On 31st July 2025, the Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN) joined stakeholders at a national multi-stakeholder meeting on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR). The session convened by the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI), sought to enhance capacities for different stakeholders including various civil society organizations, duty bearers, media representatives, inter-faith leaders and right holders to engage in ASRHR advocacy and protection.
In her opening remarks, Githunguri MP, Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba referencing her motion seeking for the Establishment of a National Policy to Combat Disrespectful Childbirth Practices in Kenya, highlighted the deliberate delay in tabling bills and motions that are not of interest to the political class in Parliament as a challenge. This is in spite of Kenya having signed on to and ratified the Maputo Protocol and the Abuja Declaration. She urged CSOs to participate in Kenya’s submissions to various international reporting mechanisms. Raising concerns about ongoing bottlenecks in relation to the Social Health Insurance Fund and the Social Health Authority, she further urged CSOs to push the political class to stop the ongoing politicization and commercialization of health service delivery.
The multisectoral and inclusive panel discussions and plenary sessions centered on ASRHR challenges such as obstetric violence, triple threat[1] (the overlapping challenge of new HIV infections, adolescent pregnancies, and sexual and gender-based violence among young people) and its intersectionality with mental health, African human rights systems as avenues for CSOs to seek protection and accountability before the ACHPR[2], ACERWC[3], the Universal Periodic Review and the role of the Ministry of Health and legislators in the realization of ASRHR. During the plenary, KELIN’s Program Officer, Ms. Elsie Milimu further called on CSOs to engage in ongoing African Union reforms to ensure the process not only preserves but also enhances the protections offered by the African human rights system.
NANHRI’s SRH Lead, Mr. Robert Athewa acknowledged the ongoing interventions on obstetric violence by KELIN and the Center for Reproductive Rights. He called upon other CSOs to support NANHRI in developing 2 advisory opinions, on zero rating menstrual products and criminalization of OV or recognition of OV as a form of GBV respectively.
KELIN is committed to implementing joint and concerted approaches towards the promotion and protection of adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights. Since 2014, KELIN has been at the forefront of litigating cases aimed at protecting women from obstetric violence, including cases where petitioners underwent forced and coerced sterilization in L.A.W & Another vs Marura Maternity and Nursing Home & Others Petition 606 of 2014 and Petition 605 of 2014, SWK & Others vs MSF France & Others. In these landmark cases, the court found that the forceful sterilization of women living with HIV was a violation of their human rights, affirming that every woman has a right to choose when and how many children they could have. KELIN is also currently engaged in an online campaign dubbed #EndObstetricViolenceKE which is raising awareness, amplifying survivors’ voices, and calling for respectful, rights-based maternity care. We call upon the public to join the campaign and access related information on our social media platforms.
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, Elsie Milimu,
Program Officer- SRHR, Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV/AIDS(KELIN),
Email: elsiemilimu@kelinkenya.org
[1] https://nsdcc.go.ke/ending-new-hiv-infections-adolescent-pregnancies-and-sexual-and-gender-based-violence-the-triple-threat/#:~:text=Previous%20Next-,Ending%20New%20HIV%20Infections%2C%20Adolescent%20Pregnancies%2C%20and%20Sexual%20and%20Gender,to%20achieve%20the%20desired%20results.
[2] African Commission on Human and Poeples Rights
[3] African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of Children
