Launch of Africa Family Law Network 

SIHA Network
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From left (seated) Femnet Chairperson Emma Kaliya, Uganda Regional Project Coordinator We Cannot Wait Project! Laureen Karayi and Musawah co-Director Zharin Zhafrael. Standing are other members of the network during a media briefing at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi on October 5, 2022. Photography: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group

The Africa Family Law Network was launched at Nairobi’s Safari Park Hotel on October 5th, 2022, following a three-day conference attended by over 60 advocates and activists from more than 23 African countries. The conference, which centered on the challenges faced by women and girls in the region, particularly regarding inheritance, child marriage, and female genital mutilation, fostered in-depth discussions on family law’s various dimensions within customary, civil, and religious systems. The consensus was that reforming family law is essential to achieve equality for women and girls.

This Network’s establishment aims to consolidate ongoing efforts to eliminate oppressive family laws throughout the continent. It seeks to create a regional alliance among national advocates and groups to accelerate family law reform.

The Network aligns with the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law, urging African Union member states to ensure gender equality in family-related matters. It complements Musawah’s global Campaign for Justice in Muslim Family Laws, with the goal of achieving equality and justice in Muslim family laws and practices globally by 2030.

The conference, which was jointly organized by SIHA, Musawah, Equality Now, and the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), highlighted that women in countries like Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, and the Gambia are prohibited from inheriting property from their deceased husbands or parents. As a remedy, the participants called for African countries to fully embrace the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, enact family laws that adhere to international human rights standards like CEDAW, and urged religious and traditional leaders to protect and promote women’s and girls’ rights.

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Borne of the social justice movement, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network is an indigenous African women’s rights network with a soul. We are convinced beyond any doubt that if African women are given the space, they will drive change in this region and beyond. Defying presumptions about African women, SIHA has been carried on the shoulders of numerous African women’s rights activists and has been sustained by their relentless commitment to their cause.