From the 17th to the 22nd of October, 2022, GWHREI was at the 73rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, as a delegate of Pan Africa ILGA.
Lessons we took from advocacy at the regional level includes:
• There is a need for more local knowledge and capacitation on engaging with the Human Rights Mechanism at the AU, as this will provide more support for activists when they get into these spaces, enabling more actionable results.
• Holding our state leaders accountable is a collective work that should connect grassroots, national and regional efforts.
• Cross-movement and Cross-issue advocacy is important for policy influencers in Africa, as a lot of the social injustice we are working to end intersect with each other. We need collective efforts to achieve more.
• Resourcing women’s rights organizations for advocacy at all levels has become an urgent priority funders need to pay attention to, as this can shift power dynamics and ensure more inclusive voices in the room.
