The LGBTI Inclusion Index: An Innovative Tool to Incentivize Human Rights and Development Data

This article explores the potential of the LGBTI Inclusion Index, an initiative led by the United Nations Development Programme to overcome the paucity of data on the socio-economic status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people and other sexual and gender diverse (LGBT+) populations worldwide. Through the participation of LGBTI civil society and other stakeholders, the Index and its Indicators were designed to measure human rights and development dimensions across economic well-being; education; health; personal security and violence; and political and civic participation. The article reviews the development of the Index and shares findings from a limited number of interviews with stakeholders who were involved in conceptualization and/or dissemination of the concept. It discusses limits to intended participation by UN member states and some challenges in state collection and reporting of data disaggregated by sexual orientation, gender identity or expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). Utilization of conceptual features of the Index in multilateral reporting and research is also reviewed. The Index offers SOGIESC indicators which may be useful to human rights and development practitioners seeking to generate new data or use secondary data to measure whether development interventions are accessible to LGBTI people. Two case studies outline the adaptation of selected Indicators from the Index in surveys of LGBT+ people planned and/or undertaken by researchers in collaboration with civil society organizations in Africa and the Caribbean. We encourage utilization of the Index and its Indicators to gain greater insight on interventions that deliver socio-economic development and human rights implementation for LGBTI people.