Cape Verde joined the LGBTI rights network at the end of March. The adhesion of the State of Cabo Verde to the Equal Rights Coalition was formalized by the president of the Cape Verdean Institute for Gender Equality and Equity (ICIEG), Rosana Almeida. This network, set up in 2016, aims to promote universal respect for human rights and freedoms, highlighting the protection of the fundamental rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex people.

Two factors preceded this: One of them was Cabo Verde's accession in 2015 to the United Nations "Free and Equal" campaign, being the first African country to join in. The second critical point was when – in 2016 – Cabo Verde was pointed out by the Afrobarometer study as the most tolerant country in Africa regarding LGBTI issues. Getting there would has not been a direct and exclusive result of the campaign, but a process. A process where Praia becomes the main pole of LGBTI activism. The two first LGBT rights associations in the country - the Cape Verdean Gay Association and Arcoiris Association - have in recent years changed their headquarters from Mindelo to the capital. And in the meantime a new one emerged: the LGBTI - Praia Association, made up mainly of young lesbians.

All these steps taken jointly by international organizations, local public institutions and civil society, raise Cabo Verde up the ladder towards freedom and equality.

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