The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland convenes leaders from government, business, and civil society to address the state of the world and discuss priorities for the year ahead.
Critical discussions and commitments that take place in Davos this week provide a platform to engage in constructive, forward-looking dialogues and help find solutions through public-private cooperation.
GLAAD first attended the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in 2018. Since then, GLAAD has worked with WEF to bring LGBTQ people and issues into focus, widening the scope of representation. Teams across every level at GLAAD, from the GLAAD Media Institute to GLAAD’s Communities of Color department and executive leadership, have worked tirelessly to advocate for LGBTQ voices and issues to be part of the global issues addressed in Davos.
GLAAD is also spotlighting the hard work of the Partnership for Global LGBTIQ+ Equality (PGLE) and collaborating with the group to set priorities for the year ahead to advance global equality.
PGLE is a project of BSR, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the World Economic Forum.
“Rebuilding Trust” is the theme for the 2024 WEF annual meeting and GLAAD will host a series of first-time events and programs to discuss LGBTQ issues relevant to this theme. Rebuilding trust also means amplifying a diverse array of intersectional issues that impact LGBTQ people, from how to effectively deal with misinformation and the polarization of LGBTQ issues, to the villainization and criminalization of LGBTQ people around the globe.
This year GLAAD is working with Accenture and The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to organize PGLE’s 2nd annual rainbow light-up of the main Promenade street in Davos. More than one dozen businesses with venues on the street will participate by lighting up their venue in rainbow or displaying rainbow signage on Wednesday night. The Promenade also features venues hosted by countries that are not accepting of LGBTQ, so this initiative is a powerful show of support for the global LGBTQ community.
GLAAD is also hosting private discussions on global LGBTQ criminalization laws and HIV with the goal of raising visibility for that topic.
Nearly 70 countries criminalize being LGBTQ.
Global business can help reduce this number.
The Open For Business 2022 City Ratings shows that LGBTQ inclusion is correlated with overall levels of economic development in cities around the globe. The report showed strong positive correlation between a city’s LGBTQ inclusion score and the log of its GDP per capita. The research suggests that LGBTQ inclusion is an important strategy for cities that need to develop diversified economies.
Despite headlines that ran last Pride month, more businesses than ever support LGBTQ inclusion and know that future-proofing their business means including LGBTQ people.
GLAAD research on corporate allyship conducted with the Edelman Trust Institute which shows: 53% of Americans expect CEOs to inform and shape conversations and policy debates about LGBTQ rights. 59% of Americans say that if business devoted resources to protecting the LGBTQ community it could have a positive impact.
The same research showed that U.S. employees are also 4.5x more likely to want to work at a company if it publicly supports LGBTQ rights.
At Davos, GLAAD’s mission is to infuse LGBTQ people and issues as a priority at every level of business and global economies. GLAAD’s resources are critical to helping world leaders and business chiefs navigate how to take action for the LGBTQ community, how to approach inclusion in authentic and impactful ways, and know that LGBTQ inclusion is both good for business and good for bottom lines.
The World Economic Forum was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The Forum is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests and engages the foremost political, business, cultural alongside leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
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