Celebrating a decade of the African Women’s Rights Protocol

On 11 July 2013, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women (the Protocol) turns 10. Looking back on the past decade, there is much to celebrate. It is an instrument resulting from an African led process and contextualized to the current realities of women on the continent. [i] The Protocol remains one of the worlds’ most progressive women’s human rights instruments given its groundbreaking provisions on violence against women (VAW) [ii], access to medical abortion [iii], the right to peace [iv] and the right to a positive cultural context [v], to mention a few. Thirty-six of the 54 AU member states have ratified the Protocol and deposited their instruments of ratification with the African Union.

While ratifications are a welcome measure, the provisions enshrined in the Protocol only have real meaning if governments go further and show their commitment to the protection and advancement of African women’s human rights by domesticating and fully implementing the instrument. The Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR), an initiative of 43 organizations working across 23 African states, has been at the forefront of efforts to form key partnerships geared at influencing public opinion as well as enhancing the capacity of its membership to engage effectively, which is critical to the realization of these goals. Notable achievements include collaboration with the African Union and UN Women on using the multi-sectoral approach as a comprehensive strategy involving all sectors of government to play their respective roles to ensure state parties fulfill their obligations under the Protocol; and in partnership with SOAWR member Centre for Human Rights-University of Pretoria, together with the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, in the formulation of the state reporting guidelines for the Protocol as well as the African human rights system first ever General Comments. In order to ensure that women across the continent are aware of ways to engage the judicial system in accessing their rights, SOAWR member Equality Now has produced a guide to using the Protocol for legal action in Arabic, English, French and Portuguese which has also been the basis of trainings that Equality Now conducts for legal practitioners.

Nonetheless, challenges that require mitigation exist and include limited technical and financial support in many states particularly with regard to the efforts to sensitize and build the capacity of government officials as well as the general public on the provisions of the Protocol; lack of political goodwill and weak institutional mechanisms to support the domestication and implementation of the Protocol; and lastly religious and cultural conservativism.

As a means of reflecting on what has been achieved, attendant challenges and the opportunities going forward, SOAWR has partnered with Make Every Woman Count (a UK-based, African women-led organization that promotes women’s empowerment) and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa on the 10th Anniversary of the Protocol’s existence to produce Journey to Equality: 10 Years of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. The publication will be officially launched in Malawi in August 2013 as part of celebratory events that President Joyce Banda and Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, are spearheading to mark the tenth anniversary of the Protocol.

Journey to Equality brings together contributions from over two dozen individuals and institutions writing on their areas of expertise and seeks to provide an evaluation of progress made in various countries and across the region in implementing particular provisions of the Protocol, including non-discrimination, female genital mutilation, marriage, access to justice, political participation, right to peace, protection of women in armed conflict, education, economic and welfare rights, health and reproductive rights, land and inheritance rights, and rights of women with disabilities.

At the same time, Journey to Equality highlights best practices of both member states and CSOs promoting the Protocol; examines gaps and challenges in implementation; considers lessons learned by CSOs; and makes recommendations for future action. In the publication’s opening messages, President Banda and Dr. Dlamini-Zuma highlight some of the progress that has been made in advancing women’s rights on the continent, but emphasize that vigilance and further targeted action remain necessary. As stated by the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, Commissioner Soyata Maiga, in her Foreword, it is hoped that “this publication will provide further impetus to Member States to universally ratify and implement the Protocol. At the same time, [we] hope that it will serve as a useful resource not only for them, but also for women’s rights activists, gender practitioners, and for all who hope for better lives for Africa’s women and girls.”

* Kavinya E. Makau is a Program Officer at Equality Now’s Nairobi Office and coordinates the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) campaign