Consolidating and Sustaining Human Rights Culture into the Future: Human Rights Day 2023

December 10, 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that forever changed the global agenda regarding rights and freedoms. It established the inalienable rights that every person has, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin.

Dignity, freedom and justice for all — this is the message the UN addresses to the world in 2023. ECOM celebrates the 75th International Human Rights Day together with its partners and declares its commitment to ensure that all members of the LGBT community in the EECA region are able to fully enjoy all their rights and freedoms.

For December 10, ECOM updated the country maps, which reflects the human rights situation in the countries of the EECA region: legislation, cases of human rights violations, the level of homophobia and other indicators. We encourage partners to disseminate information and build on the collected statistics when planning advocacy efforts.

We see that human rights have been subject to new and new challenges over the decades. Wars, violence, epidemics, discrimination and stigma all go hand in hand with the struggle for equality, acceptance, inclusion and tolerance. Over the past 75 years, since the landmark UN General Assembly in Paris, the world has undoubtedly shown progress in respecting the rights of every individual. But the progress is uneven and not everywhere. We see that the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia requires more attention.

As an organization working in the field of rights in the EECA region, ECOM records impressive examples of activism, personal courage, systemic advocacy and promotion of anti-discrimination legislation at country levels. On the other hand, in a number of countries we see trends towards more repressive legislation, restrictions on freedom of speech, and infringement of the rights of LGBT people.

“We need the consolidation of all efforts to develop and cultivate the value of human rights today and in the future. Just as in the example of the fight against the HIV epidemic, when global joint efforts stop the spread of the disease, the “epidemic” of discrimination, hatred and rejection of some people by others can be stopped when life becomes a universal value, guaranteed by the right for every person to live and control their lives. We will continue, together with our partners, to make every effort to protect the rights of LGBT people, so that the ideas of equality for all become the norm in every country in the region,” says Yuri Yoursky, Programs Lead at ECOM.

For International Human Rights Day, ECOM and its partners made a video calling for the consolidation and support of human rights culture in the future.

ECOM continues to respond quickly to the challenges faced by gay, bisexual and trans people who find themselves in particularly vulnerable situations following the outbreak of Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine, and to actively support the work of our partners from the LGBT community and trans organizations and initiatives in 19 countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

LGBT people who need legal support can use the database of legal service providers and legal resources.