For over 30 years, the Center for Reproductive Rights has used the power of law to advance reproductive rights as fundamental human rights around the world.
Africa
Joined February 2024
- Tweets2.8K
- Following537
- Followers1.4K
- Likes1.6K
Bodily autonomy means having the freedom to make decisions about your own body, reproductive choices and future. 💚
Every voice matters in the movement for reproductive rights. Together, we can challenge stigma, defend choice and advance access to safe, respectful reproductive healthcare.
Across Africa, many adolescents face barriers to the information, services and choices they need to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Through the SHE SOARS project, girls and boys are speaking up about their needs, and healthcare providers are listening. Across Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, efforts to make health services more youth-friendly are helping challenge stigma and improve access to SRHR care.
At the Center for Reproductive Rights, we believe every young person deserves the right and accurate information, support and freedom to make decisions about their health and future.
#shesoars #reproductiverights
Obstetric violence remains a critical concern for women’s rights and respectful maternal healthcare across Africa.
During the 89th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR, stakeholders convened to review the draft Guidelines on the Elimination of Obstetric Violence and the Promotion of Respectful Maternal Healthcare in Africa, sharing perspectives and recommendations to strengthen protections for women during pregnancy and childbirth.
The goal: maternal healthcare that upholds dignity, respects autonomy and protects human rights.
Childbirth should never cost a woman her dignity.
Obstetric violence, from abuse during childbirth to non-consensual procedures and detention in health facilities, undermines women’s rights and dignity.
The African Commission’s Resolution 625 of 2025 called for guidelines to eliminate obstetric violence and promote respectful maternal healthcare across Africa.
Every woman deserves care that upholds her dignity, respects her choices and protects her rights.
Follow us for more updates.
During the 89th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) delivered an oral statement commending the Commission’s progress in implementing Resolution 625 of 2025 and their work towards developing guidelines for the elimination of obstetric violence and the promotion of respectful maternal health.
The Center also urged the Commission to call on States Parties to ensure legal coherence between national frameworks governing access to abortion and Article 14 of the Maputo Protocol, fully implement its provisions and remove legal, policy, financial and administrative barriers to contraception.
Read the statement: reproductiverights.org/news/…
"If you remember one thing from me today, let it be this: Implementation is not an event. It is a habit, and National Human Rights Institutions can be the reminder that never switches off."
@timothy_thondu
Legal Adviser, Africa - Center for Reproductive Rights
How can regional human rights decisions translate into meaningful change for children at the national level?
During a side event organized by the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions @NANHRI40 and the @RWallenbergInst (RWI), held on the margins of the 48th Ordinary Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child @acerwc in Maseru, Lesotho, @timothy_thondu , Legal Adviser at the Centre for Reproductive Rights, joined fellow panelists to discuss progress, challenges and opportunities in implementing the Committee’s decisions.
The discussion highlighted the importance of strengthening national follow up, institutional accountability and collaboration to ensure that decisions and recommendations translate into tangible protections for children’s rights across Africa.
How can regional human rights decisions translate into meaningful change for children at the national level?
During a side event organized by the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions @NANHRI40 and the @RWallenbergInst (RWI), held on the margins of the 48th Ordinary Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child @acerwc in Maseru, Lesotho, @timothy_thondu , Legal Adviser at the Centre for Reproductive Rights, joined fellow panelists to discuss progress, challenges and opportunities in implementing the Committee’s decisions.
The discussion highlighted the importance of strengthening national follow up, institutional accountability and collaboration to ensure that decisions and recommendations translate into tangible protections for children’s rights across Africa.
Ensuring access to health services means putting adolescents' autonomy at the heart of law, policy and practice.
At a side event organised by the @nyaleinstitute and partners during the 48th Ordinary Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child @acerwc in Maseru, Lesotho, Anita Otieno and Richard Wanzala from the Centre for Reproductive Rights joined experts to to discuss removal of legal, policy, and consent barriers to children’s and adolescents’ access to health services.
The discussion highlighted the need for rights based approaches that uphold children’s dignity, confidentiality and evolving capacities.
The protection of children’s rights requires strong legal frameworks, accountability and effective implementation.
At the 48th Ordinary Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child @acerwc , the Centre for Reproductive Rights (CRR) delivered an oral statement highlighting key issues affecting children’s rights and calling for stronger protections across Africa.
🎥 Watch the full oral presentation.
At From Rights to Reality, a side event co-convened together with Ipas Africa Alliance during the 89th Ordinary Session @achpr_cadhp , Martin Onyango, Associate Director of Legal Strategies at the Center, highlighted the role of strategic litigation in holding governments accountable for their commitments to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Strategic litigation strengthens community efforts, compels responses to rights violations and helps bridge the gap between legal commitments and lived realities.
Adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health and rights are essential to their health, autonomy and futures, yet investment remains inadequate.
Martin Onyango, Associate Director for Africa Legal Strategies at the Center for Reproductive Rights, will speak at “Investing in Futures: Financing Adolescent SRHR for Lasting Impact,” co-hosted by @PMNCH and @IDRC_CRDI, exploring how sustainable financing can advance adolescent SRHR.
📅 15 October | 3:00–4:30 p.m. CET
#ASRHR #AdolescentHealth #HealthFinancing #SRHR
At the 48th Ordinary Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (@acerwc ), the Center for Reproductive Rights is urging States Parties to guarantee access to comprehensive, factual and non discriminatory sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) information and to uphold every child’s right to accurate, inclusive and age appropriate information.
Join us for a side event at the 48th Ordinary Session of the @acerwc as we explore how stronger legal and policy frameworks can advance children’s and adolescents’ access to health services in Africa.
📅 14 October 2026 | 17:30–19:00 SAT
📍 Mpilo Boutique Hotel, Maseru, Lesotho
Today, we joined the opening session of the 89th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights @achpr_cadhp in Dakar, Senegal.
Through our engagement with regional human rights mechanisms, we advocate for accountability, access to justice and the protection of sexual and reproductive rights.
We also bring cases before the Commission to help strengthen human rights protections and build legal standards that can guide countries in upholding their obligations, including under the Maputo Protocol.
Our presence at the Commission reflects our continued commitment to ensuring that human rights standards translate into meaningful protections for women and girls across Africa.
#ACHPR89 #ReproductiveRights #HumanRights #SRHR
The Center for Reproductive Rights participated in the Litigants Group General Meeting on the sidelines of the 89th Ordinary Session of the @achpr_cadhp in Dakar, Senegal.
During the engagement, the Center shared insights on leveraging pro bono legal support to strengthen the monitoring and management of cases filed before the Commission, including documenting legal contributions, tracking case progress and assessing impact.
For organizations that have filed cases before the Commission, filing is only one step in the pursuit of justice. Sustained follow-up, effective coordination with legal teams and systematic monitoring are essential to advancing accountability, assessing progress and ensuring the cases contribute to the protection of human rights.
#ACHPR89 #accesstojusticeforall
Every woman and girl deserves respectful, dignified and rights-based maternal healthcare. Yet, obstetric violence remains an important human rights concern that demands greater attention, accountability and action.
The stakeholder engagement in Dakar brought together human rights actors and other stakeholders to discuss the draft @achpr_cadhp Guidelines on the Elimination of Obstetric Violence and the Advancement of Respectful Maternal Healthcare in Africa.
By creating space for dialogue, critical questions and recommendations, the engagement sought to strengthen the guidelines and ensure they can contribute to addressing obstetric violence and advancing respect for the rights and dignity of women and girls throughout pregnancy, childbirth and maternal care.
Do you have any questions and recommendations? Follow us for more updates.
From advocacy to action, we’re engaging at the 89th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR to advance reproductive rights, strengthen protections and keep SRHR on the regional agenda.
Follow along for more from Dakar.
What happens when age-of-consent laws become barriers to young people’s access to reproductive healthcare?
At the 89th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR, RHNK, alongside partners, will host a discussion on reimagining age of consent to advance youth agency in Africa, featuring Martin Onyango, Associate Director for Africa Legal Strategies at CRR.
📅 9 October 2026 | 4:00–5:30 p.m.
📍 Pullman Dakar Teranga Hotel
