Our participation in the 87th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)


The Network was represented at the 87th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights by two delegates. In this statement, we acknowledge the support we have received from partners to be present in a regional advocacy space. 

 As women with disabilities, we wish to acknowledge the important role played by persons with disabilities and their representative organizations at the grassroots, national, regional, and global levels in amplifying the voices of women with disabilities and ensuring our visibility and recognition. 

Although women with disabilities have increasingly occupied development spaces, they are still far from realizing their full potential and fully enjoying their fundamental rights as provided for in various legal instruments.

To draw attention to these issues during the 87th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Kenya Network of Women and Girls with Disabilities and Women Challenged to Challenge submitted an alternative report to the Commission. The report highlighted five key issues while also recognizing the efforts made by the Government of Kenya in putting in place policies, laws, and programmes aimed at promoting gender equality. These legal frameworks guarantee the right to quality sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), education, access to justice, economic empowerment, decent work, participation, and representation for all. While women in general have access to these opportunities, significant gaps remain for women with disabilities, including the low implementation of existing laws and policies.

We recognize the efforts and advocacy work undertaken by Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) in achieving the milestones and progress attained by women with disabilities so far. At the national level, United Disabled Persons of Kenya has done tremendous work to ensure that policies and laws are inclusive of all persons with disabilities, especially women and girls with disabilities. At the regional level, the African Disability Forum and Disabled Women in Africa have provided technical support to the Kenya Network of Women and Girls with Disabilities and Women Challenged to Challenge, both national women-led OPDs, in developing the alternative report and ensuring the meaningful and full participation of women with disabilities during the 87th Session.

Additionally, the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and Africa Disability Forum (ADF) have continuously provided both technical and financial support to facilitate the participation of women with disabilities not only from Kenya but also from other African countries. Through bilateral meetings, Kenyan delegates, including women with disabilities, had an opportunity to engage with two Commissioners and highlight five key issues ahead of the country review process. This was made possible through facilitation by the African Disability Forum following the Observer Status that was granted last year, 2025. 


The bilateral meetings happened between the OPD representatives and the Chairperson of the Working Group on Rights of Older Persons and People with Disabilities, Hon Comm Abomo and also with Hon. Comm Solomon Dersso - Kenya's Country Rapporteur, both facilitated through ADF. The outcome of the bilateral meetings as well as the alternative report were questions that were posed to the Kenya government delegation during the constructive dialogue.

The Kenya Country Rapporteur, Hon Commissioner Dersso inquired on measures taken ahead of the 2027 elections to ensure inclusive elections and ensure persons with disabilities participate. He also asked about the decline of representation of persons with disabilities in county assemblies. Other questions were on the use of derogatory terms such as “unsound mind” and perpetuation of discrimination against persons with psychosocial disabilities and those with intellectual disabilities.

Commr. Dersso also asked about access to inclusive education by persons with disabilities and how learners with disabilities are being supported; the adoption of regulations to facilitate implementation of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025 as well as on access to health including sexual and reproductive health.

The Chairperson of the Working Group on Rights of Older Persons and People with Disabilities in Africa, Hon. Commissioner Abomo posed different questions to the Kenya government team. They included on measures the state party is taking to implement the ADP; measures to ensure the regulations to implement the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2025 are in place; women with disabilities' access to reproductive health, gender-based violence and access to justice by women with disabilities; implementation of the mental health law, Act 2022; disaggregated data on persons with disabilities; on measures taken on the use of negative terms such as unsound mind including in the Constitution; steps taken to reduce costs on assistive devices and access to support services; whether there are any national action plans to protect persons with albinism, measures on accessibility including transport; measures  to ensure meaningful participation of persons with disabilities as well as measures to shift from the charity model of disability to human rights-based models. 

The Special Rapporteur on Rights of Women in Africa, Hon. Janet Ramatoulie Sallah-Njie asked about measures taken to implement the Persons with Disabilities, Act 2025 especially access to sexual and reproductive health and rights as well as how the state is ensuring that women with disabilities are not discriminated against in the absence of a law operationalizing Article 100.

Existence of barriers

As women with disabilities, we acknowledge that barriers to participation still occur. One of the delegates experienced significant accessibility challenges while travelling to The Gambia. These challenges included a mechanical problem with the national airline during landing in Côte d’Ivoire; the refusal by the airline in Côte d’Ivoire to handle her wheelchair, being asked to pay for an ambulift service, and prolonged flight delays. There is, therefore, a great need for OPDs in Africa to intensify advocacy efforts to ensure that women with disabilities can effectively engage and participate in decision-making forums without facing such barriers.

We also acknowledge IDA who supported the meaningful participation of our delegate, a Deaf Youth leader to access services of a sign language interpreter. 

On behalf of the two delegates, we thank ADF, IDA and ICJ-Africa for making it possible to have a big delegation to the 87th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)as well as the engagement before and during Kenya's review by the Commission.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It is Ableism: Naming the Harm, Demanding Change

Image
There is a disturbing video of a Kenyan MP asking a person with a disability (someone of short stature) to run across a podium, to make a point as to why people with a disability cannot be employed in the police force. The MP asks the disabled man to make a ‘salute gesture’ and goes ahead to laugh at the whole scenario, while saying that ‘people should stop joking about hiring disabled people in the police force.’ At the Podium where everyone laughs at the deeply concerning scene of blatant ableism, sits the Cabinet Secretary in charge of the security docket. There is also another man with a disability on the podium. This has drawn widespread and sharp criticism, as it should. As women with disabilities, we are also adding our voices to condemn it.  Ableism as violence At the onset, we are naming this type of violence. It is called ableism. Ableism is a form of discrimination against people with disabilities rooted in the belief that nondisabled people or typical abilities—such as ...
Read more

My JOURNEY:WOMEN WITH DISABILITY IN LEADERSHIP

Image
As the Kenya Network of Women and Girls with Disabilities continues to amplify the experiences of women and girls with disabilities within leadership and governance spaces, through support from the  Ford Foundation ,the Network has embarked on a campaign that seeks to showcase the experiences of 40 women and girls with disabilities from across four counties namely Kakamega, Kisumu, Nairobi, and Mombasa in Kenya. The leadership journey is not without its struggles.It can get more difficult for women and girls with disabilities who often have to navigate different barriers within their environments. Leadership experiences are not limited to certain spaces.Our women with disabilities are therefore in leadership and different spaces.They are in political leadership;they are village ward administrators, they are activists and champion the rights of women and girls with disabilities in different spaces. What common characteristics do they have? They are women with disabilities who are bo...
Read more

Processing our Pains, our Traumas... Collectively

Image
We live in a world that does not recognize pain," said Melissa Wainaina in a recent session with us. "To survive, we've been pushed to mask what we feel to fit in." These poignant words set a stage for us, as women with diverse disabilities in our Network, to start a reflection process. To not only think about the pains we go through at individual levels but also begin to think not just about pain and trauma but broadly about how they intersect with our collective advocacy...and what we would do about it. Unwelcoming Ableist Spaces as a Source of Trauma Experiences of trauma are not alien to many of us. Some experiences of growing up with disabilities in ableist societies include abandonment, exclusion and segregation, invisibility, esteem issues, fear, and uncertainty about acceptance, among many others. It goes without saying that many of these experiences are traumatic, yet often, we push them to the periphery. We don't talk about them. We immerse...
Read more