AfricanDefenders 2022 East Africa Women Human Rights Defenders Network

The Network was established in 2017 with the support of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights-East Africa Regional Office and has its secretariat currently hosted by DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project). The mission of the Network is to promote and protect women human rights defenders (WHRDs), women’s human rights and gender equality in East Africa. The Network supports the sustainability of WHRDs’ work by sharing experiences, challenges, ideas, best practices and lessons learned on how WHRDs can securely advocate and defend, individually and collectively, the human rights of women in particular and marginalized groups in general. The main objective of the Network is to strengthen the capacities of women human rights defenders in the region to effectively engage on specific gender issues and to advocate for the advancement of women’s human rights and gender equality at the local, national and regional levels and in different contexts. At the moment, the Network is composed of members from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti. In 2022, the Network would like to expand its membership to more countries in the region.