What is important is that we start by changing the conversation.
Attitudes take time to change. Policy changes can take even longer. When we open people’s minds; when we make them see a problem where they thought there was none before; when we make administrators realize that our policies cater to heterosexuality and the gender binary, and not to diversity, we take a big step forward and are that much closer to our ultimate goals of equity and inclusion.
UN-GLOBE was established to advocate for the equity and inclusion of LGBTIQ+ personnel in the UN system and its peacekeeping operations. It is managed by a Board of volunteer UN personnel who are elected every two years by the UN-GLOBE membership, and it is supported by a strong network of volunteer UN entity and duty station Coordinators. Our members play an equally important role: they share their experiences with their Coordinators, support their UN-GLOBE chapters through offering volunteer time, and bring visibility to the work we do.
Our five priorities
We will continue to push for new parental policies across the UN system that are gender neutral and treat all families equally. We believe parents are parents. They deserve equitable parental leave time whether their children are adopted, born through surrogacy, or given birth by the staff member.
We will advocate for inclusive health care for UN personnel. Inclusive health care promotes the wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ individuals, offers insurance that provides affordable access to such services as gender-affirming care and reproductive support, and ensures affordable, stigma-free access to care and medicine in all locations where the UN works.
We have introduced proposals for inclusive workplaces for transgender and intersex staff members and will follow up on organisational uptake. All staff members deserve dignity and equal opportunities.
We will continue to push for mobility options that work for all staff, including equal career opportunities across the globe, in duty stations that are safe and secure for all staff and their families.
We will continue advocating for the introduction of a survey to measure the satisfaction of LGBTIQ+ personnel in the UN system and its peacekeeping operations, and to measure attitudes towards LGBTIQ+ issues. Having hard numbers can benefit us all, personnel and administrators alike.
The UN system may rarely change overnight.
But we will continue to push for our causes until the changes do come.
About our name
UN-GLOBE was started in 1996. At that time, the acronym stood for “United Nations Gay Lesbian or Bisexual Employees.” It was fairly common at that time for larger organizations to have "G.L.O.B.E." groups. We have moved on from using the acronym in that specific way, as we now represent a wide range of individuals with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC), including both those who identify within the LGBTIQ+ spectrum and those who identify using other terms. We represent not just permanent UN employees, but also contractors, interns, and others involved in the intricate workings of the United Nations system, its agencies, funds, and programmes. We continue to use the name “UN-GLOBE” as a nod to our history.
