Adriana Kugler, the first Latina woman to be appointed as the U.S. Executive Director of the World Bank Group, recently spoke to the Washington Blade about her commitment to advocating for LGBTQI rights as part of her position. Kugler noted that the Biden-Harris administration has a strong commitment to promoting the inclusion of LGBTQI+ individuals, and the World Bank has approved an LGBTQ-inclusive project to provide funding for advisory services to LGBTQ and intersex people and for the design of banking products. One of Kugler’s priorities is to support the collection and dissemination of data that can help drive support for LGBTQ inclusion within the bank.
Another priority for Kugler is to engage closely with colleagues in GLOBE, a resource group for the World Bank’s LGBTQ and intersex employees. She emphasized the importance of offering protections for LGBTQ and intersex employees in countries with anti-LGBTQ and anti-intersex rights records, as well as offering same-sex spouses and partners the opportunity to access jobs through World Bank offices and local staff in places where they would not be able to work elsewhere. Kugler also aims to train local staff on LGBTQ and intersex issues to provide a safe workplace.
Regarding a specific issue on which Kugler has worked, she mentioned making sure that the standards of evidence for cases of misconduct are coherent with the standards of evidence in the U.S. and that progress is made to ensure that cases are brought forward by those who suffer from harassment. Additionally, Kugler noted that the World Bank still does not have LGBTQ-specific safeguards, but she added that it is something that is still being discussed.
Kugler emphasized the importance of multilateral engagement in terms of driving protections for LGBTQI persons around the world. She noted that the World Bank’s EQOSOGI Project has already collected LGBTQ- and intersex-specific data on legal gaps as well as practices that impact LGBTQI+ people in 16 countries, and it aims to expand its coverage to more countries in 2024. Kugler believes that providing a voice for LGBTQI communities will ensure that they are widely protected and will send a message to countries that they need to start considering legal changes.