Defenders Coalition has begun processes of putting in place mechanisms to ensure an accurate account of the situation of human rights in Kenya during the period leading up to the 2022 primaries.

Through a partnership with the Embassy of Germany in Kenya, the Defenders Coalition has begun a process of enhancing the capacities of human rights defenders(HRDs) in conducting an objective monitoring, documentation and reporting on human rights violations. 

The HRDs are also equipped with a skill set for safety and security while conducting the monitoring, documentation and reporting activities to protect themselves, the victims and to avert possibilities of causing more harm to the victims. 

The partnership also consolidates the role that Defenders Coalition play in documenting human rights violations and abuses related to the electoral process, including by identifying grass-root and national trends and patterns of violations and abuses, and taking preventive and corrective measures on specific human rights issues through advocacy and intervention during the electoral process.

Approaching the last twelve months until the polls day, it is imperative that the field presence be strengthened. During this first phase, 75 monitors from all the 47 counties in Kenya were dispatched to monitor human rights issues related to the electoral process.  

This type of monitoring is distinct from general electoral observation and verification, which focuses on technical issues during elections. In fact, monitoring during elections does not differ significantly from regular human rights monitoring, but requires heightened attention to specific issues or groups of people such as key populations, indigenous people, the youth, persons with disabilities etc.

Monitoring human rights during this electioneering period will serve a number of purposes: 

1. Active monitoring through regular engagement and presence may strengthen the integrity of the electoral process and promote public confidence.  
2. The involvement of the field presence of human rights monitoring teams can equally serve as a deterrent for violations before, during and after the elections.  
3. Field presences through their advocacy efforts may play an important role in responding to human rights violations and intervene for corrective action to ensure greater participation and nondiscrimination.  
4. Human rights reporting can also contribute, providing an accurate account of the compliance of the electoral process with political rights and other related rights, and thus to the assessment of whether the elections were free and fair.

The overall goal of this engagement is to have genuinely free and fair elections to constitute sustained efforts to protect and promote human rights.