Upcoming online webinar on “Promoting Health and Rights: Prioritising People in Detention in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond” will be held Wednesday 8 March 2023

CAPMHK: Globally several attempts to deinstitutionalize mental health and promote self-autonomy, independent and communal living for persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities have happened. CAPMHK

Last week the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London held a seminar at Marlborough House on the Decriminalisation of Poverty

Sonke Gender Justice: As we approach the deadline to comment on the draft Criminal Law (Sexual Offences And Related Matters) Amendment Bill, which will see the

In the WCBU article ‘Is poverty criminalized in Peoria? A lawyer provides her take‘, Alexus McNally, a researcher from campaign partner, The International Legal Foundation,

South Africa is poised to become the first African country to decriminalise sex work following the publication of an amendment to the country’s criminal law

One of the key outcomes of the Stellenbosch Convening, was the adoption by consensus of the Cape Declaration by participants of the Campaign’s Annual Convening

Today, five justices of the Constitutional Court of Uganda (Frederick Egonda-Ntende, Elizabeth Musoke, Christopher Madrama Izama, Monica K Mugenyi, and Christopher Gashirabake JJCC) in a

South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Justice, Hon John Jeffery talks to SABC News in South Africa about criminal law and incarceration on the African continent,

On the 19 November 2022, francophone partners hosted a side-event, ‘Decriminalisation of poverty, status and activism: what role for the OIF?’, at the 18th Summit

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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,

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

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

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

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

For the U.S. review by the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Miami Law Human Rights Clinic, National Homelessness Law Center, and

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

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

Co-founder of Relais, Youssef Madad is interviewed in TelQuel Feature on ‘Petty Offences, Major Consequences’. In his interview, entitled ‘Neighbourhoods are the right grounds for

The Guardian: Citing claims of violence and rape by police, lawyers and activists mount legal challenge to laws brought in under British rule A case

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

‘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’

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,

 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

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

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

Missed out on the latest updates from our partners? You can read the complete quarterly digest here: Digest – July to Dec 2021

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

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

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

“The vendor who changed Malawi: Mayeso Gwanda took the state to court after his arrest for an outdated and vague petty crime. While he was

As part of their activities under the Campaign to Decriminalise Petty Offences in Africa, the Organisation against Torture in Tunisia (OCTT) has launched an media

Throughout the globe, petty offenses, such as loitering laws, are used to exert social control. They criminalize poverty and marginalization and police gender norms. In