On 7 July 2022, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in partnership with People’s Health Movement Kenya (PHM - Kenya) organised a community workshop in the informal settlement of Dandora in Nairobi, Kenya.

Over 40 people participated in the discussion in English and Swahili. Participants included individuals at high risk of marginalisation such as people with disabilities, women and the chronically ill.

The discussion was centred around the research report ‘Patients or Customers? The Impact of Commercialised Healthcare on the Right to Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Kenya’ that GI-ESCR published in April 2022. Joining forces with People’s Health Movement Kenya, GI-ESCR has returned to the informal settlements where the research was undertaken, meeting again the individuals that were interviewed in the reports as well as reaching out to others in the communities. The objective has been not only to disseminate the findings of the report and raise awareness on access to healthcare as a right but also to learn from communities to build participatory, collective strategies to achieve change.

Ashina Mtsumi, Programme Officer for Public Services at GI-ESCR and Rossella De Falco, Programme Officer on the Right to Health at GI-ESCR both participated in the workshop and facilitated the dialogue together with PHM Kenya. The workshop was the third in a series of advocacy events aimed at raising awareness on the dangers posed by the commercialisation of healthcare in Kenya for the enjoyment of the right to health.

Learn more about our work on the Right to Health.