in sex characteristics. By building the skills of LGBTQI young people and providing them with opportunities to meet decision makers, contribute to important discussions and speak about their own experiences, IGLYO aims to tackle youth discrimination in a positive and constructive way.

Participation in European youth networks

IGLYO’s active participation within the European youth movement plays a key role in educating all young people about non-discrimination and the benefits of diversity. IGLYO is regularly asked to contribute to or review organisational policies on gender and sexual orientation, deliver LGBTQI awareness training or speak about issues faced by LGBTQI youth. IGLYO is a member of the European Youth Forum, associate member of the European Students’’ Union and has an elected member in the Council of Europe Advisory Committee on Youth. This important mainstreaming work with young people, plays a key role in raising public awareness and increasing understanding and acceptance in society over time.

Film campaigns and digital storytelling

IGLYO will continue to build on the success of its online campaigns work, ensuring that more LGBTQI young people have the opportunity to share their personal experiences and views through our international platform.

Research which highlights the experiences of LGBTQI youth

Over the next three years IGLYO will conduct a minimum of two research projects to gather much needed data on issues and experiences of LGBTQI youth.

Making education safe and inclusive for all

LGBTQI Inclusive Education Index

With the first edition launched in 2017, IGLYO will continue to collect data from all Council of Europe Member States every 2-3 years to provide an overview of LGBTQI inclusive strategies within education. The Index will allow for quick comparison between different countries and show progress over time as each edition is launched.

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LGBTQI Inclusive Education Report

Created as a complementary resource to the Index, the Report provides a more detailed account of the situation within each country and highlights good practices.

Read report

LGBTQI School Students’ Survey

To measure how effective LGBTQI inclusive policies and practices are in reality, IGLYO will conduct the first European wide LGBTQI School Students’ Survey in 2018. This qualitative research will highlight young people’s experiences of school and help identify where progress is most needed.

Developing and sustaining an engaged and connected network of member organisations

Annual Members’ Conference

Our largest event of the year brings together over 75 representatives from our membership. As well as carrying out the statutory duties of the organisation, increasing the three day event is becoming an important opportunity to build the skills of our members, consult with the network on key issues and promote collaboration and partnership work.

Regional Consultations

As the IGLYO network grows and diversifies, we understand that the needs and priorities of our members also become more varied. Introduced in 2016, our annual consultation event allows us to target members within a specific region to better understand their work and foster partnerships between organisations.

Thematic Youth Network meetings

Started in 2017, IGLYO will identify one thematic topic a year and aim to build partnerships between our members who are working in this area.

Building and developing the network

Over the next three years, IGLYO will proactively identify and approach potential new members to ensure the network continues to grow and develop. IGLYO will also aim to work with existing members to ensure they develop youth participation within their work and provide progression routes for younger, less experienced activists.



Executive Board

IGLYO's Executive Board are elected by the General Assembly for a mandate of two years. Board Members must be nominated by one of IGLYO's member organisations and be between 18 - 30 years at the time of election.

Title Name Representing
Co-chairs  Belgium
Petra Tomasc  Croatia
Board Members Savira Pervaiz  Germany
Yana Tovpeko  Ukraine
Mari Kurtanidze  Georgia
Yuri Yourski  Estonia
Michael Gowan  United Kingdom

Advocacy

IGLYO is active member of the European Youth Forum, ILGA, ILGA-Europe, the Euromedplatform,[3] and is an associate member organisation of the European Students' Union.[4]

References
  1. "About". IGLYO.
  2. "Members". IGLYO.
  3. "Advocary". IGLYO. Archived from the original on 2 March 2015.
  4. "International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Youth and Student Organisation". Associate Members. European Students' Union. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
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