Devex Newswire: Has Poland welcomed LGBTQ refugees?

Poland has welcomed millions of Ukranian refugees — but it's not known for welcoming LGBTQ rights. We take a look at how LGBTQ refugees have been received since Russia's invasion.

Today we’re also digging into the European Commission’s food crisis response plan, and talking about the high cost of failing to fund education.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, nearly 4 million people have fled to neighboring Poland, and many have been generously welcomed and supported. For the LGBTQ community, the situation is more complicated, Deepa Parent reports for Devex.

LGBTQ people face a higher risk of discrimination and challenges in finding housing and aid, but they have also benefited from the work of organizations that have their specific concerns at the forefront.

“In the beginning, the needs of all refugees are the same: food, clothing, safe shelter. However, for straight people, it’s easier to later find a job and housing,” says Julia Maciocha, chairperson of Parada Równości, or Equality Parade. “Trans people who are transitioning need medications, and we have people who are taking their HIV medications as well. So we have to provide them all that they need, including psychological support.”

Homosexuality is legal in Poland, but LGBTQ people have been subject to discrimination and attacks. In a recent review of LGBTQ legal rights by ILGA-Europe, the European branch of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, Poland was the lowest-ranked member of the European Union — with Ukraine sitting only five places higher.

Deepa reports seeing anti-LGBTQ protestors with placards calling for “LGBT-free zones” in Warsaw, anti-LGBTQ messages plastered on walls, and some cars can be heard playing anti-LGBTQ slogans as they drive.

She writes that a big challenge is the lack of support from local governments. The board member of an organization supporting LGBTQ people tells her they have received funding from international organizations, but none from the government.

Read: LGBT Ukrainians find both solidarity and discrimination in Poland

Running the numbers

Vince Chadwick has the details of the European Commission’s new €600 million ($640 million) plan to respond to the global food crisis.

A document sent to European Union countries this week — which Vince got a look at — envisions €100 million for macroeconomic and fiscal stability, €350 million for food production and resilient food systems, and €150 million for aid in selected African, Caribbean, and Pacific — or ACP — countries.

European Commission: A €600M food crisis plan

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In the neighborhood

Samantha Power, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, also announced new funding for food security at the U.S.-hosted Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles last week. Power said most of a new $331 million funding tranche for Latin America and the Caribbean will go to food security.

“Today, one-third of the world’s food is produced right here in the Americas. The current crisis presents an opportunity for the region to not just help end the pressing food crisis here in the Americas, but to supply an even greater share of the world’s food supply — if we can invest in the farmers and agricultural communities, that will help us meet that goal,” she said.

USAID: Power reveals food security, development aid at Summit of the Americas

+ Devex Pro subscribers can read USAID’s business forecast for the third quarter of 2022, which has a total estimated maximum value of up to $31.1 billion. Not a Pro subscriber yet? Sign up for a free trial to join.

Dividing lines

At last month’s World Health Assembly, representatives considered two competing resolutions. The first condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine and opened the door to future sanctions against Russia. The second called for respecting humanitarian law, allowing health and humanitarian access, and supporting WHO’s emergency appeal for Ukraine and countries hosting refugees — but it did not condemn Russia for its invasion.

The first resolution passed handily, with 88 member states in favor and a round of applause — though 53 abstained. The second only garnered 15 votes in favor, with 66 opposed, and 70 abstentions.

“But the larger story is deeply disturbing: While a large number of countries are willing to condemn apparent crimes against humanity and push Russia further from the community of nations, a very sizable group of countries refuse to do so,” write Eric Friedman and Lawrence Gostin of Georgetown University.

Opinion: WHA's Russia vote is a call to side with health, human rights

Short-term thinking

Countries were struggling to meet education goals even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced millions of students out of school. Lack of funding is one of the biggest barriers — and in many cases that comes down to politics and self-interest, Garnier tells Devex Editor-in-chief Raj Kumar in this video interview.

Watch: The urgency and harsh truths of transforming global education

In other news

A challenge to the United Kingdom’s policy to send migrants and asylum-seekers to Rwanda will be heard at the Court of Appeal today. [BBC News]

The World Trade Organization ministerial conference, where the fate of the TRIPS waiver could be decided, got underway Sunday in Geneva with opening remarks from Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. [WTO]

United Nations agencies and Malawian authorities have identified and rescued more than 90 victims of human trafficking at a refugee camp in Malawi. [UN News]

Climate change — not conflict — is the biggest threat to the existence of Pacific island nations, according to Fiji’s defense minister. [CNN]

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