Episodes
Friday Apr 21, 2023
Friday Apr 21, 2023
In conversation with Lizzy Muthoni Kibira and Chanel van der Linde
On 24 February 2023, the Kenyan Supreme Court ruled that the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) must be allowed to officially register as a non-governmental organisation (NGO). The Supreme court held that it would be unconstitutional to limit the right to associate through denial of registration. This ruling ends a decade-long legal case. In this episode, Africa Rights Talk in conversation with Lizzy Muthoni Kibira and Chanel van der Linde discuss this triumph for justice and human rights in Kenya and the future of LGBTI Rights in Africa.
Lizzy Muthoni Kibira is a Kenyan lawyer and researcher based in Nakuru, Kenya. She previously worked with Strathmore University School of Law and Kabarak University School of Law. Ms. Kibira holds an LLB from Strathmore University, Kenya. Her academic interests include public life of law, history and politics; and the function of international organisations. She published an article in the Strathmore Law Journal, titled, A Representative of the People, A review of Dominic Burbidge’s An Experiment in Devolution: National Unity and the Deconstruction of the Kenyan State. Her current project focuses on the public life of the commonwealth organisation. Link to her publication: https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/strathlj5&div=12&id=&page=
Chanel van der Linde is a project officer at the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sexual Characteristic (SOGIESC) Unit, at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. She holds an LLB from the University of Witwatersrand and an LLM in Multidisciplinary Human Rights from the University of Pretoria.
This conversation was recorded on 16 and 17 March 2023.
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Sunday Apr 16, 2023
S4 E6:The Nigerian 2023 Elections, a human rights lens
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
In conversation with Professor Christopher Isike, Janet Gbam and Foluso Adegalu
On February 25 2023, the Nigerian presidential elections were held. Nigerian voters came out in their numbers to cast their ballots to select the next president after outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari stepped down. This was against a political background of mounting unhappiness and widespread unrest, insecurity and economic hardship, such as the inability to access cash, high inflation, deadly attacks by gunmen against civilians. While the elections were initially marked by a high voter turnout and mainly peaceful voting, they were marred reports of vote buying, voter intimidation, attacks on polling units in certain areas, and unpunctual electoral officials along with accusations of outright fraud to compound issues with trust in the election. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also failed to upload polling unit results to the INEC result viewing portal as previously assured would happen on election day. It is light of these circumstances, along with statements critical of INEC from observers and civil society groups that have inspired this conversation. This episode analyses the developments of these elections from a human rights lens.
Professionally, Ms Janet Uosu Gbam is an international human rights lawyer and Doctoral Candidate from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. Over the last ten years, she has successfully worked with teams to promote and protect human rights by initiating, managing, and executing humanitarian, and human rights programs touching on racial, ethnic, gender, and socio-economic issues for notable human rights organisations. She also has experience working with international NGOs in West Africa, Southern Africa and the United States.
We spoke to Foluso Adegalu, a Doctoral Researcher and Programme Manager for the Litigation and Implementation Unit at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. His research interest in international human rights law focuses on improving the efficacy of international human rights standards and monitoring mechanisms. Foluso’s human rights practice includes the strategic use of the law particularly through judicial and quasi-judicial institutions to enforce human rights, prevent human rights violations, and seek redress for victims of human rights violations. He is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria with over ten years of experience in legal practice.
Christopher Isike, PhD, is a Professor of African Politics and International Relations in the Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria and Director of the African Centre for the Study of the United States, University of Pretoria (ACSUS-UP), South Africa. He is also the current President of the African Association of Political Science (AAPS), and member of the Board of Directors of Global Development Network (GDN). Professor Isike conducts research from an Africanist lens, and teaches international relations theory, strategic and security studies, and security theory at the University of Pretoria. His research interests include African soft power politics, women, peace and conflict studies, women and political representation in Africa, rethinking state formation in Africa, politics in a digital era and African immigration to South Africa. A C2 rated researcher by the National Research Foundation, Professor Isike has over 70 publications in top national and international peer-reviewed journals including chapters in books published by reputable publishing houses globally. He is Editor-in-Chief of Africa’s foremost political science journal, Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies (2020 to 2024), and has been Editor of Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation since 2017. He also serves on the editorial board of several reputable international journals, such as International Political Science Abstracts, Canadian Journal of African Studies, African Journal of Political Science and Strategic Review for Southern Africa. Professor Isike consults for United Nations Population Fund (UNPF), United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government on gender equality and women empowerment issues in South Africa. He is a Social Cohesion Advocate of South Africa appointed by the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture (2020 – 2024).
Please note that, while great care and thorough efforts to provide accurate information through research and in the recording of this episode have been taken, Africa Rights Talk acknowledges that the developments of the 2023 Nigerian elections are still ongoing. We will be monitoring the situation, and produce another episode in light of the new developments that may arise.
This conversation was recorded between 3 March and 7 March 2023
Research by Victoria Amaechi (she/they)
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Thursday Feb 23, 2023
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
In conversation with Dr Melakou, Xanne Bekaert, Jean-Mary Tjiohimba and Martin Simotwo
The Centre for Human Rights is embarking on a campaign #GreenJusticeAfrica, to address the impact of climate change on the protection and fulfilment of human rights in Africa. This episode focuses on the impact of climate change on Indigenous People and it was recorded in light of the Advanced Human Rights Course on Indigenous Peoples' Rights.
The episode takes a twist, unique from the other episodes, as it narrates the experiences of representatives from the Ogiek and Khoisan communities, Martin Simotwo and Jean Mary Tjiohimba respectively. Martin Simotwo is member of the Board of Directors of Chepkitale, a non-governmental organisation whose aim is to ensure the realisation of Chepkita people's rights. Jean Mary Tjiohimba is the founder and Managing Director of the San Vision Foundation, an organisation whose aim is to provide education for the Khoisan Indigenous community. Dr. Melakou Tegegn, Member of The Working Group on Indigenous Populations goes on to give a scholarly analysis of the impact of climate change on indigenous groups in Africa, while Xanne Bakaert, a passionate and entrepreneurial student of law, narrates the importance of respecting the environment through a human rights lens. She emphasises the importance of the human rights perspective as it is important in order to draw attention to the protection of the rights of the indigenous peoples, who are particularly vulnerable to environmental degradation because of their dependence on the environment.
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This conversation was recorded on 11 November 2022
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Saturday Aug 27, 2022
Saturday Aug 27, 2022
In conversation with Farouk Adedoyin and Reda Benkhadra
Every year, students at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria on the LLM/MPhil programme in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HRDA) are assigned to human rights clinics which contribute to the work of the Centre’s research units and give the students practical experience and advance the Centre’s mission towards the realisation of human rights in Africa. In the year 2022, the HRDA students embarked on a #RatifyADRP campaign, urging African Union member states to ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa (Africa Disability Protocol).
The African Union Assembly adopted the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa (Africa Disability Protocol) on 28 January 2018. The African Disability Protocol is the culmination of the African Union’s efforts to create a framework to safeguard the human rights of persons with disabilities on the continent. However, the Protocol has not yet attained the 15 ratifications required for it to come into force. To date, the Protocol has been signed but not ratified by Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Mali, Rwanda, South Africa and Togo.
This episode calls on all Africans, especially stakeholders to advocate, campaign and ensure that the Protocol is ratified by all the 55 members of the African Union.
#RatifyAfricanDisabilityRightsProtocol
#RatifyADRP
This conversation was recorded on 5 July 2022
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Tuesday Aug 23, 2022
Tuesday Aug 23, 2022
In conversation with Dr Yolanda Munoz
"You cannot talk of climate change when inclusion is an afterthought".
The Centre for Human Rights is embarking on a campaign, #GreenJusticeAfrica to address the impact of climate change on the protection and fulfilment of human rights in Africa. Climate change is now one of the biggest threats to human rights globally. In this episode, Dr Yolanda Munoz, an academic and advocate for the rights of people with disabilities and a full-time wheelchair user, discusses the impact of climate change on the rights of persons with disabilities.
There is no climate justice without disability justice. Climate change is currently the central political and moral issue around the globe. It affects everyone, but not equally. For persons with disabilities, the threat is compounded by discrimination, marginalisation, and other pre-existing inequalities. From the 1990s, disability rights started to receive more attention in the African Commission. Though the African continent has made significant strides to include persons with disabilities in the society, the same cannot be said of climate justice. The even adaptation and mitigation practices, which seek to combat the effects of climate change may do harm to disability communities in Africa. In order to reduce such harms in the present and avoid them in the future, Africa must employ ethical frameworks that bring disability justice to the forefront of climate justice. Disability justice should be an integral part of conversations in climate change.
Professionally, Dr Yolanda Munoz has explored the social arrangements behind the unquestioned exclusion of people with disabilities. She has also served as a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank, as Program Officer with the Disability Rights Fund, as an external consultant for Global Greengrants Fund and has collaborated with the Disability-Inclusive Climate Action Research Program, with the Faculty of Law at McGill University. In the academic field, she completed a Masters and a PhD in Japanese Studies, with speciality in the Ainu women of Northern Japan. Her knowledge on feminist theory and practice has been the motivation to design and teach the course “Gender and Disability,” offered since 2006 at the McGill Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies.
This conversation was recorded on 5 July 2022.
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Friday Aug 12, 2022
S4 E2: The Evolution and enforcement of anti-gay laws in Nigeria
Friday Aug 12, 2022
Friday Aug 12, 2022
In Conversation with Dr Ayodele Sogunro
In this episode, Dr Ayodele Sogunro who has completed his doctoral studies at the Centre for Human Rights, walks us through the academic journey of attaining his PhD with the Centre for Human Rights. His PhD thesis is titled ‘Advocacy, Social Control and the criminalisation of same-sex relationships: The Evolution and enforcement of ‘anti-gay laws in Nigeria’. His research focuses on a critical legal studies perspective of LGBTIQ+ issues in Nigeria, around political homophobia, socio-economic issues, and the need by advocates to understand wider state dynamics of homophobia and transphobia in systems of power.
Dr Ayodele Sogunro is a Nigerian writer, lawyer and the Manager of the SOGIESC Unit at the Centre for Human Rights in the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria. He is a legal and policy analyst with over ten years of field and courtroom experience in human rights law and advocacy in the African human rights system. Before joining the Centre, he was the Senior Legal Advisor with the Initiative for Equal Rights, a LGBT+ NGO in West Africa. His books include the short stories The Wonderful Life of Senator Boniface and other Sorry Tales and the collection of essays Everything in Nigeria is Going to Kill You. His literary essay, ‘One more nation bound in freedom: Themes from the Nigerian “anti-gay” law’ was shortlisted for the 2016 Gerald Kraak Award for African Writing. He has written an article ‘Why #EndSARS won’t quit’ in relation to the protests.
Visit Dr Ayodele Sogunro’s blog: www.ayosogunro.com
This conversation was recorded on 20 June 2022
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Thursday Apr 07, 2022
Thursday Apr 07, 2022
In conversation with Dr Rosella de Falco and Ms Ashina Mtsumi
Everyone has the right to health which relates to both the right of individuals to obtain a certain standard of health and health care, and the State obligation to ensure a certain standard of public health with the community generally. This episode was published in light of the World Health Day. World Health Day is a global health awareness day celebrated every year on 7 April, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organisation (WHO), as well as other related organisations.
In today’s episode Dr Rosella De Falco and Ms Ashina Mtsumi from The Global Initiative For Economic, Social And Cultural Rights(GI-ESCR) explore the issue of reversing commercialisation of public services and advocating for quality public services for all with a particular focus on the right to health. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed a number of flaws that existed in most public systems around the world. The Global Initiative For Economic, Social And Cultural Rights launched a report titled, ‘The failure of commercialised healthcare in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic’.
Dr Rossella De Falco works as a Program Officer on the Right to Health at the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR). She graduated cum laude with a Ph.D. in Human Rights from the University of Padova, Italy. She holds an LLM in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights from Essex University, an M.A. in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in International Cooperation and Development, Bologna University. She has authored several publications which can be found here. She previously collaborated with the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Ms Ashina Mtsumi is a human rights lawyer and Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. She is also an alumnus of the Master’s programme in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi and is passionate about social justice. She has worked in the human rights sector for over five years, carrying out research and advocacy on economic, social and cultural rights. In particular, her work focuses on the international human rights legal framework relating to the rights to land, housing, education, health and water, for marginalised communities.
This conversation was recorded on 1 April 2022
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Monday Feb 07, 2022
S3 E12: #Tech4Rights: Violence against women and girls online
Monday Feb 07, 2022
Monday Feb 07, 2022
In conversation with Ms Amanda Manyame
The annual campaign spearheaded by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria is #Tech4Rights: Rethinking a human rights-based approach to new technologies in Africa. The #Tech4Rights campaign focuses on the impact of new technologies on different aspects of human interaction and the impact of technology on human rights. This campaign has a series of activities that look into technology in various specific areas.
In light of the annual campaign of the Centre, this episode discusses online violence against women with Ms Amanda Manyame from Equality Now. Ms Amanda Manyame is Equality Now's Digital Law and Rights Consultant. Amanda works at the intersection of technology and law and provides legal and technical expertise around Equality Now's programme to end online sexual exploitation and abuse. She discusses the different forms of online violence against women and girls and why online violence against women and girls should be taken seriously. She proffers various recommendations on what individuals, governments and relevant stakeholders can do to stop online violence against women and girls.
Equality Now is an international human rights organisation with the mission to achieve legal and systemic change that addresses violence and discrimination against all women and girls around the world. Founded in 1992, Equality Now is a global organisation with partners and members in every region. Ending sexual violence, ending sex trafficking, ending harmful practices and achieving legal equality are the main areas of Equality Now’s work.
Equality Now has undertaken legal research aimed at understanding what laws currently exist, gaps and opportunities to address online sexual exploitation and abuse with a particular focus on adolescent girls and women. The upcoming report focuses on the laws that apply globally, in the EU as well as nationally, in India, the UK, USA, Kenya, and Nigeria.
This conversation was recorded on 25 August 2021.
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Tuesday Sep 14, 2021
Tuesday Sep 14, 2021
In conversation with Ms Thiruna Naidoo
The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria is pleased to announce the publication of the third paper in the African Human Rights Policy Papers series.
This episode reflects on the newly launched African Human Rights Policy Paper Conversion therapy: Current practices, emerging technology and the protection of LGBTQ+ rights in Africa. This policy paper has been prepared by the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) Unit at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria. ‘Conversion therapy’ is a broad term that refers to therapy techniques or other activities that attempt to change or alter sexual orientation, or reduce a person’s attraction to other persons of the same sex, and instil conventional gender roles.
In this conversation is Ms Thiruna Naidoo, Project Officer, SOGIESC Unit, and Communications and Advocacy Associate, Centre for Human Rights. She begins by giving an overview of the findings of the policy paper and goes on to explain the different forms of conversion therapy. Ms Naidoo explains how legal frameworks reconcile with evolving forms of digital technology in how they appear to conform to legal standards and yet remain harmful in their effects.
Ms Naidoo is a multidisciplinary artist, author and visual creative interested in the intersections of human rights law, advocacy and the arts. Specifically, she is keen on how these intersections relate to the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons and other vulnerable groups such as migrants and persons of the female gender. She is currently pursuing an LLM/MPhil in Multidisciplinary Human Rights at the Centre.
In her work surrounding LGBTIQ+ rights, she has contributed to 'A Guide for African National Human Rights Institutions for Implementing Resolution 275 in Africa’. She participated in the drafting and advocacy work to further the UP Trans Protocol which was recently adopted at her institution. She has also served as the co-project manager for the Queer Strategists for Change leadership program in 2017 hosted by the Centre for Sexualities, AIDS and Gender in Pretoria, South Africa.
Thiruna's recent work as an author has come in the form of a book of poetry and art, which was self-published in late 2018 entitled ‘Between the Body and the Soul’ available on Amazon. Her writing can also be found in Touch, an anthology curated by Tiffany Mugo and Kim Windvogel. Her most recent creative multidisciplinary offering can be found in the Retrospect: Queerantine virtual exhibition supported by the Prince Claus Fund.
This conversation was recorded on 29 July 2021.
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Tuesday Aug 24, 2021
Tuesday Aug 24, 2021
In conversation with Dr Eduardo Kapapelo
In this episode, Dr Eduardo Kapapelo who was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree (DPhil) from the Centre for Human Rights at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria discusses his doctoral thesis. In his thesis, Dr Kapapelo identifies how reforming the state and its institutions are vital not only for the prevention of violence, but for the establishment of democratic governance. His dissertation titled “The Role of State Institutions in Preventing Violent Conflict in Angola” explores the nature of Angola’s institutions and how they have created conditions under which individual rights and liberties are undermined. This thesis argues that overly- centralised states have a hand in contributing towards the emergence of conflict and that the design of the state, through its institutions, is paramount in safeguarding individual rights and in doing so, preventing the occurrence and or resurgence of violence. Furthermore, the thesis contends that while there are both global and regional mechanisms for the protection of human rights which promote values of peace, inclusiveness and democratic governance, states are still the main actors in international politics. As such it is their responsibility to structure institutions which would reflect such values based on their local contexts and realities.
Dr Eduardo Kapapelo is the Project Coordinator of the Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition. The Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition is presented by the Centre for Human Rights based at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, in partnership with the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Washington College of Law, American University and the United Nations Human Rights Council Branch (HRCB) at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). He has extensive academic and research qualifications as well as strong strategic and operational management skills, combined with a history of working in complex demanding and high pressure environments. He has a strong research background on the African and European human rights systems, laws and policies and is well versed in the analysis of international and comparative law, state building and governance in Africa, African and European security policy, foreign policy analysis, international political economy and participatory governance.
Dr Kapapelo has a proven track record of developing collaborations with various stakeholders from government to academia, multilateral institutions to civil society and political actors. He has a successful history of raising and managing funds for non-profit organisations from major donors, foundations, and members. He has published a number of media articles. He has published a media article, originally published on AfricLaw titled, “Democracy in times of COVID-19: a time for introspection?”. To contact Dr. Eduardo Kapapelo, you can email him on eduardo.kapapelo@up.ac.za
This conversation was recorded on 20 May 2021.
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