Banjul, The Gambia, May 2026 

On the margins of the 87th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) during the NGO Forum, advocates, policymakers, and human rights leaders came together to confront a shared reality: while Africa has made significant gains in advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and women’s rights, these gains are increasingly under threat. 

By Cheikh Tidjane N’DONGO, IPPF Africa Regional Senior Advocacy Advisor

A panel organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR) and IPPF Africa (IPPF ARO), through the financial support of the Packard Foundation and the Government of Luxembourg, on “Defending Rights in Hostile Contexts: Attacks on Human Rights actors advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Context of Shrinking Civic Space and Gender Backlash”, panelists examined both the nature of the current backlash and the strategies proving effective in defending hard‑won rights. The panel has been moderated by Hon. Janet Ramatoulie Sallah‑Njie, Commissioner and AU Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, shifting the focus from challenges to solutions. Hon. Sallah‑Njie noted: “Across the continent, we see African actors leading with courage and creativity. These good practices remind us that women’s rights are firmly rooted in African values of dignity, equality, and justice.”

A shrinking civic space and coordinated backlash 

Across the continent, SRHR defenders, health providers, and women’s rights organizations are facing escalating attacks, restrictions, and delegitimization. These challenges were a central focus of the panel 'Defending Rights in Hostile Contexts', which highlighted how opposition to SRHR is increasingly organized, well‑resourced, and often framed through narratives of “culture,” “morality,” or “African values.” 

Dr. Jessica Oga, Head of Ubingwa Think Tank, Afya Na Haki, highlighted that “The cultural framing is the most sophisticated tool in the anti-rights toolkit. When a woman defends reproductive rights in Africa today, she is not presented as defending human rights. She is presented as betraying her culture, her community, her identity. The counter to it is not to abandon cultural conversation. The counter is to reclaim it, using Africa's own jurisprudence, Africa's own treaty architecture, Africa's own definition of Ubuntu, one that protects the most vulnerable.”

Panelists underscored that this backlash does not occur in isolation. It is embedded within a broader shrinking of civic space, marked by restrictive laws, regulatory pressures on civil society, and heightened risks for human rights defenders, particularly women and those working on gender equality and bodily autonomy. Gendered disinformation, intimidation, and legal harassment continue to undermine both advocacy and service delivery, with direct consequences for access to sexual and reproductive health care. 

Lived realities of defenders and providers 

The panel brought forward concrete examples of how backlash affects day‑to‑day work. SRHR providers and advocates described professional intimidation, regulatory harassment, and personal attacks that disrupt services and create fear. Drawing on frontline experience, Nelly Munyasia, Executive Director of the Reproductive Health Network Kenya (RHNK), underscored the pressure on service delivery: “Shrinking and reframed funding landscape that shifts away directly from rights-based funding leads to fragmentation of the health system through dismantling of [the] integration of SRHR service delivery.”

Institutional resistance and the role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs)

Panelists also examined how laws and regulatory frameworks are increasingly used to constrain SRHR advocacy, often indirectly, through licensing rules, funding restrictions, or vague public order provisions. A key moment of the panel focused on the preventive role national human rights institutions (NHRIs) can play when rights come under threat. Commissioner Halima Dibba, National Human Rights Commission of The Gambia, reflected on recent efforts in The Gambia to resist attempts to roll back protections against female genital mutilation (FGM).

Commissioner Dibba stressed: “Regression is not inevitable. When institutions act early, ground their positions in the law, and work closely with civil society, it is possible to stop harmful reversals before they take hold.” The discussion highlighted this case as an example of how coordinated institutional action can defend established protections and reinforce public trust in human rights frameworks.

Building protection, resilience, and solidarity 

Throughout the discussions, participants identified protection and solidarity as essential to sustaining SRHR and women’s rights work. Effective strategies include legal support for defenders, digital and psychosocial protection measures, and stronger alliances between civil society, health providers, faith leaders, and institutions. 

Crucially, there was broad agreement that no single actor can confront the backlash alone. Regional bodies, states, and non‑state actors must work together to strengthen accountability, safeguard civic space, and ensure that defenders can operate without fear. Speakers reaffirmed the Maputo Protocol as a cornerstone of these efforts, emphasizing its relevance as a living instrument for protecting bodily autonomy and gender equality.

Looking ahead 

As the 87th ACHPR session continues, the conversations in Banjul signal both concern and resolve. While the backlash against SRHR and women’s rights is real and intensifying, so too is the determination of African actors to defend progress, protect defenders, and advance rights grounded in equality and justice. 

For IPPF ARO and its partners, these exchanges reaffirm the importance of sustained advocacy, regional engagement, and solidarity with those on the frontlines, ensuring that sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the rights of women and girls in all their diversity, are not only defended but continue to advance.