Overcoming Barriers to LGBTQI+ Labor Market Participation

This webinar will outline the barriers and challenges that LGBTQI+ people face in the labor market and highlight three successful programs to address them in Brazil, Kenya, and Cambodia. Discrimination, stigma, violence, and criminalization cause widespread exclusion from economic opportunities for LGBTQI+ people, ultimately lowering development outcomes and reducing overall economic potential of societies. Despite this, LGBTQI-led organizations and activists have developed a variety of targeted solutions and partnerships to address barriers, enhance livelihoods, and develop sustainable paths for market participation. 

The webinar will begin with opening remarks from USAID Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator Maura Barry (she/her) and will feature a panel moderated by Global Advisor on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity at the World Bank Group, Clifton Cortez (he/him). The panel experts include Gurchaten Sandu (he/they), Programme Officer on Non-Discrimination at the International Labour Organization; Craig Paris (he/they), Executive Director at the Refugee Coalition of East Africa; and Kong Yara (he/him), Cambodia Project Coordinator at Micro Rainbow International.