Rights, Health, Equality: ECOM’s Advocacy Results in 2025

In 2025, ECOM, together with national partners, played a key role in advancing the visibility and protection of LGBT communities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia within the United Nations human rights system.

Throughout the year, ECOM prepared and submitted 12 alternative reports and thematic contributions to various UN treaty bodies, special procedures, and other mechanisms. These materials amplified the voices and real challenges faced by LGBT people, as well as human rights defenders and healthcare professionals working with key populations.

Among the submitted contributions:

• Committee Against Torture (CAT) — Tajikistan
  Request for information on medical workers
• Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) — Belarus
  Contribution to HRC Resolution 56/20
  Contribution on SOGIESC and education
• Human Rights Committee (HRC) — Kazakhstan
• CEDAW — Kazakhstan (List of Issues)
• “Spotlight” Alternative Report — Kyrgyzstan
• Contribution to the thematic report of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association to the 80th UN General Assembly
• Universal Periodic Review (UPR) — Georgia
• Contribution to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders (HRC 61st session)
• Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) — Kazakhstan (List of Issues)
• CESCR — Tajikistan (Follow-up report to concluding observations)
• CESCR — Georgia (Follow-up report to concluding observations)
• Contribution to the thematic report of the Independent Expert on SOGI for HRC 62nd session:
  “Violence and discrimination experienced by lesbian, bisexual, and queer women (LBQ women)”
• Together with partners — the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA), Eurasian Women’s AIDS Network (EWNA), and the Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network (SWAN) — and within the RESILIENT initiative, ECOM is preparing its input for the call on the draft General Comment No. 38 to Article 22 (freedom of association) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The submission focuses on the challenges faced by marginalized groups in EECA amid the rapidly shrinking civic space.

Importantly, in 2025, two of these contributions were reflected in the published Concluding Observations of UN Treaty Bodies, demonstrating the meaningful impact of ECOM’s and partners’ advocacy on international human rights mechanisms.

CEDAW Recommendations to Belarus on the Rights of LBTI Women

In its concluding observations, CEDAW expressed deep concern over widespread discrimination, stigmatisation, and gender-based violence faced by LBTI women in Belarus. The Committee noted alarming cases of persecution, surveillance, intimidation, and arbitrary detentions forcing many activists to leave the country. It also stressed that hate crimes and discrimination remain unpunished, creating a climate of impunity.

Particular concern was raised regarding legislative changes equating homosexuality and trans identity with pedophilia, zoophilia, and necrophilia, entrenching dangerous stereotypes and legitimizing censorship. The Committee also condemned the draft law proposed by the Prosecutor General’s Office introducing penalties for so-called “propaganda of abnormal relationships,” explicitly targeting LBTI women.

The Committee recommended that Belarus:

• Stop surveillance, intimidation, and arbitrary detention of LBTI women, and eliminate homophobic and transphobic rhetoric by public officials.
• Investigate and prosecute all cases of violence, hate crimes, and discrimination against LBTI women and human rights defenders, ensuring accountability of both private and state actors.
• Establish accessible legal protection mechanisms that acknowledge intersecting forms of discrimination.
• Repeal discriminatory laws and draft laws that restrict the rights of LBTI women and intensify stigma.
• Conduct awareness-raising and educational campaigns to combat stereotypes, and train public authorities on equality and non-discrimination.

Human Rights Committee Recommendations to Kazakhstan on Anti-Discrimination and LGBT Rights

In its concluding observations, the Human Rights Committee expressed serious concern about the absence of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation in Kazakhstan, particularly regarding sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). Despite constitutional equality guarantees, the country still lacks a law explicitly prohibiting discrimination across all areas of public and private life.

The Committee acknowledged positive steps — the adoption of the Human Rights and Rule of Law Action Plan (2023) and the creation of a working group on anti-discrimination legislation (2024) — but noted that tangible progress has stalled.

The Committee recommended that Kazakhstan:

• Adopt a comprehensive anti-discrimination law in line with international standards, explicitly including protection on grounds of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, ethnicity, and age.
• Strengthen legal protection of LGBT people, prohibiting discrimination and violence based on SOGI.
• Investigate and prosecute hate speech, harassment, and violence — including cases involving state actors — ensuring remedies and rehabilitation for victims.
• Guarantee freedom of association and ensure the right of LGBT organisations to register and operate without discrimination or administrative barriers.
• Secure transgender people’s right to legal gender recognition by removing excessive medical and procedural requirements.

These findings confirm the presence of systemic discrimination and underscore the urgent need for legislative measures to ensure equality and dignity for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Supporting Activists’ Participation in International Advocacy

In 2025, ECOM supported six activists from the region who took part in an advocacy mission to present alternative reports and national positions during UN Treaty Body reviews, as well as during the pre-sessions and the UPR session. This participation enabled activists to directly engage with international mechanisms, raise regional issues, and strengthen the advocacy capacity of local organizations.

Thanks to this work, ECOM significantly increased the visibility of LGBT issues within UN human rights processes. The UN Committees’ recommendations to Belarus and Kazakhstan stand as concrete outcomes of joint advocacy by ECOM and its partners, providing new tools for national campaigns and legal reforms.