LGBTI workers get a boost from UN’s Michael Møller

Violence and abuse of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI) has to stop, including in the workplace, a group of UN workers in Geneva said on Wednesday. UN-GLOBE, the group representing the organization’s LGBTI staff, made the appeal on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). The day is held on 17 May to commemorate the World Health Organization’s (WHO) decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. UN-GLOBE’s call has the support of UN Geneva Director-General Michael Møller, as the organization’s Gurchaten Sandhu explained to Daniel Johnson.

Rape survivors should never again face the “prison of stigma”: UN official

Survivors of rape or sexual slavery should never again face “the prison of stigma” described by some of them as a “living death”, the acting UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, has said. Adama Dieng, who is also the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, made the appeal to members of the Security Council during an open debate on “Sexual violence in conflict as a tactic of war and terrorism.” According to the UN, this form of violence has become a core element of the ideology and operations of extremist groups such as ISIL or Da’esh, Boko Haram, the Nusrah Front and Al-Shabaab. Jocelyne Sambira reports.

Released Chibok have an uphill road to climb back into society

The 82 girls from Chibok, Nigeria, recently released by the Boko Haram terrorist group, have an “uphill road to climb” to get back into society, a UN expert has warned. Urmila Bhoola, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery expressed deep concern about the plight of the 115 girls who remain in captivity. In 2014, close to 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped in north-east Nigeria, where government forces have been battling a Boko Haram insurgency for the past six years. The UN has called for continued global support for the country’s efforts to release, rehabilitate and reintegrate all of Boko Haram victims – even as those who have regained their freedom struggle to regain their lives. Liz Scaffidi spoke to Ms. Bhoola by phone from South Africa in which she spoke about the state of the newly released schoolgirls.