Equality Now is a worldwide human rights organisation dedicated to securing the legal and systemic change needed to end discrimination against all women and girls, everywhere in the world. Since our inception in 1992, we have played a role in reforming 135 discriminatory laws globally, positively impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of women and girls, their communities and nations, both now and for generations to come.
We are a global organisation, with a team of experts located around the world and registered offices in Kenya, the UK, and the US. We are proud to be working alongside more than 3000 individuals and organisations, with 267 partners across 52 nations, and as part of 38 national, regional, and global coalitions.
Registered as an NGO in Kenya since 1999, our Nairobi office serves as a vital hub for our work across Africa.
Over the next five years, we will take bold new steps in our mission to achieve legal and systemic gender equality, securing rights in laws that will help to transform the lives of hundreds of millions of women and girls – to the benefit of everyone, now and for generations to come.
Our work is shaped by five strategic priorities, reflective of the unique challenges and opportunities of the day, as well as a commitment to continue building on the resilience and effectiveness of our organisation, namely:
Equality Now works with partners across Africa to hold governments accountable for protecting and promoting the legal rights of women and girls, address harmful practices like FGM and child marriage, address sexual violence and exploitation, and improve access to justice for survivors.
We work with governments, legal professionals, policymakers, and civil society to craft better laws and guide more effective implementation in every part of the world.
For example, In March 2025, prompted by high rates of sexual violence and FGM and with the support of Equality Now’s legal advisers and partners, Kisii County, a subregion in Kenya, enacted a Gender Mainstreaming Policy to strengthen and guide the Government’s role in addressing gender-based violence and advancing gender equality for its estimated 678,000 women and girls.
We work at national, regional, and global levels to build coalitions, facilitate and strengthen movements, and support partners, promoting dialogue and leaderful action.
For example, Equality Now played a central role in establishing SOAWR (Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition) and currently serves as part of its Secretariat. Founded in 2004, SOAWR is a Pan-African coalition of more than 70 organisations in over 30 countries advocating for the ratification, domestication, and implementation of the Maputo Protocol, Africa’s most comprehensive legal instrument for women’s rights. Together, we train government officials, publish monitoring reports, and provide tools to help countries uphold their commitments. SOAWR’s advocacy has directly contributed to over 45 African Union Member States ratifying the Protocol and continues to serve as a model for rights-based coalition work.
We engage policymakers and hold power to account through targeted advocacy, campaigns, and litigation, while platforming and amplifying the voices of those most affected and marginalised.
For example, in 2024, in response to a motion brought before the National Assembly of The Gambia, we partnered with local civil society organisations, UN agencies, survivors, and activists in a successful campaign to protect the country’s anti-FGM laws.
We are a co-founder and Secretariat of the SOAWR Coalition and the Africa Family Law Network.
Equality Now is registered in Kenya as an International Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO). In compliance with the Public Benefits Act, we maintain the highest standards of transparency and accountability.
Equality Now’s Kenyan entity has an equivalency determination certified status from NGOsource.