In many Caribbean communities, rising violence has eroded public trust in law enforcement. Imagine a police officer in Trinidad and Tobago who walks the bustling community of St. James three times a week, stopping by corner shops, checking in with elders, and taking time to talk with the young people on the...
Open Grants Call: Commonwealth Foundation Annual Grants Offering up to £60,000 for Civil Society Action.
The Commonwealth Foundation is offering grants for civil society organisations working on health justice, climate justice, and freedom of expression. With funding up to £60,000 over two years, they support projects that create meaningful dialogue between civil society and governments across Commonwealth nations. Perfect for established CSOs (3+ years) ready...
Chicago artists, Miami Law students bridge art and advocacy.
The prints have travelled from Art Basel Miami to the World Urban Forum in Cairo. This proves that when those most affected drive the conversation, the impact reaches far beyond galleries to influence policymakers.
Court Users Committee undertake training on mental health
Campaign partner, Coalition Action for Preventative Mental Health in Kenya (CAPMHK) recently conducted a training workshop with the Court Users Committee at Makadara Law Court, Nairobi county, in Kenya. The workshop sought to strengthen the legal capacity of participants around mental health, in line with the Judiciary’s goal to expand...
“I will not go to sleep”: New Women Beyond Walls episode features Pamela Winn on surviving prison while pregnant
Following her release, Winn founded Restore Her USA, an organisation supporting women of colour impacted by the criminal legal system.
UN experts raise concerns over US budget cuts and human rights.
Partners for Dignity & Rights: On June 3, 2025, several advocates working on housing, homeless/houseless and poverty issues in the United States met with civil society staff of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal,...
Global prison reform still lags as Mandela Rules mark 10th anniversary.
The anniversary of the Mandela Rules is a reminder that global standards exist, but without political will and practical implementation, rights remain on paper.
Reforming the Revenue Machine: An Advocate’s Guide to Court Fines and Fees
National trends are clear: fines and fees are being used as revenue tools, not instruments of justice. FFJC’s latest blog series, Reforming the Revenue Machine: An Advocate’s Guide to Fines and Fees, designed to help advocates translate the data found in Imposing Instability into actionable steps to drive reform. For decades,...
Africa Launch: Practitioners’ guide on a human rights-based approach to criminal law with a focus on the decriminalisation of poverty and status.
The Practitioners' Guide on a Human Rights-Based Approach to Criminal Law offers concrete tools for reforming unjust laws that disproportionately target marginalised communities.
Sonia Dahmani: A Tunisian lawyer’s fight for dignity.
Five women share a 20-square-metre cell crawling with rats and lizards. Sonia has lost more than 20 kilos on the meagre prison diet.
UN Crime Congress invites NGOs to apply for accreditation
The Congress Secretariat is pleased to inform you that the Fifteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (UN Crime Congress) will be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 25 to 30 April 2026, with pre-session consultations scheduled for Friday, 24 April 2026. The overall theme for this Congress is “Accelerating crime...
What happens when your mum goes to prison?
The statistics alone are staggering, but it's the human stories that will change how you think about justice.
Ireland: How poverty and trauma fuel women’s imprisonment.
In overcrowded prisons running at 163% capacity, women sleep on mattresses while dealing with untreated trauma from domestic violence, sexual abuse, and grief.
Research shows how criminal justice systems further punish victims of coercive control
The Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) has published new research revealing how the criminal justice system too often “does the perpetrator’s job for him”; thus punishing women who have already been subjected to coercive control and abuse. The report shares the experiences of seven women, each criminalised as a direct...
Justice or Punishment? ‘Women Beyond Walls’ second episode spotlights poverty and incarceration.
With nearly one million women imprisoned worldwide, and numbers rising at a faster rate than men’s, the discussion highlights how minor offences and systemic inequalities are leading to disproportionate punishment.
Call for inputs re-opened: Decriminalization of homelessness and poverty
In many countries persons experiencing homelessness, living in poverty or situation of vulnerability continue to be disproportionately subjected to fines, deportation, arbitrary arrest, or detention for petty offences or conduct that is necessary to survive, such as informal street vending, waste collection, sex work, begging, sleeping, cooking or eating in...
APCOF addresses EU-AU Dialogue on behalf of Campaign
Campaign partner APCOF submits a statement on behalf of the Campaign, to the EU-AU Consultation with Civil Society. The statement calls on the EU-AU dialogue to include consideration of the measures that can be taken by AU organs to promote implementation of the Principles on the Decriminalisation of Petty Offences,...
Campaign submits statement at 73rd ACHPR session
APCOF submitted the below statement on behalf of the Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status, in response to the report of the Special Rapporteur on Prisons, Conditions of Detention and Policing in Africa, at the 73rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. APCOF statement -...
Reflections on Women Prison Conditions – ACHPR
At the 73rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, Louise Edwards, Director of Research and Programmes at APCOF gave the following reflections on the action items from the African Commission's 'Sensitisation Webinar on the Vulnerable Situation of Women in Prison' held in November 2021. APCOF-ACHPR-Presentation-on-Women-in-Places-of-DetentionDownload
Malawian High Court outlaws sweeping arrests
Article from Malawi Nation, Wed Nov 18, 2021: Last week, the Malawian High Court declared the police’s indiscriminate sweeping exercises unlawful and in violation of various constitutional rights and international human rights standards. Mass arrest practices, carried out under the guise of crime prevention, referred to are prevalent throughout Africa...
Malawi High Court Declares Mass Arrests (Sweeping Exercises) Unconstitutional
Blantyre, 9 November 2022 – On 8 November 2022, the High Court of Malawi issued a judgment declaring the police’s indiscriminate practice of sweeping exercises unlawful and in violation of various constitutional rights and international human rights standards. Mass arrest practices, carried out under the guise of crime prevention, referred...
South African civil society issue statement ahead of UPR
On 16 November 2022, the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group examined South Africa's human rights record for the fourth time. This review comes at an appropriate time in South Africa as it is currently in the midst of a human rights crisis which needs to...
The crime of being poor – images of human rights violations in prisons aim to spark rethink of incarceration
Former Constitutional Court judge and current inspecting judge of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS), Edwin Cameron, was one of the speakers at the prison conditions exhibition hosted by the South African Litigation Centre. Cameron formally opened the exhibition and shared with the audience that during deliberations among the involved organisations...
Regional meeting on prison oversight mechanisms
On 27 and 28 October 2022 a large, multi-sectoral group of stakeholders from across Africa met in Johannesburg to consider urgent action to address cruel, inhuman, and degrading conditions that are endemic in places of detention. Immediate action is required to meet the minimum standards in line with our domestic...
Exhibition: The Ties that Bind Us
On 27 October 2022, SALC co-hosted a photo exhibition entitled "The ties that bind us". The exhibition looked at the conditions in detention accross Africa and urged reform of criminal laws which exacerbate incarceration. The exhibition included photos from prisons in Kenya and SIerra Leone (from the Campaign on the...
PRI issues statements against criminalistion of women to UN working group
In October 2022, PRI responded to a call for input by the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, for its upcoming report to the Human Rights Council on “Human Security of Women and Girls in the Context of Poverty and Inequality”. As a member of the campaign,...
Campaign issues joint statement on colonial laws at the UN Human Rights Council
On 28 September, as part of its 51st session, the UN Human Rights Council held a panel discussion on the negative impact of colonial legacies on human rights. Tríona Lenihan from Penal Reform International delivered a joint statement on behalf of six organisations including campaign members (Penal Reform International, Amnesty...
Special Report on Petty Offences covered in Nigerian media
Premium Times Nigeria run a special report entitled 'Criminalisation of petty offences in Nigeria violates the poor' which heavily features campaign engagement with both the ACHPR and the Nigerian criminal justice institutions and campaign partners, such as Lawyers Alert and PRAWA on Premium Times Nigeria. The article by Kunle Sunni...
Stellenbosch Conference closes with coalition’s draft Joint Declaration
From 27 to 29 September 2022, representatives from over 40 organisations from over 30 countries, gathered in Stellenbosch, South Africa, for the Campaign’s Annual Convening to explore the theme: “Decriminalising Status and Activism”. The meeting, hosted by Stellenbosch University (SU), provided a unique opportunity for campaign members to learn lessons...
Criminalization of Homelessness is Racially Discriminatory, Must be Abolished, Say UN Human Rights Experts
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND- The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva yesterday stated “it remains concerned at the increasing number of state and local laws that criminalize homelessness and at the disproportionately high number of persons belonging to racial and ethnic minorities affected by homelessness,” and called upon...
Children caught using cannabis will no longer be criminally prosecuted
GroundUP reports: The Constitutional Court has ratified a High Court order declaring sections of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act as unconstitutional because it criminalises the use and possession of cannabis by a child. The court has suspended the order for 24 months to give Parliament time to finalise a...
Over 50 organisations to attend Annual Convening
From 27 to 29 September 2022, representatives from over 50 organisations from over 35 countries, will gather in Stellenbosch, South Africa, for the Campaign’s Annual Convening to explore the theme: “Decriminalising Status and Activism”. The meeting, hosted by Stellenbosch University (SU), will provide a unique opportunity for campaign members to...
Understanding the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s Methods of Work
The short video provides an explanation on how the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention's mechanism could play an important part on the advocacy work against arbitrary detention of marginalised groups (which often faced criminalisation). Read more here: https://lotmnetwork.org/knowledge-hub-2/
Economic right activity in check in Malawi
Due to economic challenges the country is sailing through, some people have resorted to doing business at a small-scale to earn a living. However, those that are doing business through vending are sometimes entangled between the rock of poverty and the blue sea of city bylaws. THOMAS KACHERE writes in...
City of Cape Town to return belongings to homeless after agreement in court
City of Cape Town has been ordered by the Western Cape High Court in South Africa, to return the belongings of the homeless living around the Castle in the CBD. On June 1st, NGO Ndifuna Ukwazi filed a notice of motion with the Western Cape High Court to order the...
CAMPHK files as amicus to decriminalise suicide in Kenya
In Kenya attempted suicide as laid out by Section 226 of the Penal Code is a misdemeanor punishable by Two (2) Year’s imprisonment or a fine or both, pursuant to the provisions of Section 36 of the Penal Code. Persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities arrested for attempted suicide have...
Poor traders in Jail
https://www.youtube.com/embed/zSrDMLGXHgQ Campaign partner, Crime Check TV release a video that highlights the effect of dutybearers using vagrancy and loitering laws to target poor traders in Ghana. The video is a tool to advocate for the reforming and repealing laws in the Ghanaian National Assembly.
“Justice for All” event kick-starts a year of action
https://youtu.be/z5RUZcGY5Bg Side event to the 31st Session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. Co-organised by Ghana, Mexico, South Africa, the United States, Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status, International Drug Policy Consortium, International Legal Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Penal Reform International, African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum, Community Advice...
‘Decriminalising petty offences’ JoyNews Special
https://youtu.be/mb6EChnC7s8 ‘Decriminalizing Petty Offences’ special on JoyNews Online. Mina Mensah, Director, CHRI and Samuel Lardy Anyenini, Director of Programmes, IHRDA exchanged with the host of Joy News’ programme ‘The Law’ on how laws on petty offences inherently target the poor and marginalised groups by their very nature. Tracing their colonial history and discriminatory nature...
Campaign issues statement at 71st ACHPR Ordinary Session
https://youtu.be/md1wP4qf6aI As part of the civil society engagement at the 71st Ordinary Session of the ACHPR, the campaign issued the attached collective statement, via it’s campaign partner, the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) to the Commission. The statement, under Agenda Item 3: Human Rights Situation in Africa, calls on the commission to:...
Court case filed against Sierra Leone to overturn discriminatory loitering laws
AdvocAid has filed a case at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice in Abuja, Nigeria, against the Government of Sierra Leone, seeking to overturn the country’s discriminatory loitering laws. The Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) and Sierra Leonean lawyer, Eleanor...
“Counting the cost of exclusion” seminar – Highlights
Linking criminal law, political exclusion and socio-economic inequality On 24 March 2022, the Global Campaign to Decriminalize Poverty and Status hosted a virtual seminar on Counting the Cost of Exclusion: Linking criminal law, political exclusion and socio-economic inequality. During the event, panellists shed light on the interplay between social,...
Online petition launched to decriminalise cannabis in Kenya
Campaign partner, CAPMHK has launched an online petition calling for the decriminalisation of cannabis for personal use in Kenya. In Kenya, when one is found guilty of possession of cannabis for personal use, they face a jail term of up to ten (10) years or liable to a fine of Two Hundred and Fifty...
ILF work in Nepal selected as a World Justice Challenge finalist
Campaign partner, The International Legal Foundation has been selected as a finalist for the World Justice Challenge for their work on decriminalising poverty in Nepal. Read full details on the project, below: Decriminalizing Poverty and Marginalization in Nepal: ending unjust fines and debtors' prisons The ProblemAcross Nepal, courts routinely impose...
Why the courts alone can’t solve homelessness
An op-ed from APCOF describes how, despite a court order, the City of Cape Town was yet to return the seized possessions after evicting homeless staying in District Six, including cellphones, mattresses, and identification documents. The article on ‘Why the courts alone can’t solve homelessness’ shows how Cape Town’s use...
12 inmates regain freedom in innovative e-Court sittings
In response to congestion of custodial centers in Nigeria in the aftermath of the COVID 19 Pandemic, PRAWA with the support of OSIWA, piloted the use of technology in supporting regular court sittings. Abia state Judiciary was the beneficiary of this pilot E-Court sitting. The state judiciary was provided with...
Quarterly Digest: July to Dec 2021
Missed out on the latest updates from our partners? You can read the complete quarterly digest here: Digest - July to Dec 2021
Implications of petty offences in Uganda – A documentary
Criminal laws, particularly those providing for petty offences such as vagrancy laws, have consistently been used to arrest, detain, evict, or exploit the labour of persons who are deemed unfit to occupy public spaces. The continued enforcement of these laws often shows no regard for the individual right to dignity, fair...
City of Cape Town’s ‘broken windows’ policy demands more than a criminal justice response
In December 2021, campaign partner, APCOF crafted an OP-Ed in South Africa’s Daily Maverick entitled ‘City of Cape Town’s ‘broken windows’ policy demands more than a criminal justice response’, in response to the City of Cape Town’s highly controversial “deliberate decision to fine the homeless”. The article makes explicit the urgency required...
Campaign issues statement at 69th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR
https://youtu.be/DeRntOVR8B4 As part of the civil society engagement at the 69th Ordinary Session of the African Commission of Human and Peoples' Rights, the campaign issued the following collective statement, via it's campaign partner, the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) to the Commission, with a call to: continue its work...