‘Family values’ African charter condemned by rights groups as regressive and dangerous

Draft treaty claims sexual and reproductive health and rights are an existential threat to the African family

Isabel Choat
Fri 5 Jun 2026

An African treaty that rejects longstanding international human rights obligations moved a step closer to becoming policy this week as governments across the continent met in Ghana.

The draft African charter on family, sovereignty and values, seen by the Guardian, asserts that African values and culture are under attack from “foreign ideologies” and urges states to withdraw from any agreements that do not align with the principles of the charter, including the 2003 Maputo protocol, which promotes gender equality and protects the reproductive and health rights of women and girls.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/05/ghana-african-charter-family-values-gender-women-sex-lgbtq-reproductive-rights

Special edition: A tale of two movements — all at the same time

At the Commission on the Status of Women, the tangle over money, policy, and influence is shaping the future of women’s rights.

By Elissa Miolene
13 March 2026

The 70th Commission on the Status of Women has hit its halfway mark, with a historic vote on Monday foreshadowing a division that only grew throughout the week.

On one side, there’s the United Nations, large international aid agencies, and a collection of countries — from Sweden to Spain — that are pushing for more progressive women’s rights. On the other hand, there’s a constellation of nations, faith-based groups, and anti-abortion activists that are advocating for family values, while accusing the U.N. of indoctrinating developing nations when it comes to sex, abortion, and gender identity.

Continued: https://www.devex.com/news/special-edition-a-tale-of-two-movements-all-at-the-same-time-112072

‘We’re ready to fight’: activists brace as US anti-rights figures descend on Africa

Ultra-conservative campaigners fly in for ‘family values’ conferences to share tactics with African allies who oppose abortion and LGBTQ+ rights

Jessie Williams
Fri 9 May 2025

Advocates for sexual, reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights in Africa are bracing themselves for an influx of some of the most powerful, ultra-conservative campaigners from the US, Poland, Switzerland and the Netherlands over the coming months.

The prominent campaigners, who all oppose abortion, transgender and LGBTQ+ rights, and are against sexuality education, are due to speak at a series of conferences focused on African “family values” and “national sovereignty”.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/may/09/africa-family-values-anti-rights-conferences-conservative-christian-abortion-lgbtq-gender-uganda-kenya-rwanda

09.05.2025

Commentary

Africa Christian Professionals Forum

Alliance Defending Freedom

Ann Kioko

Anti-Homosexuality Act

Austin Ruse

Bettina Roska

Center for Family and Human Rights

Christian Council International

CitizenGO

Fatima Maada Bio

Henk Jan van Schothorst

Joy Asasira

Julius Maada Bio

MSI Reproductive Choices

National Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission

Nelly Munyasia

Okwara Masafu

Pan-African Conference on Family Values

Purposeful

Ramatu Bangura

Reproductive Health Network Kenya

Saoyo Tabitha Griffith

Sarah Shaw

Sharon Slater

Southern Poverty Law Center

Women’s Probono Initiative

How the US Christian Right Funds Anti-Abortion Activities Abroad

Right-wing US groups have spotted an opportunity to ramp up their activities since Roe v. Wade’s repeal.

by KATY FALLON, pictures by JNO.SKINNER
MARCH 13, 2024

In April 2023, Janet K. Museveni, Uganda’s first lady, published a photo on social media that rang serious alarm bells for advocates of reproductive and LGBTQ rights. The photo sparked concern because of a specific person in it: Sharon Slater, who heads the US nonprofit Family Watch International. The organization describes its work as “strengthening the family,” but the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has designated it as a hate group for its efforts to “further anti-LBGT and anti-choice stances.”

The SPLC is one of several rights groups and monitors that have called attention to the work of Slater and Family Watch International. More worrisome still, the photo of Museveni and Slater came shortly after Uganda’s parliament passed harsh anti-gay legislation that allows for a life-sentence for adults convicted of engaging in consensual, same-sex intercourse. Family Watch International did not reply to a request for comment, but the group has previously denied claims it had lobbied or advocated for the bill.

Continued: https://inkstickmedia.com/how-the-us-christian-right-funds-anti-abortion-activities-abroad/

The Britons and Americans trying to reverse abortion rights in Africa

British academic Calum Miller attacked the legalisation of abortion in an Ethiopian medical journal and said it could have contributed to maternal deaths

By Michael Day, Chief Foreign Commentator
July 16, 2023

The US Supreme Court’s decision last year to sweep away a woman’s right to an abortion has set back civil liberties in America by several decades. But the culture wars that threaten Americans’ rights are also having a knock-on effect – and a potentially far deadlier one – thousands of miles away.

Sub-Saharan Africa already has the highest rate of unsafe abortions and unintended pregnancies in the world. Now health workers say right-wing Catholic groups in the US are using the Supreme Court ruling to redouble their efforts to deny women in some of the world’s poorest countries the right to safe terminations.

Continued: https://inews.co.uk/news/world/the-britons-and-americans-trying-to-reverse-abortion-rights-in-africa-2461329

After fall of Roe, emboldened religious conservatives lobby to restrict abortion in Africa

BY CARA ANNA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 1, 2023

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Nowhere in the world has a higher rate of unsafe abortions or unintended pregnancies than sub-Saharan Africa, where women often face scorn for becoming pregnant before marriage.

Efforts to legalize and make abortions safer in Africa were shaken when the U.S. Supreme Court ended the national right to an abortion a year ago. Within days, Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio declared that his government would decriminalize abortion “at a time when sexual and reproductive health rights for women are being either overturned or threatened.”

Continued: https://apnews.com/article/africa-abortion-supreme-court-limits-9b02bb07cc50967804fb84704891baf7