Draft National Policy on Human Rights, 2010 – A new dawn for Kenya…

The Government of Kenya (GoK) through the Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHR) have produced a draft National Policy on Human Rights, 2010 which will be formulated as a Sessional Paper. The Policy’s vision is to ensure that Kenya becomes a more human rights respecting state. This can only be achievable if human rights issues are incorporated into development planning, implementation and evaluation in all government sectors. 

The following is a summary of what outcomes the document is expected to have: –

1. Establishment and empowerment of effective national or issue-specific institutions that deal with human rights;
2. Enhanced awareness of the human rights standards and mechanisms which will enable everyone including the public servants, to understand how human rights impact on service delivery; 
3. Improved level of informed ratifications of international human rights treaties, domestication and effective observance by the government of its obligations;
4. Better linkages between human rights, planning and development (an important aspect for the realization of Vision 2030);
5. Focus on economic, social and cultural rights leading to improved quality of life, particularly among the marginalized and vulnerable groups (towards to achievement of MDGs); and
6. Provide a road map towards the realization of human rights respecting state. 

The document is thus based on the recognition that Kenya requires a comprehensive framework to protect and promote the realization of humans  rights for all Kenyans. While formulating the document, a multi-sectoral approach was taken to ensure that the document was comprehensive and inclusive. The stakeholders consulted included th public through forums held in different parts of the country, the private sector, trade unions, civil society organisations (CSO), and government ministries. From this consultative process the following objectives for the policy were identified: –

1. To promote the human rights based approach in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in all sectors in the country (government -private, formal-informal, urban-rural, etc);
2. To mainstream human rights in public policy development and resource allocation;
3. to strengthen the capacity of all state and non-state actors to provide for and ensure the fulfillment and enjoyment of human rights for all. 

The consultations also came up with areas of interventions which would be addressed by the policy to ensure that each Kenyan enjoyed maximum human rights. These to me were well thought of and are sufficient, though I welcome any views that one would add or subtract about the thematic areas. These include the following topics/areas: –

1. Insecurity and crime;
2. Lack of access to justice and respect for the rule of law;
3. Discrimination against women;
4. Environmental degradation;
5. Food insecurity;
6. Proliferation of informal settlements;
7. Abuse of children’s rights;
8. Political violence and negative ethnicity;
9. Inadequate health care services;
10. Limited access to services by persons with disability;
11. Low quality and relevance of education;
12. Disparities in land ownership;
13. Ineffective governance;
14. Youth employment;
15. Corruption;
16. Internal displacement of persons;
17. Inadequate access to clean water and sanitation;
18. Human wildlife conflict; and
19. Marginalized and minority groups.

In my opinion the time is rife for Kenya to lead the way in promoting and ensuring the adherence of human rights on a day-to-day basis. If this policy is passed, the country to me would have scored not only with the international community but most importantly with its own citizen. This will ensure that historic human rights injustices (political instigated harassment/violence, unequal resource allocation, development disparities, corruption,  among others) are not repeated. So we Kenyans should go through the policy and any clarifications may be addressed in writing to:

The Permanent Secretary,

Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional  Affairs,

P.O. Box 56057-00200,

Nairobi, Kenya. 

For more information please visit their website on www.justice.go.ke  

 

Hope you all will have a lovely day!