estella kansiime

[Justice for the girl - South sudan @J4Girlss]

@DefendDefenders @AfricaDefenders @MemoryBandera @bikjo @Tabithador @Kaka_estella @Hassan_shire Great discussion over there

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

❝ The UN Human Rights Council takes another step towards accountability for atrocities in Sudan ❞

🚨 Read our take on today's @UN_HRC resolution on #Sudan, which extends the Fact-Finding Mission's (#FFM) mandate and supports accountability efforts, including by enhancing scrutiny of ex­ternal support to the warring parties: https://t.co/gqvT7wFN16 ✍️

We also outline possible next steps to address wider networks of res­ponsibility that sustain the conflict, advance evidence collection & preservation, and move closer to criminal prosecutions of those responsible for atrocity crimes.

🇸🇩 #HRC63 #KeepEyesOnSudan 🇺🇳

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

Amana Africa, a consortium comprising DefendDefenders, Resilience Technologies, and Digital Society Africa, built an African-led response to the growing threat of spyware targeting civil society. The consortium brings together expertise in spyware forensics, digital security, and advocacy to strengthen accountability and protection across the continent.

Tomorrow, on the margins of #FIFAfrica2026, join us for a conversation titled: Inside Africa's first spyware accountability consortium: From forensic evidence to collective action. Be part of the conversation at Trochetia, from 3:00–4:30 PM, as we explore how African expertise can strengthen spyware detection, forensic investigations, evidence collection and advocacy.

#FIFAfrica2026

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

🇺🇳 In Geneva for #HRC63❓

Join us for this side event on #SUDAN tomorrow.
📆 Tuesday 8 September 2026
🕰️ 13:00-14:00 CET
📍 Palais des Nations, Room XI

With human rights defenders & the Fact-Finding Mission (#FFM), we'll discuss what the @UN can do next to advance atrocity prevention & accountability.

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

🛎️ We just wrapped up the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC62), which marked the Council's 20th anniversary. 🇺🇳

📝 Read @Hassan_Shire's Reflections on the session, what the anniversary means for us, and our priorities (including Eritrea & Sudan): https://t.co/HCBsm736GD💡

▶️ PDF with clickable links (one-pager/visual summary — “HRC62 Takeaways for Africa”): https://t.co/9d6HLVGfi5 ◀️

#HRCat20 #HRC62 #ElObeid #Sudan #Eritrea #HRDs

[King Melvin @melvinnasasira]

The Dr Matthew Lukwiya story you never hear about.

A few days ago, I saw someone talking about Heroes Day and mentioned Dr. Lukwiya among them. It made me realise that most of us know him simply as the doctor who died treating Ebola patients at Lacor Hospital in 2000, and not much else.

I felt slightly guilty for not knowing more about a man who seems to transcend history, so I went looking for the full story of Dr. Matthew Lukwiya. What I found was a man who had spent the twenty years before Ebola practising exactly the kind of courage that the outbreak would eventually demand of him.

This is what many of us didn’t know about Dr. Matthew, as he was lovingly called.

1/10

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

As we wrap up our #SheDefends campaign, we hosted @PrimahKwagala, Executive Director of the Women’s Pro Bono Initiative, on our first episode of Conversations with Defenders this year, The Case That Changed Me.
Primah reflects on three cases that have shaped her journey as a human rights lawyer.

Unable to choose just one, she shares the cases that profoundly changed her, and how they influenced her approach to justice, her sense of purpose, and her decision to venture into academia. One deeply personal case involved a Ugandan girl trafficked to the Middle East as a domestic worker.
Following a desperate plea from the girl’s mother, Primah and her team stepped in to support the family through a painful search for answers and closure.
Although the legal outcome was not what they had hoped for, the young woman was eventually brought home and laid to rest, offering some measure of peace to her family.

Through this and similar cases, Primah contemplates on her contribution to broader conversations on labour migration and the protection of domestic workers, as well as her work supporting the repatriation of Ugandan women trafficked abroad and standing with families navigating loss, exploitation, and injustice.

Watch the latest episode of Conversations with Defenders to hear more about the cases that shaped Primah Kwagala’s journey as a woman human rights defender using this link; https://t.co/xHbTv5hW66

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

To effectively claim and defend their rights, women human rights defenders must first know them and understand the corresponding obligations of the state.

Our Advocacy, Research and Communications Manager, @Kaka_estella , highlights the importance of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, a key international framework that reaffirms existing rights and freedoms recognised in instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, while affirming the legitimacy of defending human rights.

In 2023, marking 25 years since its adoption, global consultations with human rights defenders led to the development of Declaration+25, a complementary document that responds to emerging challenges and evolving risks faced by defenders today.

Importantly, Declaration+25 recognises that women human rights defenders face heightened, gender specific risks and calls for their comprehensive protection. Together, these frameworks strengthen the principles and standards that safeguard all human rights defenders, with particular attention to the risks faced by women human rights defenders.

As emphasised by Estella, knowledge is power. Understanding these frameworks is key. Take some time to learn more:
UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders: https://t.co/iwsVE5njXX

Declaration+25: https://t.co/3hL91wMKwW

#SheDefends

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

During the #HRC61 debate on the most serious human rights situations (item 4⃣ GD) today, we raised the alarm about risks of an internationalisation of conflicts in #Sudan & #SouthSudan and of a regional conflict between #Ethiopia & #Eritrea.

❝ Throughout the Horn of Africa, human rights scrutiny is vital. Mechanisms that are in place, such as the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea and inves­ti­gative bodies on Sudan & South Sudan, should be extended, and this Council should act to re­instate the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia or establish a new mechanism on Ethiopia. ❞

➡️ Full statement: https://t.co/joJPjnb1HP 🇺🇳 🇪🇷 🇪🇹 🇸🇸 🇸🇩

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

🇺🇳 #HRC61 continues in Geneva. Today, during a general debate on item 3⃣, DefendDefenders presented its report on the #RightToProtest, ❝ They Won’t Silence the People ❞, which was launched during its 20th anniversary celebrations (November 2025).

▶️ Download the report: https://t.co/pbH3kC4DQ1 🔍

▶️ Full statement delivered today: https://t.co/joJPjnb1HP ✊✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

#Mozambique🇲🇿 #Senegal🇸🇳 #Tunisia🇹🇳 #Uganda🇺🇬

https://t.co/UTqDBn2x9C

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

🗣️ A thread for DefendDefenders’ oral statements at the UN Human Rights Council’s 6⃣1⃣st session 🧵

We start with SUDAN 🇸🇩 — today, during an enhanced interactive dialogue (EID), our Executive Director @Hassan_Shire took the floor to:
🔸 Urge states to act on 3⃣ fronts: civilian protection, constraints on per­pe­trators, and accountability.
🔹 Stress the distinct value of each mechanism work­ing on Sudan.
🔸 Encourage complementarity & coordination and suggest thematic areas for future UN reports.

❝ The patterns documented, in particular the Fact-Finding Mission’s findings of ‘hallmarks of genocide’ against non-Arab communities, are a stain of the cons­cience of humankind. ❞

🗒️ Read/Download full statement (& other #HRC61 statements): https://t.co/joJPjnb1HP 🇺🇳 #Sudan

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

As we continue our #SheDefends campaign this week, we are taking time to highlight regional and international human rights mechanisms and legal frameworks designed to support and protect women’s rights, as well as the women human rights defenders working to advance them.
Take some time to watch our Senior Programs Officer, Walda Keza Shaka, as she explains how to engage with the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa.
In this video, she elaborates how these mechanisms can be used by women human rights defenders in practice to advance justice and strengthen their protection.
#SheDefends

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

We are in week two of our #SheDefends campaign! As part of our ongoing conversation on advancing justice for WHRDs defending the rights of others, join us this Friday, 13 March 2026, for a special X Space discussion moderated by our Director of Programs and Administration, @MemoryBandera.

Together, we’ll explore:
1. Legal and social barriers to justice for WHRDs
2. Effectiveness of regional and international legal frameworks(laws and policies)
3. Recommendations to strengthen protection and access to justice
📅 Date: Friday, 13 March 2026
⏰ Time: 1:30 – 3:00 PM East African Time (EAT)

Be part of the conversation and together let us advance justice and protection for WHRDs!

[estella kansiime @Kaka_estella]

RT @DefendDefenders: Happy Women’s Day
Joyeuse journée de la femme
عيد سعيد للمرأة
Heri ya Siku ya Wanawake

Today, we celebrate the stre…

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

Today, we kick off our annual month long #SheDefends campaign, which aims to amplify the voices of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) across Africa. This year, we will place particular emphasis on existing regional and international legal frameworks that recognise and protect women’s rights, affirm the legitimacy of WHRDs, and guarantee protection for those who defend the rights of others. While these frameworks provide important safeguards, WHRDs continue to face disproportionate risks, including threats, harassment, reprisals, and structural exclusion.
Throughout the month of March, we will seek to examine where the gap between paper and practice lies and how commitments can translate into meaningful protection.

Be part of the conversation using #SheDefends.

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

This morning, our management team convened for the first weekly meeting of the year to align priorities and chart the path ahead. DefendDefenders reaffirms its unwavering commitment to strengthening protection networks, advancing strategic advocacy, building the capacity of human rights defenders, and safeguarding civic space across Africa.

We wish #UGDecides 2026, to be free, fair, credible and peaceful.

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

This evening, we officially close our offices for the year. However, our emergency protection lines remain open, and we will continue to respond to all protection needs of human rights defenders throughout the holiday season.

Please read our Executive Director @Hassan_Shire
End-of-Year Message via this link: https://t.co/aLK3uU2MQE

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

Today, the #16DaysOfActivism campaign comes to an end as the world commemorates Human Rights Day under the theme “Human Rights: Our Everyday Essentials.”

Our Director of Program and Administration, @MemoryBandera  wraps up our campaign with a powerful reminder: as we move beyond the 16 Days, ending digital violence against women and girls must remain a daily commitment, not only for women human rights defenders(WHRDs), but for all women and girls to be able to use digital spaces confidently and without fear. Online expression is not a privilege; it is a human right, and a core part of this year’s theme, “Human Rights: Our Everyday Essentials.”

#HumanRightsDay
#OurEverydayRights
#ENDigitalViolence

[DefendDefenders @DefendDefenders]

Day 14 of #16DaysOfActivism: We spotlight the harmful myths that continue to cloud understanding and hinder meaningful action to end digital violence against all women and girls.

When we challenge misconceptions such as “just block them” or “she invited criticism,” we create space for real solutions, stronger protections, and genuine accountability. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) can be prevented. It requires platforms that prioritise safety and communities that stand with survivors, refusing to remain silent in the face of harassment.

Let’s replace myths with facts and work towards digital spaces where women human rights defenders (WHRDs) can carry out their work safely and without fear.

#ENDigitalViolence