Between 14th and 16th October 2024, KELIN participated in the Forum on the Participation of NGOs preceding the 81st Ordinary Session of the African Commission on People & Human Rights in Banjul, The Gambia.
Alongside our partners from the Bridging the Gap Coalition, ISLA and the Dullah Omar Institute(DOI), we convened a side event at the NGO Forum titled, A Round Table on Obstetric Violence: Leveraging Regional Mechanisms for Litigation and Strategic Advocacy .This was a timely conversation as we took this opportunity to advance advocacy on our work on obstetric violence and discuss gains we have made since last year and ways to overcome emerging challenges. Participants discussed the recent decision by the African Commission in Community Law Centre and Others (on behalf on the Five Victims) v Federal Republic of Nigeria that has retrogressive effects in upholding the states obligation to act with due diligence to prevent violence experienced by women during child birth.
Prof. Maria Assim from DOI, took the participants through the decision and why it is retrogressive in nature. Further Sibongile Ndashe, the Executive Director of ISLA also led the participants through the workings of the African Commission. Ngina Muyanga, SRHR Program Manager at KELIN, further led the participants in an ideation session on practical and creative steps CSOs could take to push back on the retrogressive jurisprudence coming out of the Commission. The greatest take way from the session was CSOs committing to use existing platforms to conduct advocacy initiatives on both Obstetric Violence and call for change at the Commission.
KELIN also participated in a convening by Human Rights Watch, the African Population and Health Research Centre and the Centre for Reproductive Rights on the 15-16 October 2024. The meeting explored avenues for joint advocacy to advance legal standards on obstetric violence. During the session, Nyokabi Njogu, Legal Counsel at KELIN discussed some wins and misses from the work done on forced and coerced sterilization of women living with HIV, and also outlined some next steps on advocacy that is currently ongoing. At the conclusion of the convening, the participants agreed on next steps to be taken towards research, documentation and advocacy to amplify the causes and harms of obstetric violence as well as towards regional legal interventions to hold states accountable.
KELIN is excited to have been a part of these convenings and looks forward to advancing legal advocacy on obstetric violence with like-minded partners towards ensuring that women’s sexual and reproductive health is respected and protected.
To contribute to the discussions on this forum, follow KELIN on our website and social media platforms
Website: www.kelinkenya.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kelinkenya
Twitter(X): @KELINKenya.
For more information please contact,
Ngina Muyanga, Program Manager, SRHR,
Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV/AIDS (KELIN), Email: nginamuyanga@kelinkenya.org
