Wayamo is very pleased to share with you its 2024 annual report.
In the report, Wayamo Director Bettina Ambach summarised the organisation’s year, noting that in 2024, Wayamo made significant progress through a wide range of activities, including capacity-building workshops, one-on-one mentorship sessions, public symposia, online training sessions, and expert video interviews for our Sudan justice hub, These activities took place across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Mauritius, and the Netherlands. Our events brought together hundreds of participants among whom were prosecutors, investigators, independent lawyers, human rights defenders, journalists, civil society representatives, students, and members of the diplomatic corps.
Notably, in March 2024, Wayamo organised an inaugural mock trial in partnership with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Kenya. The trial was based on a fictional scenario crafted to examine the application of universal jurisdiction for international crimes within Kenyan courts and the potential application of open-source evidence. The bench, prosecution, and defence teams comprised both international and local experts, facilitating a rigorous exploration of domestic legal frameworks — including Kenya’s International Crimes Act and the Evidence Act — in conjunction with international criminal jurisprudence. This interdisciplinary approach provided participants with a comprehensive and practical learning experience.
Following the success of the mock trial event, Wayamo intends to expand its efforts by organising similar sessions, further fostering collaboration between international and local legal professionals. These initiatives aim to strengthen the capacity of domestic legal systems to address international crimes and enhance the understanding of international criminal law within local contexts.
Sadly, the armed conflict in Sudan continued unabated in 2024, marked by numerous human rights violations and the commission of egregious international crimes. Through our Sudan project, Wayamo has continued to support Sudanese human rights defenders and independent lawyers to ethically document these violations and as effectively as possible, ensuring that the information collected can be used in future accountability mechanisms. We work with the understanding that the right kind of information, gathered during conflict, can prove crucial — even years later — in holding perpetrators of the most serious crimes to account.
Wayamo has also continued to explore universal jurisdiction opportunities across Africa and support the development of cases. Wayamo partnered with the Mauritian Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to host a three-day symposium on different accountability mechanisms for international crimes and using modern forms of evidence. Across all these activities, Wayamo has continued to deepen our partnerships with international strategic litigation firms, relevant accountability mechanisms, regional and international civil society organisations, and prosecutorial authorities across Africa.
In Nigeria, Wayamo continued its collaboration with the Office of the DPP whom we have been supporting over the last three years to digitise Boko Haram case files. Wayamo also organised an International Justice Symposium in Abuja where speakers delved into ongoing developments in the world of international criminal law and justice, with a special focus on West Africa.
As Wayamo continues its work in 2025, we are excited about several new initiatives especially in East Africa, but also in South and West Africa. Expanding Wayamo’s one-on-one mentorship sessions with Sudanese human rights defenders and documenters, supported by more targeted capacity- building training, deepening partnerships with regional prosecution authorities and civil society organisations and further exploring universal jurisdiction venues on the continent.
Needless to say, Wayamo’s activities would not have been possible without the generous support of our donors. We are most grateful to them for their consistent support, which has been essential to our progress. We value their partnership and look forward to our continued collaboration in pursuing justice and accountability for international crimes in the coming year – and beyond!
