Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have over the years signed and ratified various Human and Children’s Rights treaties to ensure that international human rights apply to their citizens. These include United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), African Charter on the Rights and the Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights(ACHPR) and Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW) among others. These states are obligated to realise the rights of its citizens as outlined in the various treaties.
Consequently, each nation’s government is obligated to submit a periodic report to the treaty custodians- committees made up of experts that oversee the implementation of the treaty- every few years depending on the treaty. These reports are meant to highlight progress and expose areas of growth in relation to the implementation of the treaty mandates.
Alongside the government submissions, civil society organizations (CSOs) such as EACHRights submit alternative or complementary reports to ensure that the state of nations involved are fully encapsulated.
EACHRights has in its time spearheaded the development of alternative reports submitted to the committees in custody of the implementation of treaties such as the UNCRC, ACHPR, ICESCR, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and ACRWC in which EACHRights has gained observer status with the African Committee of Experts linked to it.
TREATY BODIES REPORTING CALENDAR FOR KENYA
TREATY BODY | COMMITTEE | PREVIOUS REVIEW | NEXT PERIODIC REPORT | COMMENTS |
---|---|---|---|---|
African Charter on The Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) | African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) | Report Submitted 2013 | 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th periodic reports August, 2017 | Kenya submitted its first periodic report in June 2013. It was reviewed in 2014 and requested to submit its 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th periodic reports by August 2017. We need to figure out if the government is working on submitting the reports and when. |
African Charter on Human and Peoples rights (ACHPR) | African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) | Report: August 2015 Reviewed: Sep, 2015 | 2017-2018 | |
Universal Periodic Review | Universal Periodic Review | Considered, January, 2015 | Report: October, 2019 (tentative) To be considered: Jan-Feb 2020 | |
International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) | Committee on Economic Social and cultural Rights | 25th -26th Feb 2016 | 6th Periodic report due on 31st March 2021 | |
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) | Committee on Rights of the Child (CRC) | 2016 | 6th & 7th Periodic report due on 1st September 2021 |