The Queer Forced Displacement Initiative (QFDI) is a project to create a coordinated, international, multi-stakeholder network, focused on the long and short-term protection needs of LGBTQI+ forcibly displaced persons.
Queer Forced Displacement Initiative
Overview of the Queer Forced Displacement Initiative
The Queer Forced Displacement Initiative (QFDI) is a project to create a coordinated, international, multi-stakeholder network, focused on the long and short-term protection needs of LGBTQI+ forcibly displaced persons.
Using a collaborative and consultative approach in partnership with LGBTQI+ individuals, organizations and protection actors across the globe, this initiative endeavors to craft interventions that safeguard the dignity and rights of queer individuals, particularly in the face of anti-LGBTQI+ crackdowns, crises and persecution. The network will serve as a critically needed long-term platform to support LGBTQI+ persons in forced displacement and to advocate for improved protection outcomes and access to durable solutions. In addition to generating lasting research and policy solutions, this multi-stakeholder platform will provide a forum for different actors to mobilize and coordinate response efforts in real-time when crises occur.
The network will engage civil society organizations, academics, humanitarian actors and key government stakeholders, to collectively advocate for improved protection outcomes and access to LGBTQI+ specific durable solutions. After the network is established, it will be independently governed by a Secretariat chosen by network members.
Background
This network emerges in response to the reality that LGBTQI+ migrants and refugees often face distinct challenges on their journeys to find safety relative to other migrants, including heightened risks of violence, marginalization, and discrimination, lowered access or exclusion from traditional humanitarian protection systems and limited pathways to long-term safety. At the same time, even in the midst of these challenging conditions, LGBTQI+ individuals, organizations and protection actors across the globe are generating creative strategies and solutions reflective of the unique needs and perspectives of forcibly displaced people with diverse identities. However, there exists no sustained institutional space to capture and share this critical knowledge and expertise in order to address the challenges faced by these communities.
The urgent need for an organized global response to the challenges faced by forcibly displaced LGBTQI+ persons was highlighted during the 2021 Global Roundtable on Protection and Solutions for LGBTQI+ Persons in Forced Displacement, co-convened by the UNHCR in which Rainbow Railroad was an active participant. This event produced 33 significant recommendations including calls for the creation of this multilateral network.
About the Crisis Response Fund
The Crisis Response Fund is dedicated to addressing the urgent funding gaps faced by grassroots organizations in their efforts to support LGBTQ+ individuals and communities during times of crisis. This fund provides accessible, flexible funding to enable local organizations to respond effectively to crisis emergencies, ensuring LGBTQ+ people facing persecution, displacement, or other crises, have access to lifesaving protection and services.
Sign Up to Be Part of the Queer Forced Displacement Initiative
For LGBTQI+ community members and organizations who wish to be involved and learn more about the International Queer Forced Displacement Initiative, sign up here.
Learn More
LGBTQI+ Forced Displacement: Building an International Network
Exploring Multilateralism for International Peace and Security and LGBTQI+ Crisis Response
Rainbow Railroad Queered the System at the Global Refugee Forum
Global Refugee Forum: LGBTQI+ and Allied Civil Society Statement
External Resources
ORAM Launches Comprehensive Guide to Support LGBTIQ Refugees in Mexico City
Information about Project Donors and Funding
The project is funded in part by contributions from Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and Rainbow Railroad.
