The First Year of the USAID LGBTQI+ Inclusive Development Policy: Five Things to Know

In August 2023, USAID launched its historic LGBTQI+ Inclusive Development Policy. The policy recognizes that locally-led development that includes LGBTQI+ persons strengthens livelihoods, economies, and democracies. It also provides a blueprint for integrating LGBTQI+ individuals into USAID policy and programming. 

Since the policy’s release, momentum has shifted to action. Keep reading for five ways that policy has become programming.

1. Increasing Understanding

USAID has briefed more than 1,000 staff members, implementing partners, technical experts, donors, communities of practice, congressional staff, and LGBTQI+ groups and activists in all major regions on the new policy. 

At the same time, other strategic documents like the USAID Digital Policy and Automated Directives System Chapter 201 (Program Cycle Operational Policy) - similar to USAID’s standard operating procedure - acknowledge the significance of LGBTQI+ Inclusive Development and the Policy.  

2. Advancing New Partnerships

The policy acknowledges that the demand for development assistance for LGBTQI+ inclusive development has far outpaced the supply. In response, USAID requested proposals to advance LGBTQI+ inclusive development and civil society in December 2023. USAID plans to issue up to five awards totaling up to $25 million by the end of the fiscal year to assist organizations working to secure their rights to employment, education, livelihoods, and access to basic services, and to counter human rights rollbacks.

With generous contributions from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and Global Affairs Canada, USAID was able to directly fund more LGBTQI+ led organizations through the Multi–Donor LGBTI Global Human Rights Initiative (GHRI) and Alliance for Global Equality, two public-private partnerships that advance protections and inclusion for LGBTQI+ people around the world. 

3. Innovating in Locally-Led Programming

Close consultation and network building with local LGBTQI+ communities is crucial for this policy to make an impact. Through the Rainbow Fund and other resources, USAID is supporting efforts to meaningfully integrate LGBTQI+ people in USAID programs across a wide range of sectors, from economic empowerment to mental health to youth leadership.   

In Lesotho, USAID’s partners are working to reduce gender-based violence against LGBTQI+ individuals and cisgender heterosexual women and girls through engagement with faith leaders, community chiefs, law enforcement, and government officials.

In Colombia, USAID is working with the government to advance rural economic development, including land rights. A USAID-supported land formalization initiative in Chaparral, Tolima has resulted in three joint title applications that benefit same sex couples. “Submitting an application for joint titling is a way to confirm our equality, to give visibility and promote the acceptance of diversity by the wider society, when it comes to land access,” notes Mauro Julián Sánchez who applied for a title with his partner. 

The Mission is also working to make the process to change identification documents more accessible for transgender and non-binary people across the country, including individuals in the conflict-impacted Bajo Cauca region.

4. Strengthening the Evidence Base

The policy recognizes the importance of robust data to advance LGBTQI+ inclusive development.

In Timor-Leste, USAID, in consultation with LGBTQI+ civil society in the country, supported an LGBTQI+ inclusive development analysis to identify specific challenges impacting LGBTQI+ individuals in the country. Study results include recommendations for civil society, government, donors, and others to advance LGBTQI+ protections. 

In March 2024, the Demographic and Health Surveys Program, which includes 90 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe, released the paper, “Collecting Diverse Data on Gender and Sexuality in Demographic and Health Surveys: An Overview.” This resource summarizes existing guidance on inclusion of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics in data collection methods so that policy and programming decisions can truly be evidence-based.  

And in summer 2024, the USAID-supported Franklin & Marshall Global Barometers (F&M Barometers), released an updated global dataset that provides essential context regarding the human rights landscape for LGBTQI+ persons across countries and regions. The F&M Barometers also recently launched its 2024 LGBTQI+ Perceptions Survey where LGBTQI+ persons can share their individual perspectives on the status of human rights protections where they live.

5. Supporting Crisis Response

As LGBTQI+ individuals globally face headwinds ranging from democratic backsliding to acute conflict to targeted information manipulation campaigns, USAID is striving  to effectively meet the moment through inclusion. 

This was crucial following the passage of the Anti-Homsexuality Act in Uganda. USAID is working to provide emergency assistance to LGBTQI+ Ugandan human rights defenders and organizations whose safety and security are at risk, including assistance for those who are victims of violence, evicted from their homes, or who need help accessing medical care.  One survivor recounted to USAID his harrowing story of family members who threatened to burn him, and how USAID resources enabled him to flee the threat of harm and start over in a new, safe location.

Emergency support too often does not reach LGBTQI+ persons in conflict settings, due to pervasive stigma and discrimination. Following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice through the GHRI has supported an emergency response partnership in the South Caucasus and Eastern Europe that intentionally supports movement organizations’ ability to care for LGBTQI+ survivors. One grantee reported:  "The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shaken the whole Europe and Central Asia region and increased the sense of vulnerability and stress levels among LGBTQI and feminist movements. We supported a group to organize a healing retreat for its staff … to create an environment where care-based activities, collectiveness, well-being, and healing are centered, [and] it is possible to reflect on the traumas activists carry and to strategize and network together around what is possible." 

The Way Forward

“We introduced the LGBTQI+ Inclusive Development Policy … so that all of our work, no matter the sector or geography, takes into account the challenges facing LGBTQI+ persons and works to address them,” USAID Administrator Samantha Power said recently.

It is critical that the momentum from the policy’s first year carries forward in years ahead. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS 

Jay Gilliam is the USAID Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator. 

Ryan Kaminski is the USAID LGBTQI+ Advisor.