Championing human rights in Kenya
In Kenya, reliance on so-called ‘kangaroo courts’ often leaves survivors of human rights violations unable to get justice. This year Islamic Relief continued to support human rights defenders in Wajir County, Kenya, who are working to change that. Facilitating a human rights group which lobbied for the stalled Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Bill, we helped get this vital legislation passed in January 2021. This led to establishing a Board that manages funds to support victims of sexual and gender-based violence, and to develop recovery centres for survivors.
In collaboration with local government, we trained 20 child protection volunteers to help improve child protection services. Supporting communities to speak out against gender-based violence and child protection issues has seen more than 200 cases reported to the relevant authorities, which has helped reduce the number of early marriages.
“As activists, we will not allow the rights of the young girls, women and children to be violated,” says Sofia, a human rights defender. “We are grateful for the training received from Islamic Relief. I believe we have the right skills and knowledge to tackle the issues of gender-based violence and child protection in Wajir County. This month, we have reported five cases of rape and early marriage.”
In 2021 Islamic Relief also strengthened the capacity of community rights committees to handle and refer human rights cases, and trained women’s groups to help members build reliable livelihoods.
“We need to fight to be heard”
“We need to fight for our voices to be heard in peacebuilding processes. Youth and women can also contribute towards solving problems in our community,” says Noraisa, an activist who is determined to ensure that women and young people are not excluded from peace support and negotiation processes in the Philippines. She is part of a community-based women’s group formed by Islamic Relief to engage women in developing pathways to peace within their communities. Actively involving young people and women in building social cohesion and in promoting the peaceful resolution of disputes and conflicts was an important component of our Sida-funded triple nexus programme, which concluded this year. “I wasn’t allowed to participate before, but now I have become one of the organisers in encouraging and mobilising women, youth and religious leaders towards peace.”
