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KENYA

Amnesty International KenyaStrategic Framework 2018-2020

JUSTICE, DIGNITY AND RIGHTS

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Amnesty International opened its office in Kenya in 2009.

Working within the broader national and international human rights movement, we are known for our demand for adequate housing rights, mainstreaming essential services and security of women and girls in the urban settlements and protection of displaced persons and refugees and human rights education in Kenya schools and universities. We have also successfully campaigned against forced evictions, inadequate housing, extrajudicial executions and gender based violence.

This Strategic Framework was written following consultations in the first quarter of 2018. It directly addresses current trends and scenarios facing the Kenyan human rights movement and the need for increased scale of impact, a single theory of change, new management capability and two coherent goals.

The Board and Staff of Amnesty International Kenya welcome comments and offers of partnership.

Irungu HoughtonExecutive Director

You can volunteer, become a member, seek solidarity or hold us accountable by contacting us onAmnesty International Kenya

Parkfield Place, 3rd floor, Kanjata road off Waiyaki way, opposite New Safaricom house,P.O. Box 1527-00606, Nairobi - KenyaEmail: amnestykenya@amnesty.or.keTel: +254-020-4283000Twitter: @amnestykenya | www.amnestykenya.org

Justice, dignity and rights for all Kenyans

Introduction

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In 2018, Amnesty Kenya exists for three primary goals namely to;

• Undertake and publish investigative research and information to inform public policy dialogue and debate with duty-bearers;

• Strengthen civic campaigning capacities to act for our values of national cohesion and constitutionalism;

• Promote and protect constitutional values, the bill of rights and the rule of law in Kenya;

This strategic framework re-frames our obligation to realising the Constitution of Kenya, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all other international human rights instruments.We are privileged to serve the global human rights

movement in this capacity and commit once more to use all our resources prudently, innovatively and in an impactful manner.

Situational Analysis

The 2010 constitution has fundamentally re-configured the context for human rights protection and expansion. Fifty years of the Executive Presidency and the centralized state disappeared under the weight of 80 new laws. Each of them have altered the mandate, composition and resources of key national and 47 county level public institutions. These laws fundamentally transform the power of people and the scope for them to exercise this power.

Legacy of results, resources and

relationships we can carry forward

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In one lifetime, Kenyan men and women have gone from being colonial subjects to people with the power to directly or indirectly exercise their sovereign power.

Whistle-blowers, collective citizen’s actions, public demonstrations, Kenyans on Twitter (#KOT), media exposes and public interest litigation and “name and shame” campaigns are glimmers of this new voice and agency. While still nascent and far from the ambition contained in this constitution, the vibrancy and resilience of this work is a far cry from the fear and uncertainty of the 1980s and 1990s.

Despite these critical governance advances, Kenya remains deeply divided. The divisions are political, social and economic. Politics remains a zero-sum game anchored on patronage and impunity. Rich and privileged men and women and not political parties with competing visions, manifestos and policies steer this theatre. Natural resources and public spaces are also their playground leading to evictions, displacement and disregard for dignified and safe housing and livelihood options.

The national administration of Jubilee has stated their commitment to four main pillars namely; housing, food, health and jobs. These important

pillars are also core economic and social rights. Amnesty Kenya will incorporate our focus on housing and health and hold the national State and county governments accountable for delivery on these rights.

A lawlessness and disregard for the rule of law has crept into our political spaces and more worryingly, the exercise of public office. Repeated violations of legal procedures and principles embedded in fair administration law now prevail across the Executive and security agencies. Our work on extra-judicial executions and security sector reform will break through the current unlawful killings of young and poor men in our urban settlements.

Human rights organisations are ill-prepared to navigate these challenges in the face of shrinking development assistance and administrative hostility. New models of domestic accountability and financial resourcing are now necessary if the sector is to migrate to new and resilient organisational models. Amnesty will spearhead this with an initial coalition of willing organisations.

The preoccupation of most Kenyans with ethnic and linguistic ties and patronage block their understanding of how impunity, corruption

Awuor AyiechoI am a young human rights defender.

Advocating fora cultural shift throughhuman rights Education

People are not fighting for ideas, they want peace, to see

their lives go forward and a better future for their children

- Amilcar Cabral

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and inequalities conspire to lock out tens of millions from essential services, their full self-expression and actualization. Inequalities and marginalization have also proved fertile ground for increasing intolerance, violence and terrorism. Continued prevalence of violence against women, weak voice and agency as well as grossly unequal access to assets, services and resources robs half of the country of the power of the constitution.

Amnesty Kenya will actively build a diverse constituency, voice and agency of youth and women leaders to act in the public interest in all our programme areas.

Based on our commitment to our constitution and our analysis of the Kenyan situation, five issues will form the main pillars of our work over 2018-2020. They are;

Human Rights Education and Activism: “Chapter 1 Sovereignty of the people and supremacy of the constitution “Every person has an obligation to respect, uphold and defend the constitution”.

Our youth are at the centre of an epic battle for Article 10 of our constitution. This battle for ethics, rights and national values is not just confined to our schools and universities. The gap between our public and private schools and wider

ethnic, class and geographical divisions in our society play out also. New curriculum reforms offer us a new opportunity to seek empowered, ethical and engaged spaces in places of learning and in other traditional and non-traditional youth settings. We shall explore more mass-based partnerships, online learning and civic engagement strategies to build a youthful human rights movement.

Right to Safety and Dignity: Article 28 Human dignity “Every person has inherent dignity and the right to have that dignity respected and protected.” Freedom from Violence Article 29 “Every person has the right to free and safe from arbitrary arrest, detention without trial, violence, torture, corporal punishment or inhuman treatment”

We have collapsed violent crimes, mob-justice and extra-judicial killings and our urban cities are traumatized. More than 252 men, women and children died at the hands of uniformed officers died in 2017. This was 38 more than in 2016. Most of these well-documented deaths and injuries are among young men in the killing fields of Dandora, Mathare, Kondele, Majengo and other urban poor settlements. The vicious cycle of violence can be broken. It requires deeper community policing strategies with youth

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organisations, greater command responsibility and action from within the police leadership and closer oversight by parliamentary, IPOA and Police Service Commission.

Right to Adequate Housing: Article 43 Economic and social rights “Every person has the right to accessible and adequate housing, and to reasonable standards of sanitation”

Rapid ambitious development and infrastructural plans and no security of tenure on the other for men, women and children living in urban settlements or our forests leaves millions of people vulnerable to forced evictions and displacement without due regard for Free and Informed Consent, protection and compensation mechanisms in our constitution and laws. In this new strategic plan cycle we will move to proactive policy engagement with duty bearers in addition to our usual reactive protective work.

Right to Health: Article 43 Economic and social rights “Every person has the right to the highest attainable standard of health, health care services, reproductive health care and emergency medical treatment.”

One in four Kenyans do not have regular access to healthcare. 66% of our population risks bankruptcy by surgery or hospitalization bills. Middle and upper-class women have three times more access to maternal health-care than those living in poverty. Tragically, arriving dead on arrival or being detained at child-birth is a familiar danger for too many now. A new programme for Amnesty Kenya. we hope to articulate a specific campaign towards the end of the year.

In addition, Amnesty Kenya shall protect and expand the right to association, civil liberties and act for the freedoms and human rights contained more broadly in our constitution. In each of these five areas we will committed to the following significant changes

Actors Dimensions of change

People at risk Changes in Peoples’ capabilities to claim and enjoy their rights

Influential Allies (members, media, associations and CSOs)

Changes in Activism and mobilization

Decision-makers and Duty-bearers Changes in Policy or accountability for implementation

The real tragedy in our lives is not that we die, but that

we live lives without a higher purpose.

Significant Change Actors and Change Dimensions

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Amnesty International Kenya

Theory of Change (2018-2020)

Amnesty Kenya exists to investigate and campaign for the full realisation of the Constitution of Kenya and international human rights standards. Working with our membership and leaders in civil society, the business community and across our 47 counties and national state, we will breathe life into the Bill of Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for all. We will do

this by investigative research and documentation, creative mass and social media engagement, effective support and solidarity for human rights defenders, respectful high-level dialogue with duty-bearers and policy-makers and direction action to protect political, economic and social rights.

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Every person actively enjoys all the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya and international human rights standards

1 Programme Outcome

1 Programme Goals

5 Results

IndicativeActivities

Human RightsActivism

Right to AssociationProtected and Expanded

Right to Health Right to AdequateHousing

Right to Safety andDignity

Right to Expression and Participation(AI Goal 1: Reclaiming Freedom)(Chapter 1: People’s sovereignty/constitutional supremacy

The Right to Safety, Human Dignity and Economic and Social Rights(AI Goals 2, 5: Equality and Freedom) (Constitution Art.27, 28, 29, 43)

Direct solidarity and online tools for Human Rights Defenders and

Rights-holders

Peoples associations, PBOs & rapid responders supported

Youth voice and agency to create ethical, empowering and engaged spaces

strengthened

Joint public interest actions and statements

Collective lobbying and bridge-building with duty-bearers

Rapid response investigative missions

Human Rights Fund

Strategic high-level non-traditional partnerships

Solidarity and tools for people affected by health denial, eviction and violence

Thought leadership and learning dialogues

Catalytic funding for direct action to trigger systemic change

Policy briefs, investigative documentaries & rightsholders action packs

Engaging regional and international human rights mechanisms for human rights accountability

Press conferences & briefings

Active mass and social engagement with others

Amnesty membership expansion

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Geographical location

The programme has both national outlook and county level programming in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Kisii and Homa Bay among other counties. Over 2018, we will complete a human rights spatial map to more effectively target human rights to threats and opportunities.

Organisational principles Over 2018-2020, our new vision and structures shall increase our strategic impact, growth, voice and visibility and alliance-building. We will intentionally create an effective governance board and better synergy with the International Secretariat and Sections world-wide.

We are now organised around four organisational principles. They are;

Courageous: We hold a constitutional vision within an international human rights instruments for a new just, dignified and inclusive nation and world. We are committed to speak truth to power and to start and host uncomfortable conversations. We actively stand with communities against injustice, indignity and inequalities.

Pro-active: We are context-responsive, agile and always ready to directly act with others. We provide solutions not restate problems. We actively build consensus and open alliances with a focus on building a critical mass for the movement. This is personal for us.

Accountable: We are accessible for and accountable to the public. We have an open reporting culture and all our communications work. We are dependable. Those that come into contact with us will experience our integrity, humility and our commitment to ensuring value for money.

Resourceful: We are ultimately a resource for rights activists and civic action and a space for activists to voluntarily act. We are evidence based, research led, innovative and creative. We will use all our resources and relationships to build financial independence and resilience for the wider movement of Kenyan human rights organisations and defenders.

The real tragedy in our lives is not that we die, but that we live lives without a higher purpose.

A united front can never bedefeatedR.I.P Kiongozi#JusticeforEvansNjoroge

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This is personal for us, but it is not about us, never has been,

never will be

Governance Amnesty International Kenya is registered as non-governmental organisation under the NGO Coordination Act (1999).Our Kenyan Board provides statutory over-sight and holds us accountable to best practices within the sector and the public. We are also part of Amnesty International, a global movement of more than 7 million people who take injustice personally.

Management

A lean team of activists, managers, storytellers, lawyers and conflict interrupters will lead our programmes supported by open financial accountability and information management systems, an expanded membership base and resources from foundations/trusts, corporate and individual giving. We are organised around five units. They are; Right to Safety and dignity (extrajudicial executions, refugee protection, identity based violence), Right to Health, Right to Adequate Housing (ending forced evictions, essential

service provision, inclusion of peoples’ settlements in county plans), Human Rights Activism, Membership and Communications. We will explore new mechanisms including Action Circles of Conscience and Giving Circles of Conscience. We will distinguish our unique value as a Kenyan brand, identify new communication tactics and upgrade our platforms.

We recognise that there are both individual and organisational benefits and costs that come with not accelerating our work. Remaining still as Kenya and the world around us allows Amnesty to stay safe, remain predicable and comfortable. The costs are more harmful. They include irrelevance and a failed mission to support others to realise rights, justice, dignity and rights for all in Kenya.You can volunteer, become a member, seek solidarity or hold us accountable by contacting us.

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Amnesty International KenyaParkfield Place, 3rd floor, Kanjata road off Waiyaki way,opposite New Safaricom house,P.O. Box 1527-00606, Nairobi - KenyaEmail: amnestykenya@amnesty.or.ke

Tel: +254-020-4283000Twitter: @amnestykenyawww.amnestykenya.orgJustice, dignity and rights for all Kenyans

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