20th May 2025
12 min read
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Must Push for Reforms to Protect Women and Girls, urges Equality Now
The Team
Associate Director, Legal Equality
Africa
Esther Waweru is Associate Director, Legal Equality. She joined Equality Now in November 2017. With nearly two decades of experience, she has established herself as a leading advocate for human rights and social justice across international and regional platforms. A lawyer by training, she has worked with the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Kenya Human Rights Commission, and in private legal practice. Her focus has been on advancing the rights of women, girls, and marginalized communities, including ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minorities, and persons with disabilities. She is a published author on human rights, gender equality and international law. She is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and holds a Master of Arts in International Studies from the University of Nairobi, a Bachelor of Laws from Moi University, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law.
Esther is deeply committed to the vision of fully empowered girls and women living in a society where their rights are recognized, respected, and never relegated. One of her guiding inspirations is the wisdom of Wangari Maathai, Kenya’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate: “It’s the little things citizens do. That’s what will make the difference.”
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20th May 2025
12 min read
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Must Push for Reforms to Protect Women and Girls, urges Equality Now
3rd April 2025
10 min read
Women in Sudan: Silenced by War, Abandoned by Law
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29 October 2026
71 pages
An assessment of sexual and reproductive health rights laws in eight African countries, identifying legal gaps, promising practices and opportunities to advance the Maputo Protocol.
30 September 2026
42 pages
A guide for civil society on building meaningful partnerships with religious and traditional leaders to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls.
30 July 2026
Equality Now and joint civil society organisations submitted recommendations to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) on its Draft Declaration on the Promotion of the Role of Human and Peoples’ Rights Defenders and Their Protection in Africa. The submission calls for stronger protections for human rights defenders, particularly women human rights defenders, and urges the Commission to ensure that the Declaration is grounded in binding human rights standards, refrains from the anti-rights language of vague ‘African values and traditions’, strengthens civic space, p…
