10Th January 2018 Dear Dr. Birch, GAP President and GAP Executive Committee, APPLICATION for GAP MEMBERSHIP We, the Organi
10th January 2018 Dear Dr. Birch, GAP President and GAP Executive Committee, APPLICATION FOR GAP MEMBERSHIP We, the organisations listed below, hereby submit our formal request for the General Assembly of Partners, in accordance with its Constitution and Bylaws, to consider our application for the creation of a Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Partner Constituent Group. Millions of LGBTI people live in cities across the world, often migrating to urban areas in search of tolerant and progressive communities. Yet LGBTI people in urban areas continue to face violence and discrimination on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or intersex status (SOGIESC). As a result many LGBTI people living in cities and other urban areas are excluded from essential service provision including health and education services and disproportionately represented in statistics measuring homelessness. The New Urban Agenda clearly calls for cities that eliminate all forms of discrimination and are just, safe, healthy, accessible and resilient for all. This cannot be achieved without the inclusion of LGBTI people. Civil society is determined to embrace the progressive opportunities that cities provide to address the challenges LGBTI people face and deliver on the commitments made in the New Urban Agenda. We recognise the General Assembly of Partners as a self organised coalition of civil society organisations that has helped secure the inclusion of traditionally excluded and marginalised groups and their concerns in the New Urban Agenda and UN Habitat activities. This joint application comes from broad and representative organisations and activists based in the US, UK, Lebanon, India, Russia, Canada, Tanzania, Finland, Ecuador and Turkey that work at the global level, engaging with United Nations processes, as well as at the local level, with LGBTI individuals and communities in cities across the world.
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