An NHRI Guide on responding to COVID-19 impacts on LGBTI people people and organisations should also be involved in the execution, monitoring, and evaluation of these responses. If human rights defenders can safely cooperate with the government, NHRIs can share the contact details of local LGBTI organisations and groups, so they can directly inform the government of what responses would fit the needs of their communities the most. NHRIs should make sure to recommend those with specific expertise, for instance groups working with LBTI women, trans or intersex people, sex workers, people living with HIV, and others. If it is not safe for human rights defenders to work with state authorities, the NHRI may need to play an intermediary role in creating safe places where LGBTI people can make complaints. The NHRI can then use its mandated functions to monitor and report on these issues. POSSIBLE ACTIONS • Recognise LGBTI people in the NHRI’s strategic plan as a vulnerable group and as a priority group for programs and activities in the NHRI’s COVID-19 response. • Continue building the institutional capacity of the NHRI, including its members and staff, to promote and protect the human rights of LGBTI people, to ensure that this knowledge can be applied during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and similar crises. • Continue building relationships with LGBTI organisations and networks to inform the work of the NHRI as part of its COVID-19 response and to ensure effective communication outreach to communities of people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and sex characteristics. • Support the State in recognising LGBTI people as a vulnerable group in its COVID-19 response by providing evidence and contacts to organisations. GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLE On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, and Transphobia in 2021, Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission issued a statement highlighting the specific vulnerability of LGBTIQ people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement was picked up by multiple news platforms: “LGBTIQ persons, both young and the elderly, face family rejection, endure domestic violence which is not only physical but also psychological, and bullying in their own homes which leads to depression, making them more vulnerable during lockdowns and containment.” […] “Family members of LGBTIQ persons are instrumental in preventing and combating abuse and discrimination by being more accepting and compassionate towards the LGBTIQ members of their family, more so during this pandemic which is blind to the barriers that we humans build to decide who belongs and who does not whether it be our homes, schools, places of worship, or workplace.” Fiji Village on 18 May 2021 The New Zealand Human Rights Commission Te Kāhui Tika Tangata facilitates a regular 6-monthly meeting between civil society and the Cross-Parliamentary Rainbow Network of LGBTQIA+ MPs and allies. The meeting in June 2020 went online and devoted an hour to a discussion regarding the impacts of COVID-19 on rainbow communities in the country, including asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. Not only did the Commission learn and hear more, but the MPs attending were able to take this information back to their respective parties and raise issues accordingly. In its 2021 Human Rights Situation Assessment Report, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand identified people of diverse SOGIESC as a vulnerable group during the pandemic. The 17