A collaboration between the Institute of Gender Equity and Justice of Cape Verde (ICIEG) and Spain will strengthen a project to train tour operators to provide more inclusive services, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Tourism and everything that surrounds it is a powerful economic driver for the archipelago. “There are a lot of LGBTQ+ couples coming into the country and the sector needs to be educated,” ICIEG President Marisa Carvalho told Lusa.
The first phase of the training is coming to an end and ICIEG has signed an agreement with the Triangulo Foundation, an organization financed by Spanish cooperation, and the Institute of Tourism for the second phase, which doubles the execution time to 36 months and funding of 400 thousand euros.
According to the president, the expansion will allow the institution to carry out “more structured” and “deeper” work with the entire Cape Verdean society.
In addition to tourism, the project will educate the educational community, as well as Cape Verdean civil society and members of the LGBTQIA+ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and other sexual and gender orientations).
In this second phase, ICIEG intends to work with the National Statistical Institute (INE) to obtain more data on the community, following a diagnostic study of the social and legal situation carried out three years ago by the National Commission of Human Rights and Citizenship (CNDHC).
The idea is to have a “more robust” community to later “claim autonomously”.
“We want to have a community that is sustainable in terms of its needs and its work,” the leader said.
The project will also help with inclusion, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, in activities that guarantee income.
“We believe that only in this way can the community itself be heard” and be able to participate in decision-making, Marisa Carvalho also emphasized.
Another focus of the project is assistance in accessing basic health care, mainly hormonal treatment, as announced by the ICIEG President a year ago.
Marisa Carvalho said some Cape Verdean doctors were able to follow up on these cases at the time, but stressed that hormone replacement “will still take some time” so she will continue to work with health organizations.
June 28 next year marks LGBTQIA+ Pride Day, and the institute is partnering with other organizations to host several events, including the traditional march through the country’s streets.
Cape Verde has a National Gender Equality Plan with concrete actions, and the leader noted that the country is at the “first place” in Africa, where many countries take action to punish, persecute and criminalize people because of their sexual orientation.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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