KELIN (Kenya)

KELIN is a national network which was established to address and respond to Legal, Ethical and human rights issues relating to health and HIV and AIDS. In 1993, a workshop was held in Accra Ghana, on legal, ethical and human rights issues on HIV and AIDS. The aim of the Accra workshop and meeting was to bring together a core group of people from different countries in the Africa to map out and strategize on the possibilities of establishing networks of Law, Ethics, human rights and HIV.

Each country was given the mandate to start national networks that would draw from a wide range of government, civil society organizations and individual experts, especially in law and ethics. This marked a crucial moment for reflecting on the commitment obtained within various countries, with regard to the legal and ethical issues relating to HIV and the ability of HIV programmes to address them. KELIN was, therefore, formed on this basis and inaugurated in, February 1994 as the Kenya chapter of the legal and ethical issues.

On 20th December 2001, KELIN was registered in Kenya as an NGO under the NGO Act of 1990 and received an official NGO status under the name Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS. KELIN has since then been a key player in addressing the legal, ethical and human rights issues relating to health and HIV issues both locally and internationally.