Advocacy for Policy change
Challenging provisions which are restrictive in the penal code on accessing safe abortion towards the realization of women’s rights.
-Decriminalization of sex workers.
-Drafting position papers and submit to relevant authorities like Parliament, Law Reform Commission, etc.
With the support of Norwegian People’s Aid:
PPIMA Project
Under PPIMA project, GLIHD started advocating for the revision of the 2012 Penal Code. GLIHD wrote position papers to the parliament and held one-on-one meetings with influential parliamentarians and members of the Law Reform Commission to lobby for the removal of the burdensome requirement in the penal code which required a pregnant woman/girl to secure a court order before seeking for abortion services. GLIHD considered this violating the right to health under the Constitution and the African Women’s Protocol-Popularly known as the Maputo protocol. Through all combined efforts, the penal code was revised and in 2018 a new penal code was enacted without the court order requirement. This was one of the big milestones achieved, however, there are other successful policy change like the FBOs law, CSOs law and the INGO law. Public Interest Litigation and locus standi for NGOs before the Supreme Court was another achievement. (Visit: www.glihdrw.org )
In the first quarter of 2020, the following are some of the milestones realized:
- Celebration of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) and Maputo Plan of Action (MPA);
- Developing a shadow report on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR);
- Developing a mapping report on human rights situation in Rwanda during COVID-19 pandemic;
- Prepared court submission on insurance regime in Rwanda as a Public Interest Litigation case.
- The celebration of the Maputo Protocol targeted the gender machineries and the wide population through talk shows and messages broadcast of the articles making up the protocol to raise awareness on women’s rights in different areas of life.
- The Shadow report on ICESCR highlights a number of rights from different thematic areas like right to an adequate standards of living which includes the right to food and housing, right to health, right to education, right to work and just or favorable working conditions, right to trade unions and take collective labor action, the right to security of persons, right to participate in cultural life and the right to benefits of science and culture.
- The Mapping report targeted rights that are more vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic including access to justice, education (e-learning), health and food support especially for the vulnerable population.
PPIMA in 2021
GLIHD continues to advocate for policy change through public interest litigation, human rights monitoring and reporting, human rights education and building human rights alliances. In 2021, among the activities GLIHD is intending to achieve include developing a shadow report on CEDAW, conducting a human rights and justice scorecard, litigating a PIL case on environmental issues, conduct human rights education and awareness, advocacy on law change including HRDs law, refugee and asylum seekers law and policies and women migrant workers. GLIHD will carry out training sessions on ADR policy and develop a human rights report on Rwanda in collaboration with the alliance, to mention but a few.
PPIMA supports civil society actors in their efforts to strengthen their organizations, mobilise people to know and defend their rights, and to participate in and influence the development of their societies. The overall programme goal is that Rwandan citizens live in a democratic society with equitable social justice;
Active citizens don’t want the government to provide standard solutions for everything. They prefer a tailor-made approach and authorities that think along with them. So citizens and government are devising new ways of relating to each other and working together – in what is often called a ‘do-ocracy’. Many governments are keen to promote and support this form of democratic collaboration.
GLIHD has learnt that citizen participation in advocacy fosters ownership and ensures that their voices are easily heard by duty bearers. Through government’s formal forums for citizens and Civil Society engagement on issues and priorities, GLIHD sees the potential for continued advocacy both at the district and national levels. Since 2018, Rwandan courts have embraced Public Interest Litigation (PIL) as a new component in the judiciary. This has allowed more lawyers to file unconstitutionality petitions (petitions challenging laws or policies that do not conform with the constitution -they are normally filed with the Supreme Court). GLIHD considers this an opportunity to continue collecting evidences collecting evidences to influence laws, policies and practices in advancing sustainable justice through public interest litigation.
Expected outcomes
The project is expected to contribute to policy change through advocacy and empowering citizens to participate and engage with policy makers on issues that affect their rights. The project will enable and raise their voices through public spaces and fora. Courts will take decision on PIL cases which will serve as catalyst for law/policy change and evidence for policy dialogue. Court advocacy impacts a big number of the population and sometimes the whole population. The score card will document issues of rights violations in all aspects of life in terms of access to justice and human rights of which the relevant institutions will handle to ensure increase in the enjoyment of rights.
Since 2018 the Consortium of Great Lakes Initiative for Human Rights and Development (GLIHD)[member], Health Development Initiative (HDI)[Lead Organization], Rwanda NGOs Forum on HIV/AIDS and Health Promotion (RNGOF)[member) and Ihorere Munyarwanda Organisation (IMRO)[member] started to implement a three (3) years (2018-2021) Project with the objective of “strengthening Rwandan Civil Society Organization’s capacity to influence policy”. It is known as “Dutch Project”.
Rationale of the Project:
The project exists due to the availability of the following problems:
- The presence of mistrust of CSOs from the government,
- Ineffective engagement among CSOs and insufficient participation of CSOs with government,
- Lack of CSO identification as duty-bearers and poor understanding distinguishing between advocacy and service delivery roles ;
- Low capacity among CSOs and legal professionals to conduct advocacy and policy-influencing and
- Scarce research, data, and innovation on CSO advocacy in effecting policy change.
Outcomes:
At the end of the three (3) years [2021), the following outcomes will be realized:
- Marketed role of CSOs to state actors and bolstered CSOs’ relationships and participatory engagement with government;
- Strengthened CSO cross-collaboration to meaningfully engage in policy processes;
- Increased CSOs’ capacity to conduct effective advocacy;
- Leveraged the courts as a tool for advocacy and
- Built the evidence-base and increase innovation around CSO impact.
Targeted groups:
The team envisions four target groups:
- CSOs in the justice sector;
- CSOs contributing to justice sector but not active in justice sector;
- Government officials; and
- Legal professionals, such as lawyers and judges.
