From the Introduction:
The year 2022 has been a year of changes: of very good changes, like OII Europe’s first European Commission framework partnership agreement which has resulted in substantial stability and the much needed increase of the organisation’s policy staff. But it has also been a year of feeling the impact of the still ongoing Covid-19 crisis.
Whilst, at the beginning of 2022 we all hoped that the Covid crisis was finally starting to be on its way out, Russia decided to (again) bring war to Ukraine. OII Europe, and especially our wonderful member organisations in the countries adjacent to Ukraine, jointly took on the challenge to support intersex persons affected by the war in Ukraine to the best of our possibilities. While Covid now seems to be less and less powerful, the war is still ongoing as of the date of writing this introduction.
If there is something positive to say at all about times like these, it could be that they bring the chance and the need to reflect on the importance of human rights and the importance of joining forces to protect and defend them. The challenges that intersex persons, trans persons and the LGBTIQ community face in Europe are currently increasing due to a growing anti-gender movement. This movement has become stronger and stronger over the past years and has strong ties to the wave of right-wing backlash that has equally become more powerful across Europe.
Meanwhile, what we also witnessed during 2022 was the increased awareness of all of us, particularly including politicians and policy makers across the EU and in the Council of Europe regions, that joining forces with civil society and with each other is the prerequisite for successfully working towards guaranteeing the human rights of vulnerable minorities, including intersex persons and the broader LGBTIQ+ community.
The challenges are manifold. But the resistance and the strong will, including the political will, to not let the challenges and threats win is there. In this report you will find the various activities of OII Europe in 2022, towards the goal to create a better Europe for intersex persons. Enjoy.
The OII Europe Staff and Steering Board
