The Réseau des Femmes Leaders pour le Développement (RFLD) is deploying a comprehensive advocacy strategy at the 85th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in Banjul, The Gambia, with a robust program of activities designed to advance the African Union’s human rights agenda and the continental reparations framework.
The four-member delegation, led by the Secretary General Ms. Tabiyi Mariam and comprising Senior Legal Officer Mr Heuleche TOGNONMEGNI, Gender Officer Ms. VLAVONOU Emmanuelle, and Senior Partnership Officer Mr GBENAGNON John, will execute a strategic engagement plan spanning multiple platforms and forums during the October 17-30, 2025 session.
Activity 1 : Side Event – Early Warning and Prevention Systems
The Réseau des Femmes Leaders pour le Développement (RFLD), in partnership with CIVICUS and EU SEE, will host a pivotal side event on October 21, 2025, focusing on “Early Warning and Prevention Systems: Fostering Collaboration Between African Commission and HRDs for Sustainable Advocacy.” This strategic gathering represents a groundbreaking initiative to enhance continental human rights protection through proactive monitoring and response mechanisms. The event will bring together leading civil society organizations that develop early warning tools with ACHPR leadership and human rights defenders to establish systematic collaboration frameworks for addressing deteriorations in Africa’s enabling environment. With distinguished panelists including ACHPR Chairperson Remy Ngoy Lumbu, HURISA’s Corlett Letlojane from South Africa, Algeria’s Yamina Bair from the Foundation for the Promotion of Rights, Jonathan Muhubiri from PPI-DRC, and RFLD’s John Gbenagnon, the discussion will focus on streamlining early warning information systems, developing evidence-based advocacy strategies, and strengthening human rights defenders’ participation in continental governance structures. The expected outcomes include enhanced understanding of early warning mechanisms across participating organizations, development of joint advocacy strategies that leverage predictive data for policy influence, and significant improvement in the enabling environment for civil society operations across African Union Member States. This collaborative approach reflects the African Union’s commitment to preventive diplomacy and early intervention in human rights crises, positioning civil society as a crucial partner in continental peace and security architecture.
Activity 2 : Side Event – The Crisis in the DRC: Urgent Need for a Collective Response
The side event directly engages with one of the AU’s most pressing peace and security challenges. Coordinated by RFLD with CIVICUS, HURISA, VSV, PPI, and EU SEE, this event will examine grave human rights violations, humanitarian crises, and the need for coordinated international responses—issues central to the AU Peace and Security Council’s mandate.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo remains a priority for the AU’s peace and security architecture, with ongoing conflicts affecting millions of civilians. RFLD’s focus on this crisis demonstrates civil society’s crucial role in supporting AU peace-building efforts and protecting vulnerable populations.
Activity 3 : Digital Innovation for Continental Human Rights: CHARM Consortium’s Groundbreaking Platform Launch
The CHARM Consortium, comprising RFLD, CIVICUS, Magamba Network, and Defend Defenders, will officially launch two human rights digital solutions representing the culmination of a successful Africa-wide virtual hackathon, aimed at identifying innovative solutions for improving women’s participation in media, governance, and human rights advocacy. The first platform, “Fahamu Haku Ziko,” developed by Salome, is a comprehensive web-based platform dedicated to promoting human rights through open access to essential documents, educational materials, and advocacy resources, featuring AI-driven research tools, secure data repositories, and interactive learning modules designed to empower activists, educators, policymakers, and stakeholders with the technological resources and knowledge needed to drive meaningful change, raise awareness, and protect fundamental freedoms across Africa. The second winning solution, “AfricLegal,” created by developer Jimale, focuses on democratizing access to essential human rights laws and legal resources across the continent, enabling users to explore key documents like the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, connect with human rights organizations, and report violations through integrated mechanisms that streamline the process of seeking justice and protection. This strategic launch at the 85th ACHPR session will feature live demonstrations by both developers to continental human rights leadership, creating unprecedented opportunities for immediate feedback, partnership development, and institutional adoption pathways while demonstrating the CHARM Consortium’s commitment to leveraging technology for sustainable, scalable solutions that strengthen Africa’s human rights ecosystem and foster innovative intersectional coalition building beyond traditional organizational boundaries.
NGOs Forum Participation: Comprehensive Engagement in Continental Human Rights Discourse
RFLD will deploy a comprehensive participation strategy at the NGOs Forum (October 17-19, 2025), leveraging this critical platform that precedes the main ACHPR session to advance the organization’s advocacy priorities within the transformative framework of “The Year of Reparations: Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.” The delegation will actively engage across all ten thematic panels, bringing specialized expertise on women’s rights, gender-sensitive reparations, and the protection needs of Women Human Rights Defenders to each discussion forum. From Panel 1’s exploration of reparations foundations, where RFLD will advocate for gender-inclusive frameworks addressing intergenerational trauma affecting women, to Panel 10’s focus on the African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls, where the organization will present strategies for combating transnational organized crimes affecting women, RFLD’s participation will ensure that women’s voices and experiences remain central to the continental reparations discourse. Our organization will contribute evidence-based analysis drawn from their extensive network across Francophone and Lusophone Africa, presenting case studies on how governance crises (Panel 2), shrinking civic space (Panel 3), democratic manipulation (Panel 4), persistent impunity (Panel 5), environmental injustice (Panel 6), diaspora solidarity (Panel 7), economic exploitation (Panel 8), and vulnerable group marginalization (Panel 9) specifically impact women and require gender-responsive solutions within broader reparations frameworks. Additionally, RFLD will actively participate in Special Interest Groups, contributing visual data representation of women’s rights violations and defender protection needs through infographic presentations, while sharing experiences and best practices in protecting Women Human Rights Defenders across sub-regional networks through the “Networking for Human Rights in Africa” forum, thereby strengthening continental solidarity and knowledge exchange among women’s rights advocates and organizations working to create safer, more enabling environments for women’s human rights advocacy across the continent.
ACHPR Working Group Engagement: Strategic Continental Coordination
As a member of the ACHPR Working Group on Human Rights Defenders, led by Hon. Rémy Ngoy Lumbu, RFLD advocates for WHRDs protection within Africa’s premier human rights protection mechanism. RFLD’s membership in this exclusive 13-member Support Group, alongside influential continental partners including the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA), and regional networks spanning East and Horn Africa (EHAHRD-Net), Central Africa (REDHAC), Southern Africa (HURISA, SAHRDN), West Africa (ROADDH/WAHRDN), North Africa (CIDH), and Lusophone areas, positions RFLD as a critical voice in shaping continental human rights discourse. During the 85th session, RFLD will actively participate in Working Group meetings and strategy sessions, coordinating with these 12 other continental organizations to develop unified responses to emerging human rights challenges across African Union Member States.
Through this Working Group engagement, RFLD will implement coordinated strategies specifically designed to address the escalating threats facing human rights defenders, particularly women defenders who encounter heightened risks due to their intersectional advocacy work. The organization’s comprehensive approach involves sharing critical intelligence on civic space restrictions, documenting patterns of reprisals against women human rights defenders, and proposing targeted protection mechanisms that address the specific vulnerabilities of women activists across different cultural and linguistic contexts. RFLD’s participation ensures that the Working Group’s strategies incorporate gender-sensitive perspectives while addressing the unique challenges faced by women defenders in Francophone and Lusophone contexts, where cultural, legal, and political frameworks may present distinct obstacles to women’s rights advocacy. This strategic coordination amplifies RFLD’s impact beyond its immediate network, enabling the organization to influence continental human rights protection standards while building sustainable partnerships that enhance the security and effectiveness of women human rights defenders across Africa.
Oral Statement to the Commission
RFLD will deliver an Oral Statement statement to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, addressing four critical areas. The first area will focus on the implementation of reparations frameworks with robust gender perspectives, arguing that meaningful reparations must acknowledge how historical injustices—including slavery, colonialism, and systemic discrimination—have disproportionately impacted women and marginalized communities across Africa and the diaspora. RFLD will present evidence-based recommendations for ensuring that reparations mechanisms incorporate gender-sensitive approaches that address intergenerational trauma, economic exclusion, and cultural suppression experienced by women, while advocating for women’s meaningful participation in designing, implementing, and monitoring reparations programs. We will also deliver a detailed statement on the urgent protection needs of Women Human Rights Defenders, drawing from extensive documentation through their Donuese Data Center to highlight escalating threats, reprisals, and systematic targeting of women activists across Francophone and Lusophone Africa. Our statement will address the devastating impact of shrinking civic space on women’s organizations, presenting compelling evidence of how restrictions on freedom of association, assembly, and expression particularly affect women-led civil society groups and feminist movements. RFLD will demonstrate how these restrictions undermine women’s political participation, limit their access to justice mechanisms, and weaken their capacity to advocate for gender equality and human rights protection. The final section will explore the critical intersections between environmental justice and women’s rights, highlighting how environmental degradation, climate change, and extractive industries disproportionately affect women and indigenous communities while advocating for reparations frameworks that address environmental harm and resource exploitation.
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