The perpetual endeavour: Gender-mainstreaming and sustainable development in Kenya
Posted: 20 August, 2019 Filed under: Juliet Nyamao | Tags: abuse of women, Agenda for Sustainable Development, Constitution of Kenya, discrimination, electoral violence, gender inequalities, poverty, unjust laws 5 Comments
Author: Juliet Nyamao
Human Rights Attorney, Kenyan Bar
According to Amnesty International’s Africa 2017/2018 report, women disproportionately bear the brunt of poverty. Persistent discrimination, marginalisation and abuse of women and girls, have systematically become institutionalised by unjust laws. Although the Constitution of Kenya guarantees equal rights and freedoms for both men and women, long-standing gender inequalities have significantly impeded the overall contribution of women and girls in achieving Kenya’s sustainable development agenda. Read the rest of this entry »
We must include and empower people with disabilities
Posted: 8 December, 2015 Filed under: William Aseka | Tags: 3 December 2015, Basic Education Act of 2014, constitution, Constitution of Kenya, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD, disability, disability rights, discrimination, education, emplyment, gender, inlcusion, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Kenya, Kenya National Survey for Persons with Disabilities, political participation, social participation, social particpation, transportation, United Nations 2 Comments
Author: William Aseka
Disability Rights Program Advisor, Kenya Human Rights Commission
Today one billion people around the world are living with disabilities. According to Kenya National Survey for Persons with Disabilities more than three million people in Kenya are living with disabilities. Many persons with disabilities have good jobs and proper education. However, far too many persons with disabilities in Kenya face barriers to inclusion in many key aspects of society. As a result, people with disabilities do not enjoy access to society on an equal basis with others, which includes areas of transportation, employment, and education as well as social and political participation. The right to participate in public life is essential to create stable democracies, active citizenship and reduce inequalities in society.
People with mental disabilities ALSO have the right to marry in Kenya
Posted: 28 May, 2014 Filed under: William Aseka | Tags: African Union Commission on International Law, Constitution of Kenya, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD, equality, ICCPR, ICESCR, international law, Kenya, Marriage Act, Marriage Bill, mental disabilities, non-discrimination, polygamous marriages, right to marry 3 CommentsAuthor: William Aseka
Human Rights Fellow at Burton Blatt Institute, Syracuse University
The Marriage Bill (now Act) 2014 has elicited different reactions from Kenyans. Some mostly women, have argued that the law will allow men to engage in polygamous marriages. Some have hailed the law as consolidating the different types of marriages into one piece of legislation. However, the people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities have completely been left out of this debate. The law clearly discriminates and expressly denies people with mental disorders from exercising their right to marry. Section 11(2)(b) of the Marriage Act 2014 provides:-
Consent is not freely given where the party who purports to give it is suffering from any mental disorder or mental disability whether permanent or temporary…
The Act further provides in section 73 that if one suffers from ‘recurrent bouts of insanity’ then the partner is allowed to have the marriage annulled. This essay seeks to argue that the Marriage Act 2014 not only violates Kenya’s obligation under international law but also violates the Constitution of Kenya 2010 Article 27(4), which proscribes discrimination based on disability.
Education for all, even for children with disabilities in Kenya
Posted: 5 April, 2013 Filed under: William Aseka | Tags: African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Children with disabilities, Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, Constitution of Kenya, Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities, education, human rights, international human rights, Kenya, United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child, Universal Declaration of Human Rights 4 CommentsAuthor: William Aseka
Program Assistant (Human Rights Advocacy for Children with Disabilities), Governance Consulting
There is no outright definition of what education means, however commentators such as Milter has defined it as, an act, process or experience that systematically promotes learning, knowledge and development. By the same token, writers such as Mialeret have defined education from a much narrower view than the above stated, to mean formal instruction of knowledge within recognised and well-structured system of institutions and programmes. This definition by Mialeret is also seen in the 1997 International Standard Classification of Education. Therefore, having known what education means, then the question that comes next is: what is the right to education?
General Comment No. 13 of the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Right (CESR) defines education as both a human right itself and an indispensable means of realising other human rights. The committee goes further to state that as an empowerment right, education is the primary vehicle by which economically and socially marginalised adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and obtain the means to participate fully in their communities. These economically and socially marginalised groups include children with disabilities in Kenya and all over the world. This essentially means that children with disabilities are well protected and are entitled to education and it is not a favour that any government would be doing to these groups.
AfricLaw 