Sexual Minority Rights As a Pre-Condition For International Aid and Their Impact on a Rights Based Approach

Essay from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Development Politics, grade: 2, National University of Science & Technology Zimbabwe (Institute of Development Studies), course: Human Rights Based Programming, language: English, abstract: This paper examines the impacts of sexual minority rights being a pre-condition for international help and their impact on a rights-based approach.

The increasing intolerance on homosexuality in the global south is seen by the global north as an attempt to clamp down freedom of expression and association with regards to development issues. The global north to curtail the rising tide of homophobia have strategically prescribed observance of the rights of the sexual minorities as a precondition for aid to the global south. The precondition is however met with stiff resistance from the global south and is seen with skeptic lenses as a strategy to usurp the global south sovereignty. While the global south is contesting the sexual minority rights they do not suggest that the sexual minorities are alien to their countries. What they are contesting is the approach of universalising their rights and the idea of making such rights a very important aspect of development that can take precedence over other development issues.

It is this assumption that the global south is now responding by putting anti-LGBT laws into effect. Religious and cultural concerns also influence the response by the global south who are more inclined to common good opposed to the western view of individual good. It is this implication that individual values that should take pre-eminence over the common good which is being contested here. The adoption of the USA 2011 policy of linking aid with sexual minority rights is yet to yield positive results although it is widely shading a shame picture. The policy worsens the situation of the LGBTs as shown by a number of homophobic laws put in place especially by the global south. However, the policy has enabled the LGBT community to come forward and have their issues discussed at an international forum. While it appears almost impossible to achieve positive results in the near future, the policy has established a starting point towards inclusion and fair treatment of the LGBTs. There is high possibility that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights may be considered for adjustment to include the rights of the sexual minorities.