Malawi’s Inua Advocacy granted observer status with African Union Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

* The approval was made on November 6, 2024 and greatly strengthens Inua Advocacy’s impact and scope in advocating for human rights

* Allowing the NGO’s further effective support to vulnerable populations and push for meaningful change across Africa

* This achievement opens up valuable new opportunities and strengthens our ability to drive meaningful impact in our human rights work

By Duncan Mlanjira

Inua Advocacy, the independent civil society organisation that advocates for refugee rights in Malawi and beyond, has been granted an observer status with African Union Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR).

The observer status, whose approval was made on November 6, 2024, greatly strengthens Inua Advocacy’s impact and scope in advocating for human rights, allowing the NGO further effective support to vulnerable populations and push for meaningful change across Africa.

“This achievement opens up valuable new opportunities and strengthens our ability to drive meaningful impact in our human rights work,” says Matchona Phiri, Inua Advocacy’s advocacy & liaison Officer.

On what the status mean to Inua Advocacy and to those they advocate for, Matchona Phiri highlighted:

1. Recognition and legitimacy: With this status, Inua gains formal recognition from the ACHPR, which enhances our credibility both locally and internationally. It gives us a stronger voice and authority in promoting human rights across Africa:

2. Direct participation in ACHPR sessions: As an observer, we can attend ACHPR public sessions, where we will have opportunities to engage with member states, share information, and participate in shaping human rights policies directly;

3. Opportunity to submit shadow reports: Observer status allows us to submit alternative reports to complement or counter state reports on compliance with the African Charter. This means we can provide critical insights that help ACHPR get a fuller picture of human rights conditions in Malawi;

4. Access to special procedures mechanisms: We can work with ACHPR’s special mechanisms like special rapporteurs on refugees, allowing us to report cases, submit complaints, and advocate on behalf of affected communities;

5. Enhanced capacity to advocate and mobilise support: This status opens up new networking avenues, enabling us to collaborate more effectively with other organizations to strengthen advocacy efforts and drive reforms at both national and regional levels.

6. Increased protection for human rights defenders: Our link with the ACHPR can provide a layer of protection for our team and affiliated human rights defenders. It allows for quicker responses from the Commission if we face harassment or retaliation for our work;

7. Fostering accountability and transparency: We can help hold governments accountable by highlighting gaps between their actions and the African Charter. This structured channel for reporting helps ensure that governments are more transparent and responsive to human rights standards; and

8. Providing technical expertise and input: Observer status lets us contribute our expertise to ACHPR’s policies and recommendations, especially in specialized areas related to refugees.

Founded by Innocent Magambi — a former refugee for 27 years — Inua Advocacy collects and escalates complaints from refugees about the services they receive, and demand appropriate action.

Its goal is to hold those who serve refugees accountable and press for appropriate action from service providers. It is also advocating for amendments to the 1989 Refugee Act which imposes the indefinite encampment of all refugees without the right to work; freedom of movement; nor prospect for integration.

It is pushing for the implementation of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) according to the pledges made in 2016 and 2019 — and among others, the pledges made for rolling out the CRRF include incorporating refugees into the National Development Agenda;  introducing a settlement approach and self–reliance to enhance integrated development of the refugees and local community.

Of great concern, which Inua keeps highlighted to the media, is that the refugees and asylum seekers are denied by Malawi government to access some essential services such as education, health and the right to economic activities outside Dzaleka Camp.

Dzaleka camp was established in 1994 initially to host 12,000 refugees and asylum seekers, but it has grown in its population to over 55,000, whose health services are not adequate enough for the huge population.

At the completion of secondary school, strictly at Dzaleka Community Day Secondary School, the refugee children are denied access to public universities and they fail to enroll for private universities because they are not allowed for an extended exit from the camp, but just a day-long pass for emergencies.

All these challenges are what galvanises Inua Advocacy to assist towards the wellbeing of the refugees and and asylum seekers in Malawi.

In 2023, the Malawi government forcibly removed all refugees who were doing business in major towns and cities and relocated them to the camp, a move which was widely condemned by human rights bodies — not just Inua Advocacy — as “gross abuse of refugees’ rights”.

The government has always defended the move claiming it was done “in the interest of national security” but ears to the ground, including interventions by NGO’s indicate otherwise.

At the camp, refugees are provided a monthly living allowance and food rations — but this assistance is not enough as oftenly observed by Inua Advocasy.

The 1951 Refugee Convention, defines a person as a refugee, who has fled their home country to another country due to fear of persecution on the basis of their race, political opinion, religion, war and also includes people who have fled their homes due to natural or man-made disasters.