CILIP statement in response to the announcement of Dubai as the venue for IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2024

CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, is deeply concerned about the decision to hold the IFLA World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) 2024 in Dubai and the impact of this decision on our professional community, particularly our LGBTQ+ colleagues.

Diversity, inclusion, and representation are the beating heart of our professional ethics, as is our professional duty to promote universal human rights. We stand in solidarity with the thousands of librarians around the world who are defending these principles in the face of oppression.

We recognise and celebrate the diversity of national communities that make up our global profession. We also recognise that professionals working within repressive regimes are often seeking to drive improvement for their citizens. However, we do not believe that the values of any individual regime or organisation should be allowed to undermine our collective professional ethics nor our commitment to upholding the rights of LGBTQ+ people, to celebrating their contribution to our community and to ensuring their safety.

While we fully appreciate the need to broaden the range of venues for WLIC and to reach communities outside the Global north, we feel this should be done in a way which reflects our professional ethics and values.

Any approach that accepts limitations on the representation of one community in order to improve opportunities for another does not reflect these collective values. We must lift up all groups, rather than suggesting that their interests are in competition.

We will raise these concerns in the strongest possible terms with the IFLA Governing Board. We ask them to explain their decision and what they are proposing to do to ensure that no member of our profession feels unsafe, unwelcome, or excluded from their international congress.

We believe that it is essential for IFLA to uphold its own values to ensure that WLIC is a safe and inclusive space for all members of our profession. We will continue to work with IFLA to ensure that this is the case.

Looking ahead, we would suggest that in future there should be open discussion about the way that venues are selected for WLIC and ideally a consultation on the criteria used.

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP)

23rd June 2023