African Canadian Women’s Human Rights Project

ACWHRP has been happily housed at CLA for the first phase of its work on its criminalization of marital rape and customary law project.  ACWHRP is in the process of incorporating as an independent non-profit organization, and will continue its human rights work independent of CLA.  ACWHRP is appreciative of CLA’s support and the opportunity to have grown at CLA, and CLA is proud to have housed ACWHRP during its initial growth period.  Both CLA and ACWHRP look forward to continuing to work together in the future. ACWHRP will be operating under the new name, “the equality effect”; here’s a link to the new website: www.theequalityeffect.com

The African and Canadian Women’s Human Rights Project (ACWHRP) is an innovative initiative designed to advance women’s equality through strategic research and activities. The ACWHRP is a collaborative partnership of African women’s human rights NGO’s and academics from Ghana, Kenya and Malawi working with Canadian human rights experts. It is an innovative applied research and education initiative designed to support strategic equality activities that will result in meaningful reform, and address some of the most appalling human rights abuses in the world today. Of particular concern is the feminization of HIV/AIDS resulting from women’s legal inequality.

The ACWHRP offers law students, academics, and human rights advocates from across Canada and Africa the valuable opportunity to contribute to the development of international human rights law in an innovative and practical way. The project’s main goal is to advance the human rights of African women and girls. A corollary goal of the project is to infuse the Canadian equality initiative with new, creative thinking through collaboration with African colleagues. This infusion of fresh thinking will be especially useful with respect to issues such as Aboriginal women’s property rights on reserves, the reconciliation of women’s rights and religious rights, and the feminization of HIV/AIDS amongst Aboriginal women.

For further details or more information, please contact Fiona Sampson, Director of the ACWHRP project.

The ACWHRP project works in conjunction with the following partners:
The Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) | Kenya
FIDA is a non-profit organization that aims to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in Kenya. FIDA-Kenya was established in 1985 and has 360 registered members (all lawyers and law students). FIDA-Kenya has a long history of monitoring and documenting human rights abuses, and developing reports on the status of women’s (in)equality.

Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) | Malawi
WLSA is a non-profit organization whose main objective is to improve the legal status of women in Malawi. WLSA was established in 1988 and has offices in seven countries in southern Africa, including Malawi. WLSA-Malawi has a long history of researching and networking with respect to gender based human rights violations. Women’s property rights are the priority focus for WLSA Malawi.

For a detailed outline of the projects WLSA-Malawi is engaged in, click here. To read about WLSA-Malawi National Coordinator Seodi White, click here.

Women Integrated Development Organization | Ghana
WIDO is an independent non-profit, local non-governmental organization located in the rural Upper West Region of Ghana. WIDO was founded in 2004 to address the prevailing social and economic inequalities experienced by women in the rural Upper West Region of Ghana, with a focus on livelihood, health and education. WIDO is a capacity building organisation, and seeks to integrate field work with advocacy on women’s rights issues and livelihood security. WIDO’s objective is to promote the realization of the human rights of women and children.

Women in Law and Development Africa (WiLDAF) | Ghana

WiLDAF is a pan-African, non-governmental, non-profit organisation that brings together individuals and organisations to promote a culture for the exercise and respect for women’s rights in Africa through a variety of tools, including law. WiLDAF-Ghana was formed by a group of women who participated in a women’s rights Africa meeting held in Harare, Zimbabwe in February 1990.

WiLDAF-Ghana seeks to increase women’s participation and influence at the community, national, and international levels through initiating, promoting, and strengthening strategies which link law and development.  WiLDAF-Ghana employs the rights based approach in its legal and development work. Its advocacy leans strongly on human rights provisions of international conventions and treaties, as well as national legislation including the Constitution. It provides opportunities to strengthen the voice of the poor through participation and assistance to uphold their rights and entitlements. WiLDAF has been instrumental in the adoption of the Protocol on the Rights of Women to the African Charter.

WiLDAF has a membership of over 50 individuals and organisations; a staff of 16, including lawyers and over 70 core literacy volunteers working with its Legal Awareness Programme. For more information please click here.

Project Sponsors