Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 15:50:41 +0200 From: Jordi Petit Subject: press release: ILGA WORLD CONFERENCE IN KÖLN ILGA PRESS RELEASE Barcelona, 28 June 1997 ILGA WORLD CONFERENCE IN KÖLN: SETTING OUT RENOVATION AND CHALLENGE ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS From 29 June to 5 July, after the Paris Europride, the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) will hold its annual World Conference in Köln. A federation of individual members and over 300 organisations of lesbians and gays of 75 countries of the 5 continents, ILGA was founded in 1978 with the aim of promoting international solidarity in the struggle for gay and lesbian rights and against AIDS. Renovation Nineteen 19 years after being established, ILGA returns to the seat of its first World Conference - the city of Köln - to begin a process of renewal in both its structure and constitution and to achieve more flexibility and to improve its executive decision making, a process already started by ILGA-Europe in the Madrid conference in December 1996. The regionalisation of ILGA and its organisational consolidation are among the tasks to be undertaken, alongside the launching of an individual membership campaign and the increasing of its financial resources. Services The paper on the future of ILGA to be discussed in Köln aims at clarifying the goals of the organisation for the following years and developing the appropriate organs to carry them out. ILGA must consolidate and improve its services, such as the distribution of information through its "Bulletin magazine" and other means, the organisation of World Conferences, the Annual Report, the Pink Book… Recent experience with public or private institutions shows that ILGA can direct its projects in a more efficient way if internal coordination is improved. New projects such as Phare Tacis for Eastern Europe, the new contacts in the UE and with private foundations are already an open way to be developed by ILGA. Diversity and majority participation in Köln On its 25th anniversary the Lesbian and Gay Liberation Front (LGLF) has done an excellent job of organizing the event in an excellent way, as can be seen by the high number of registered participants one week before its opening, nearly 250 persons representing 450 countries (15% of which have been granted a scholarship). There will be participants from Guatemala, Dutch Antilles, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kazakstan, Algiers, Turkey and Israel. Fifty women participants will represent 25 countries. LGLF has obtained the support of various public institutions. As well as the constituional issues, ILGA will no doubt be involved in the debate on its future. This year is marked by the challenge of claiming gay and lesbian rights on the coming occasion, 1998, of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 20th anniversary of ILGA. Jordi Petit and Inge Wallaert Secretaries General ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ILGA - International Lesbian and Gay Association 81 Kolenmarkt, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium Phone/Fax +32-2-502-2471, E-mail: ilga@ilga.org http://www.ilga.org