The African Humanist Youth Days will arrive at the African continent. The first time this kind of event will be organized, it will focus on: ”Youth Perspectives on Strategies for action to End Witchcraft Accusations”.
The event shall be a platform to launch the ”International Day of Action Against Witchcraft Accusations” campaign that addresses the plight of victims of witchcraft accusations.
Event details
The event is hosted by the Kenya Humanist Association, sponsored by IHEYO/IHEU and supported by the Norwegian Humanist Association. The event hopes to bring together Members and Executive Members of African humanist organizations from Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, Morocco among others. This event is scheduled to take place in Nairobi, Kenya from the 22 to 24 July,2016.
Purpose of the Event
Delegates from Humanist NGOs in different parts of Africa will provide presentations on topics pertaining to theme. This will be the beginning point of a collaborative research that will lead to a report and book.
The International Day of Action Against Witchcraft accusations campaign promotes a day of global focus on the plight of victims of witchcraft accusations and should be marked annually by Humanists organizations in Africa and partners around the world with high profile events.
The campaign aims to raise awareness among the public and to lobby the United Nations (UN) to adopt the day as a United Nations international observance day for victims of witchcraft accusations, based on the knowledge that UN recognition would provide the best platform for action through the United Nations’ global reach and pre-eminent position in international development and human rights. If such high level, global recognition could be gained from the UN, the world’s millions of victims of witchcraft accusation could begin to be reached at a scale that’s unprecedented, and would represent a starting point for empowerment for each of them to realize that they had rights, and demonstrate that the world felt that they mattered.
In 2017, the African Working Group of IHEYO are planning to have a dossier on victims of witchcraft accusation to give to every UN representative and foreign minister of member countries as part of the campaign to lobby with the UN to adopt International Day of Action Against Witchcraft accusations as a United Nations observance day. The Humanist organizations will also collaborate on the first comprehensive global report on witchcraft violence, with the purpose of making a conclusive case through hard evidence for a United Nations observance day for victims of witchcraft violence. The research report is a major achievement in itself as until this point no single comprehensive source of information on witchcraft violence exists. The weight of evidence of the research report should be able to make the United Nations declare a United Nations International Day of Action Against Witchcraft accusations at the United Nations General Assembly session.
The need for advocacy on witchcraft accusations exists because it is still rampant, especially in Africa though under-reported by the media. While Humanist NGOs and activists have been working to bring the problem to the forefront of global development and human rights work, a breakthrough has not yet been made. Lacking has been a campaign to bind these efforts into a self sustaining movement that would create global awareness and comprehensive action.