Saudi Arabia insists that UN keeps gay rights out of development goals
Saudi Arabia is insisting that the United Nations keeps improving global LGBT rightsĀ out of the organisation’sĀ Global Goals.
The UN recently launched its global goals as a series of ‘ambitious targets’ for its 193 member states related to poverty, equality and ending climate change – though overt references to LGBT equalityĀ wereĀ stripped out of the final agreement.
Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s most repressive countries,Ā called for the UN to make sure that gay rights stay off the table entirely.
The Saudi government is protesting a target under the section of health and well-being, which states:Ā “By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes.”
The regime isĀ worried that this reference to sexual rights could include rights for gay people.
The SaudiĀ Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told told the UN General Assembly that “mentioning sex in the text, to us, means exactly male and female. Mentioning family means consisting of a married man and woman,ā
He stated that Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is illegal and the punishment for same-sex relations can be extremely harsh, had the right not to follow any agenda that runs “counter to Islamic law.”
The UN’s GlobalĀ Goals are a set ofĀ targets covering a range of issues – from clean water and food for all, to reducing emissions to sustainable
The goals separately pledge to ensure that āhuman rights and fundamental freedoms are enjoyed by all, without discrimination on grounds of race, ethnicity, colour, sex, age, language, religion, culture, migration status, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic situation, birth, disability or other status.ā
It also pledges to āend all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhereā ā but LGBT rights fails to be mentioned.
The UN has come under pressure recently for appointing Saudi Arabia, one of the worldās most repressive and homophobic countries, the chairĀ a UN panel on human rights.
Last month, the United Nations Security Council held itsĀ first ever meeting on gay rights to discuss the terrorist group Islamic Stateās persecution of sexual minorities.
