Lizzie Kiama is a Kenyan disability rights activist. She is the founder and managing trustee of This Ability Trust, a Kenyan disability rights organization. [1] [2]
Lizzie Kiama is a Kenyan disability rights activist. She is the founder and managing trustee of This Ability Trust, a Kenyan disability rights organization. [1] [2]
Kiama is from Mombasa and was the first born of four children. [3] She has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the United States International University. [4]
At the age of 18, Kiama was injured in a car crash, which resulted in a physical disability. [2] [5] [6] Complications while giving birth a few years later resulted in her disability becoming permanent. [5]
Kiama founded This Ability Trust, in 2012, to support companies with inclusion of people with disabilities and to empower women and girls with disabilities, and to promote rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. [5] [7]
In 2016 Kiama coordinated national advocacy efforts towards advancing sexual reproductive health rights of women and girls with disabilities in Kenya using the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which received specific recommendations on the rights of women and girls with disabilities in the Concluding Observations to the State report. [8] In 2018, as the director of gender and disability at This Ability, she was one of several activists chosen to attend the 62nd session of the Commission for the Status of Women (CSW). [9]
In 2019, This Ability organized a side event on the sexual reproductive health rights of women and girls with disabilities in Africa under the auspices of the ICPD+25 Nairobi Summit and contributed to SRHM article “Actions, not words: progress since ICPD on disability and SRHR”. [10] [11]
As a panelist during a 2020 webinar related to sexual and reproductive health and rights during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kiama discussed the impacts of the pandemic on access to essential services for the disability community. [12] In 2021, she was a contributor to a UNFPA report, "My body is my own: Claiming the right to autonomy and self-determination." [7] [13] In April 2021, with support from UNFPA, This Ability established a confidential toll-free service for women with disabilities seeking sexual and reproductive health services, known as Mama Siri. [14] [15]
Kiama is married and has one daughter. [4]
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies and protocols, increasing access to birth control, and leading campaigns against child marriage, gender-based violence, obstetric fistula, and female genital mutilation.
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:
Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.
The United Nations coordinated an International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, Egypt, on 5–13 September 1994. Its resulting Programme of Action is the steering document for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing different behaviors, aspirations and needs equally, regardless of gender.
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life.
The Commission on the Status of Women is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main UN organs within the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. Every year, representatives of Member States gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide. In April 2017, ECOSOC elected 13 new members to CSW for a four-year term 2018–2022. One of the new members is Saudi Arabia, which has been criticised for its treatment of women.
Reproductive justice is a critical feminist framework that was invented as a response to United States reproductive politics. The three core values of reproductive justice are the right to have a child, the right to not have a child, and the right to parent a child or children in safe and healthy environments. The framework moves women's reproductive rights past a legal and political debate to incorporate the economic, social, and health factors that impact women's reproductive choices and decision-making ability.
Population Action International (PAI) is an international, non-governmental organization that uses research and advocacy to improve global access to family planning and reproductive health care. Its mission is to "ensure that every person has the right and access to sexual and reproductive health, so that humanity and the natural environment can exist in balance with fewer people living in poverty". PAI's headquarters is in Washington, D.C.
DSW is an international private non-profit foundation addressing Sexual & Reproductive Health (SRH) and population dynamics. DSW funds its project and advocacy work from private donations and the financial support of governments, foundations and other organisations. It has its headquarters in Hanover, Germany.
Marleen Temmerman is a Belgian gynaecologist, professor and former Senator, currently heading the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health at Aga Khan University in Nairobi, Kenya.
Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM), formerly Reproductive Health Matters (RHM), is an organisation that promotes sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) globally. SRHM's mission is to advance the creation and dissemination of sexual and reproductive health knowledge that is grounded in human rights and based on credible evidence, and to facilitate the transformation of such knowledge into action for improved SRHR. This mission is shaped by the understanding that rights- and evidence-based knowledge is power.
The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC) is a global partnership of public, private and non-governmental organizations. Its aim is to ensure that all people in low- and middle-income countries can choose, obtain and use the supplies and appropriate services they need to safeguard their reproductive health. Since 2004, the Coalition has been part of international efforts to secure reproductive health supplies by increasing resources, strengthening systems, and building effective partnerships.
Sexual and reproductive health and rights or SRHR is the concept of human rights applied to sexuality and reproduction. It is a combination of four fields that in some contexts are more or less distinct from each other, but less so or not at all in other contexts. These four fields are sexual health, sexual rights, reproductive health and reproductive rights. In the concept of SRHR, these four fields are treated as separate but inherently intertwined.
Stellah Wairimu Bosire, is a Kenyan physician, corporate executive, human rights activist and author, a former co-executive director of Uhai Eashri and previously served as the chief executive officer of Kenya Medical Association and as the vice-chair of the HIV and AIDS Tribunal of Kenya.
Reach A Hand, Uganda (RAHU) is a youth serving nonprofit organisation based in Uganda that focuses on youth empowerment programs with an emphasis on, Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) and Advocacy of young people between the ages of 10–30 years including HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention ,youth livelihood promotion. RAHU works with the goal of increasing access to information and services relating to SRHR for young people so as to empower them live healthy, focused and productive lives. Reach A Hand Uganda's efforts are timely to make a contribution to ensuring that every young person in Uganda can access accurate information to aid and direct them in taking that crucial life decision regarding their life skills and development, and sexual reproductive health and rights.
Flo is a health app that provides menstruation tracking, cycle prediction, and information regarding preparation for conception, pregnancy, early motherhood, and menopause.
Mujer y Salud en Uruguay is a feminist non-governmental organisation founded in Uruguay 1996. Its mission is the "promotion and protection of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) from a gender and generations' perspective". The headquarters are in Montevideo, where an interdisciplinary team works alongside a national and regional network of professionals and investigators. The current chairwoman is Lilián Abracinskas.
The status of women in Zambia has improved in recent years. Among other things, the maternal mortality rate has dropped and the National Assembly of Zambia has enacted multiple policies aimed at decreasing violence against women. However, progress is still needed. Most women have limited access to reproductive healthcare, and the total number of women infected with HIV in the country continues to rise. Moreover, violence against women in Zambia remains common. Child marriage rates in Zambia are some of the highest in the world, and women continue to experience high levels of physical and sexual violence.
Tanzila Khan is a Pakistani entrepreneur, disability rights activist, author and founder of Girlythings PK, a platform and website which delivers sanitary napkins to menstruators facing barriers in Pakistan. Khan focuses on raising awareness of and access to diversity and inclusion in all sectors, reproductive health and education especially for those with disabilities. She has given many talks around the world, written two novels, produced one short film, FruitChaat and runs two organizations to de-stigmatize disability.
Climate change is a global phenomenon with wide-ranging and profound impacts on various aspects of human life. Beyond its well-known environmental consequences, climate change significantly affects human health, including the realm of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHRs). Nowhere are these impacts more pronounced than in Africa, a continent that is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to its socio-economic, geographic, and ecological factors. Understanding the intersection between climate change and SRHRs is crucial for developing holistic and effective strategies to address these interconnected challenges.