Advocacy & Lobbying
Libyan feminists were in uproar in June 2023 when the government decided to once again introduce a travel ban on women flying without a male chaperone, an action that severely curtails Libyan women’s freedom of movement. In a surprising act of coordination, the governments of both east and west Libya imposed travel restrictions on Libyan women, further inhibiting the possibility of circumventing such measures, the latest in a wider pattern of state-supported infringement of Libyan women’s rights. They draw attention to the importance of developing, and implementing, a National Action Plan identifying national and local needs to safeguard women’s freedoms across the country. The plan would also aim to reform the security sector to become human-centered, as opposed to state-centered, with a particular focus on women and girls.
A similar travel ban was first introduced in 2017, which Libyan human rights activists decried as a “gross violation of fundamental rights, in direct contravention of Libya’s interim constitutional declaration, and made without authorization, mandate, or jurisdiction.” In justification of their actions, the authorities claimed that Libyan women pose a threat to national security.
Six years later, Libyan women saw an alarming repeat of events. In early-May 2023, a travel questionnaire was given to women without a “male companion” at Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli. The questionnaire forced women to justify their reasons for traveling alone and specify their destination, in flagrant violation of the freedom of movement guaranteed by local and international legislation. Meanwhile, authorities in Benghazi went further: a citizen reported that a woman was prevented from traveling from Benina Airport despite obtaining travel permission to board the plane, under the pretext of the absence of a male companion. These actions further emphasize the importance of rapidly developing and implementing a National Action Plan to ensure women’s freedoms are protected, and advocate for policy change within the current security sector.
Read here the full article published by the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy on 15 May 2024.
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Africa Renewal: What best practices you would you like to share with other countries regarding your government’s work to empower women?
Dr. Mahoi: Everybody knows what we have been through in Sierra Leone—war, Ebola, landslides, flooding, and more. In all these, women suffered the most but we have picked ourselves up. Our focus now is ensuring that women's empowerment is at the centre of development.
We have ratified numerous international agreements such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, also known as the Maputo Protocol, and the Beijing Declaration, and so on. So, we are on course in domesticating these treaties and implementing our mandates and obligations as a country.
On the domestic front, we have enacted many gender-related laws such as the Devolution of Estates Act, 2007; the Domestic Violence Act of 2007; and the Customary Marriage and Divorce Act of 2009. For me, these are outdated laws, even though they were steps in the right direction at the time.
In the last few years, we reviewed some of those laws and are trying to address existing gaps. For example, in 2019, we reviewed the Sexual Offenses Act of 2012, to impose stiffer punishments on perpetrators of sexual violence. President Julius Maada Bio demonstrated his passion for the well-being of women by declaring in 2019 a State of Emergency over rape and sexual violence.
We established a Sexual Offences Model Court to try cases of sexual violence against minors and impose stiff punishment. Those cases are now fast-tracked. We enacted the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act(GEWE), in 2022, to reaffirm our commitment to the empowerment of women and girls. We also have the Customary Land Rights Act, which guarantees women the right to own, hold, use, and inherit land.
All these efforts are translating into tangible results.
Click here to read the full article published by the United Nations Africa Renewal News on 30 April 2024.
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United Nations Women (UN Women) has called on local political parties to create a safe space for women participating in politics and swiftly move to address violence against women during elections.
Speaking during the opening of a three-day multi-stakeholder conference in Salima on Wednesday themed ‘Violence against women in elections’, UN Women acting country representative Kebedech Ambaye observed that women experience various forms of violence during elections, including physical, psychological, verbal and digital abuse.
She said: “Statistics show that since 2014, the number of independents has been rising. It was at 37 percent in 2014 and reached 39 percent in 2019.
Read here the full article published by Nation Online on 26 April 2024.
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Key women inclusion advocacy groups in Nigeria and other stakeholders have kick-started a robust conversation on how more women would participate in politics going forward, especially starting from 2027 general elections in the country.
These women groups were led in the conversation in Abuja, by Gender Strategy Advancement Initiative, SheForum Africa and Well-being Foundation Africa, among others, on Wednesday where they brainstormed on how to secure more political positions for the women folks come 2027 General election.
The gathering which was tagged “The Godmother’s Mentorship Series” was also aimed at mentoring young female Nigerians to stand up for their rights in the realisation of gender equality as part of the article of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Read here the full article published by P.M. News Nigeria on 26 April 2024.
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UN Women, on Wednesday tasked media practitioners and organisations to empower the female gender and promote its participation in politics.
They made the call at the 2024 UN Women Nigeria Media Forum on “Escalating Media Action for Women’s Empowerment” in Abuja.
Ms Beatrice Eyong, UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said the call was necessary to reverse the poor representation of women in both elective and appointed positions in the country.
Eyong, who noted the pivotal role the media plays in instilling change in the society, said it was fundamental for advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.
According to her, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President have shown commitment towards promoting women’s political participation, hence the media should play the role in championing the cause.
Read here the full article published by News Agency of Nigeria on 24 April 2024.
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(Berlin, April 23, 2024) – Kazakhstan’s President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev signed a new law on April,15, 2024, to strengthen protections from violence for women and children, including domestic violence survivors, but it falls short in key areas, Human Rights Watch said today. The law aims to advance women’s rights and enhance their safety, but among other concerns, it fails to explicitly make domestic violence a stand-alone offense in the criminal code or elsewhere.
“It is significant that Kazakhstan’s leadership has prioritized protecting women and children from violence, and adopting this law is an important step forward,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “But more should be done to ensure that women and children are protected from family abuse in accordance with international human rights standards, including by criminalizing domestic violence as a stand-alone offense.”
The new law, known as Kazakhstan’s “domestic violence” law, introduces amendments to Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code, the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence, the Law on Marriage and Family, and other laws. The passage of the new law coincides with the ongoing high-profile trial of Kuandyk Bishimbayev, Kazakhstan’s former economy minister, who is charged with the murder of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova. The trial has drawn national and international attention and ensured a focus on the urgent need to tackle domestic violence with adequate sanctions for abusers and trauma-informed support for survivors.
Read here the full article published by Human Rights Watch on 23 April 2024.
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