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Defending African Values Masks New Colonization

Source: rpublc.com

TL;DR

Article argues right-wing Christian groups use "African values" rhetoric at recent conferences to push Euro-American conservative agendas.
Two events in May 2025: Interparliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty in Uganda (9-11 May) and Pan-African Conference on Family Values in Kenya (12-17 May), organized by US groups like Family Watch International.[[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/may/09/africa-family-values-anti-rights-conferences-conservative-christian-abortion-lgbtq-gender-uganda-kenya-rwanda)[[2]](https://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org/wolves-in-a-sheeps-skin)
Takeaway: These campaigns undermine African women's and queer rights by targeting AU agreements on violence against women and WHO involvement under sovereignty guise.[[3]](https://www.instagram.com/p/DNnc1-bTexT)

The story at a glance

Arya Jeipea Karijo's analysis in The Republic claims Christian supremacist and right-wing groups from the US and Europe are sponsoring African conferences on "family values" to impose foreign conservative ideals disguised as cultural defense. Key players include Family Watch International, Alliance Defending Freedom, and Family Research Council, labeled hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center; they use local African proxies at events in Entebbe, Uganda, and Nairobi, Kenya.[[3]](https://www.instagram.com/p/DNnc1-bTexT) The piece is published now amid rising anti-rights pushback after these May 2025 gatherings produced declarations like the Nairobi Declaration on Family Values.[[2]](https://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org/wolves-in-a-sheeps-skin)

Key points

Conferences framed around "African family values," "sovereignty," and "natural family" (man-woman union), rejecting gender ideology, LGBTQ+ rights, abortion, and comprehensive sexuality education.[[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/may/09/africa-family-values-anti-rights-conferences-conservative-christian-abortion-lgbtq-gender-uganda-kenya-rwanda)
Uganda event (9-11 May, Entebbe): Third Interparliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty, attended by President Museveni; advanced draft African Charter on family sovereignty opposing UN/Western NGOs.[[4]](https://www.christiancouncilinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/3rd_interparliamentary_conference_overview1_0.pdf)
Kenya event (12-17 May, Nairobi): Pan-African Conference on Family Values, hosted by Africa Christian Professionals Forum; ended with Nairobi Declaration claiming broad African support for anti-rights positions.[[2]](https://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org/wolves-in-a-sheeps-skin)
Goals include dismantling African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (AUCEVAWG/Maputo Protocol extensions), WHO withdrawal, and blocking queer rights, presented as resisting neo-colonialism.[[3]](https://www.instagram.com/p/DNnc1-bTexT)
Speakers: Austin Ruse (C-Fam), Sharon Slater (Family Watch International), Bettina Roska (ADF); African MPs and first ladies like Janet Museveni and Rachel Ruto involved.[[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/may/09/africa-family-values-anti-rights-conferences-conservative-christian-abortion-lgbtq-gender-uganda-kenya-rwanda)

Details and context

The article portrays these events as a "second wave of colonization," where foreign-funded groups revive missionary-era tactics to erase pre-colonial African traditions of gender diversity, communal kinship, and spiritual practices, replacing them with rigid nuclear family models alien to many African cultures.[[5]](https://rpublc.com/region/south-east-south-south?view=south-east) Activists like Nelly Munyasia argue true African values emphasize community and love, not hate; conferences risk fueling bills like Kenya's Family Protection Bill (life sentences for homosexuality) and Uganda's 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act.[[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/may/09/africa-family-values-anti-rights-conferences-conservative-christian-abortion-lgbtq-gender-uganda-kenya-rwanda)

Such gatherings build on prior ones (e.g., 2023-2024 in Uganda), sharing tactics to lobby parliaments for "charters" that prioritize parental rights over reproductive health and oppose global bodies seen as imposing "ideologies."[[2]](https://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org/wolves-in-a-sheeps-skin) Critics note exclusion of traditional elders, misleading "Pan-African" branding, and funding from US evangelicals amid Trump's second term boosting anti-rights momentum globally.

Key quotes

"It is colonial violence wrapped in a cultural cloak. When colonizers return with conferences and not guns, talking about 'family values' while systematically attacking the well-being of African women, girls, and queer people, we must ask: whose values are being defended here?" – Arya Jeipea Karijo[[3]](https://www.instagram.com/p/DNnc1-bTexT)
"They claim it is African, and yet it’s not African. Africa values are pegged on love and living together as a community. They are perpetrators of hate." – Nelly Munyasia, Reproductive Health Network Kenya[[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/may/09/africa-family-values-anti-rights-conferences-conservative-christian-abortion-lgbtq-gender-uganda-kenya-rwanda)

Why it matters

These efforts threaten African progress on gender equality by eroding hard-won frameworks like the Maputo Protocol and AUCEVAWG, potentially increasing violence against women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people across the continent. For readers in Africa, this means heightened risks to reproductive health access, anti-discrimination protections, and community-based family norms, as foreign-backed laws gain traction in parliaments. Watch for ratification of proposed family charters or bills in Kenya/Uganda, further conferences (e.g., Cape Town 2027), and responses from AU human rights bodies, though outcomes depend on local activism strength.[[6]](https://odi.org/documents/9835/Navigating_the_politics_of_backlash_Sierra_Leone_uWrkw1p.pdf)