Centre for Human Rights holds the 9th edition of the capacity building workshop on strategic litigation and advocacy for LGBTIQ+ activists in Africa

Bringing together over 18 participants from across the Continent, the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria (Centre) held the 9^th edition of the capacity building workshop on strategic litigation and advocacy for LGBTIQ+ Advocates in Africa from 22 - 26 July 2024. The capacity building workshop aims to enhance the skills of experienced African activists in strategic litigation and advocacy towards the protection of sexual and gender minorities in Africa.

The workshop started with welcome remarks by Landilani Banda, acting manager of the SOGIESC Unit (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Expression, and Sexual Characteristics) after which Chanel Van der Linde (project officer at the Centre) took the participants through a session of expectations. During this session, the participants expressed their training needs and hopes for the workshop in fulfilling those needs.

Substantively, the workshop was structured with presentations from experienced scholars and human rights defenders in advocacy and strategic litigation within the African context. Presentations ranged from the African human rights system, using Resolutions 275 and 552 as tools for advocacy, strategic litigation for transformative activism in Africa and optimising the impact of strategic litigation. The participants were also taken through thematic aspects of sexual and gender minority rights in Africa such as strategies for countering the growing threats of anti-rights movement, conversion practices and the challenges and opportunities for legal gender recognition in Africa. Country context presentations included lessons from the Anti-homosexuality Act in Uganda and the need for an incremental approach to strategic litigation.

Specific strategy sessions included queer rights advocacy through storytelling, grassroots movement building, strategic litigation and advocacy through a human rights master frame and faith-based advocacy in high-faith societies.

The workshop also equipped the participants with non-advocacy skills such as grant writing, fund raising and monitoring and evaluation. A wellness session focusing on the mental wellbeing of participants was also held. During this session participants expressed not only their own challenges as activists but the challenges of their communities in coping with the hostile social and legal environment they work under.

The Centre thanks the participants and presenters for taking part in the workshop.
The Centre also especially thanks its partners, the Kingdom of Sweden through SIDA, for their support.