Intervention presented on behalf of People who Use Drugs in Kenya by WRADA ‘s Rita Gatonye in February 2025 in Geneva at the UN Human Rights Spaces.
People who use drugs in Kenya experience a range of issues that limit their access to health services and enjoyment of human rights as guaranteed by international human rights standards and the Constitution of Kenya of 2010.
Criminalisation of drug use, which exposes the community of people who use drugs to numerous human rights violations, limited nature of harm reduction services in the face of a fast-rising population, stigma and discrimination; all these issues limit access to essential, life-saving HIV and harm reduction services, as well as other health and social services, reproductive, socio-economic and legal service and rights that all citizens should enjoy.
Kenya remains a regional leader and benchmark country in the HIV prevention and harm reduction response, with many of the surrounding countries within the African region following the Kenya leadership in the HIV response, including services for people who use drugs. However, we also need to emphasise that issues experienced by our community have always been sidelined and remain at the bottom of the list, even within the UN human rights spaces.
With regard to the issues raised, we recommend the following:
- The Government of Kenya should establish and ensure safe access to justice and reporting mechanisms, including monitoring and evaluation, that promote and respect the human rights, confidentiality, autonomy, and dignity of people who use drugs without any fear of legal repercussions
- The Government of Kenya should introduce alternative measures to prosecution, sentencing, and incarceration for drug-related offences, with a focus on non-violent and minor offences, such as possession of drugs for personal use. A national roadmap should be developed in partnership with the community of people who use drugs in Kenya, shifting the focus of the criminal justice system away from the punitive approach towards a human rights, health, and evidence-based approach.
- The Government of Kenya should Pass the Harm Reduction Bill 2024/5 in consultation with the community of people who use drugs, and ensure the inclusion of harm reduction as an essential service within the broade Universal Health Coverage and to ensure the protection and promotion of the health and wellbeing of people who use drugs in Kenya.
We will share our full report with the EU mission and we hope that member states of the EU will consider our recommendations with the spirit of leaving no one behind.