Grassroots human rights defenders

WHRD Speaker tour in Switzerland, France and Spanish State

Between 9 and 22 October 2022, Jecinter Agunja (Women HRD and Toolkit Organiser fro

‘Saba Saba - then and now’ documents the perspective of activists who participated in the struggles in the 1990s: their aspirations, their cause and the hurdles they encountered. How did they overcome those hurdles and at what risks did this come?

Then the film zooms in on the organizing going on today. What are the struggles, what is the response of the governments and how are human rights defenders supported? There are lessons learned from then and now.

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is an adage that we all know and it is one example of

‘HRDs in action’ is a photobook that portrays the grassroots human rights defenders of the social justice centres in action.

Making Space for Dialogue – Women Rights Defenders in Nairobi, Kenya is a conversation with Catherine Wangui, WHRD Toolkit Organizer and Florence Mwikali from Peace Brigades International - Kenya Project.

We discussed solidarity, networking and the Mulika Wabakaji campaign. We also talked about feminism, what a gender-equal society looks like and how men can support women’s rights.

PBI Kenya, together with other PBI entities and the members of the Social Justice Centres Working Group held a virtual speaker tour between 20th November to 10th Dec 2021. The speaker tour addressed the following issues with the UN officials, foreign governments, international NGOs, and fellow HRDs from other countries: violations of freedom of peaceful assembly, extrajudicial killings, the 2022 general elections and the safety of HRDs.

With support from ProtectDefenders.eu, the Mulika Wabakaji Campaign Consortium launched the Mulika Wabakaji campaign. “Mulika Wabakaji” can be translated to ‘expose perpetrators of rape and defilement’. The campaign addresses the low conviction rate of perpetrators of rape and defilement and was initiated by the WHRD Toolkit Organisers.

Now, the Mulika Wabakaji Campaign Consortium consists of 25 like-minded partners who work in synergy. The campaign was launched on 8th December and is expected to run for a period of 3 years.

At PBI, the safety and wellbeing of human rights defenders are paramount. PBI Kenya embraces the concept of holistic ‘human security’ that entails freedom from fear, freedom from want, and freedom to live in dignity. This security goes beyond physical to include economic, health, environmental, personal, and community elements of life.

In September, we published a simplified handbook on the Sexual Offences Act, 2006. This handbook,

40 years ago, in 1981, a group of international activists came together to create a movement for peace, solidarity and non-violent action. While our core mission remains the same, we have adapted our tactics to ensure defenders are protected despite the rapidly changing global context and ever-evolving risks and threats they face. 40 years on, PBI remains convinced of the vital role HRDs play in strengthening democracy, upholding the rule of law, and protecting our shared environment. Together, through their protection, we can create a more peaceful and just world.