Report of the Conference 4. Summary of proceedings – Day 1 The Conference sessions ran for two days – with keynote speeches, panel discussions and working groups. The summary of outcomes for individual sessions are presented below in the order of proceedings. SESSION 1: CONFERENCE WELCOME SESSION Welcome to Thailand Nada Chaiyajit, Human Rights Advocacy and Capacity Building Coordinator, Manushya Foundation Opening remarks • Caitlin Wiesen, Chief, Regional Policy and Programme Support for Asia and the Pacific, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub • Mohammed Nurkhoiron, Commissioner, Indonesian Commission on Human Rights • Pip Dargan, Deputy Director, Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions Moderator Nadia Rasheed, Team Leader, HIV, Health, and Development, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub In her remarks, Nada Chaiyajit highlighted that the conference provided a valuable opportunity for all participants to reflect on the impact of the Yogyakarta Principles. She challenged and questioned participants about the effectiveness of advocacy programmes in using the language and tools of the Yogyakarta Principles in the past 10 years. The need to strengthen the use of the principles were highlighted, indicating that often only the ‘experts’ seem to know what is in Yogyakarta Principles, while most human rights advocates, NGOs and members of the public remain inadequately informed of its provisions. Therefore, the urgency to put a more concerted effort to empower people on the ground to pressure the governments to change their attitudes towards the LGBTI communities was acknowledged. She concluded her remarks by emphasising that ‘change starts with us’ and, therefore, all LGBTI advocates must step up their calls for action. Caitlin Wiesen spelled out the strengths and opportunities provided by the Yogyakarta Principles and the need to explore opportunities to further supplement the principles for future application. She also provided examples of progress in many countries in the region, including legal, judicial and administrative developments. These developments and progress were made possible through the commitment and sacrifice of many individuals. She also highlighted that many challenges remain to be addressed including the growing violence and human rights violations targeted towards individuals and various forms of discrimination, homophobia, and transphobia. The shrinking space for civil society activism in some parts of the world exacerbates these challenges and reduces the opportunity to bring about positive change. The need for creating more education and awareness in the area of SOGIESC and around LGBTI issues and support to end stigma and violence perpetrated towards LGBTI communities was reiterated. By the same token, enhancing efforts to ensure better access to healthcare and social services for the LGBTI communities was identified. The idea of creating more research output on the economic and business impact of LGBTI rights was recognised. To this effect, linking the guiding principles of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the protection of the vulnerable and marginalised could be used as a viable platform for promoting the human rights aspirations of the Yogyakarta Principles. 9