Sub-Saharan Africa – FoRB in Full

International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict: Statement by the Parents of Leah Sharibu

Posted on 19/06/2026 by cswpress in Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa

We are Nathan and Rebecca Sharibu, the parents of Leah Sharibu. Today, as organizations within the Religious Liberty Partnership gather under the powerful banner of “Voices for Justice” to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, we speak with heavy hearts but unwavering hope.

Our daughter Leah, abducted as a 14-year-old Christian schoolgirl from the Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19, 2018, remains in the captivity of Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists for more than eight long years.

Leah was taken alongside 109 other girls. Most were eventually released, but our daughter was held back solely because she refused to renounce her Christian faith and convert to Islam. She stood firm in her belief, choosing to remain true to Christ even at the cost of her freedom.

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Nigeria Does Not Have a Kidnapping Problem. It Has a Protection Accountability Problem.

Posted on 11/06/2026 by cswpress in Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa

On 15 May 2026 armed men attacked three schools in Oriire Local Government Area, Oyo State. Forty-six pupils and teachers were taken. On the same day — the same day — forty-two children were abducted from Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira-Uba, Borno State. A mathematics teacher, Michael Oyedokun, was killed. His students watched. Three weeks have passed. Most of those children are still missing.

Nigeria does not have a kidnapping problem. Nigeria has a protection accountability problem. The kidnapping is the outcome. The accountability failure is the system.

The Record on Paper

Nigeria endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration in 2015. It launched a National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools in 2021. In December 2022 the government committed ₦144.8 billion to a Safe Schools financing plan running through 2026. A National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre was established. Security personnel were trained across all 36 states.

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Small steps to justice: Why recent assessments of Sudan’s warring parties are significant, and how the international community must respond

Posted on 31/03/2026 by cswpress in Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan

On 19 February the United Nations Independent Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on the Sudan published a report that found that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)’s siege and actions in the aftermath of the capture of the city of El Fasher in October 2025 bore the ‘hallmarks of genocide’.

Highlighting the militia’s systematic targeting of the non-Arab Darfuri Fur and Zaghawa communities the Chair of the FFM, Mohamed Chande Othman, said: ‘The scale, coordination, and public endorsement of the operation by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around El-Fasher were not random excesses of war. They formed part of a planned and organised operation that bears the defining characteristics of genocide.’

Two weeks later the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that the US State Department designate the RSF as an Entity of Particular Concern (EPC) in light of the ‘harmful effects to religious freedom and Sudan’s diverse religious and ethnic communities’ caused by the RSF’s campaign of mass atrocities and widespread human rights violations.

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The United States’ Board of Peace is unlikely to fix the shortcomings of the current international order

Posted on 16/02/2026 by cswpress in International Arenas, Sudan, United Nations

United States (US) President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace – formally established on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in January 2026 – purports to be an intergovernmental organisation mandated to carry out peacebuilding functions under international law. However within just a few weeks of its existence multiple concerns have arisen regarding its likely impact on the international system and human rights framework, with clear implications for situations of severe crisis around the world, including Gaza and Sudan.

Firstly, despite the organisation being billed initially as a means of implementing the Gaza ceasefire plan as enshrined in UN Security Council resolution 2803, the board’s charter makes no mention of Gaza, and instead details a mandate that possibly could undermine international law, including by supplanting crucial responsibilities of the United Nations (UN), while also potentially impacting its liquidity crisis.

Citizens of almost half of the countries that have joined the board so far are impacted by US travel bans imposed by the Trump administration. The board also appears to have been created on a ‘pay for play’ basis, with no clear oversight of the organisation’s nominally voluntary membership fees, particularly the USD 1 billion fee to secure permanent membership, raising the spectre of a potential world order where access to justice and the promotion, protection and fulfilment of human rights are dependent on a nation’s wealth, its military capability, and ultimately, its standing with the US president.

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A police attack on a place of worship is a worrying sign of the erosion of civil and political rights in Kenya

Posted on 11/02/2026 by cswpress in Kenya, Sub-Saharan Africa

On Sunday 25 January congregants at the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Witima Parish, Nyeri County, heard shots outside of the building. Some church members went outside to investigate and saw what they believed to be the police and masked assailants surrounding the premises. In addition to the firing of live rounds, teargas was thrown into the church, with images shared on social media showing congregants covering their noses and mouths, and several individuals fainting.

Historically there has been a respect for religious institutions in Kenya, especially for Christian churches and their leadership. Political leaders have often courted the church for political advantage and sway over key voting blocks and communities. This attack contrasts starkly with this backdrop, even within the context of increasing political and security tensions that have seen an increase in police officers unlawfully invading places of worship around the country.

Responding to the 25 January attack in the press, Bishop Gerald Muriithi of the Mount Kenya West Diocese of the Anglican Church of Kenya stated: ‘As a church we feel that our right to worship was violated, little children were traumatised, aged parents were harassed, the clergy were terrified and intimidated and political leaders were harassed.’

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