November 22, 2006
Contact in Nairobi: Faiza Jama Mohamed
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African Union Marks First Anniversary of African Protocol on Rights of Women

Women's Coalition Raises Serious Concerns About Lack of Political Will to Fulfill Obligations Set in Protocol

Nairobi, Kenya. On the eve of the first anniversary of the African Protocol on the Rights of Women, civil society groups from across Africa fear that the Protocol might well become yet another international treaty that governments sign-on to with little or no political will to implement. Following ratification by fifteen countries, the African Protocol on the Rights of Women came into force on November 25, 2005. In the past year an additional 5 countries have ratified the document. The twenty members party to the Protocol are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Comoros, Djibouti, The Gambia, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Togo, and Zambia.

Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR), a broad-based coalition of 23 groups across Africa, has been campaigning for the popularization, ratification and domestication of the Protocol. Two significant hurdles faced by SOAWR have been getting countries to ratify, and getting countries that have ratified to implement the standards set by the Protocol. Ironically the majority of members of the African Union, i.e. thirty three countries, still need to ratify the Protocol. Although the African Union’s Political Declaration on Gender Equality stated that by 2005 countries party to the Protocol will have started the process of domestication.  This deadline has long passed and we are yet to witness any such action. As Faiza Jama Mohamed, Africa Regional Director of Equality Now elucidates, “The work does not end with countries simply ratifying the Protocol, it in fact begins there. By ratifying the Protocol countries merely acknowledge that they need to take all necessary action to bring all their laws and policies in line with the standards set in the Protocol.”

Starting from drafting the text of the Protocol, women’s rights organizations have worked tirelessly to ensure the signing of this Protocol, which sets numerous precedents in international law, such as specifically granting women the reproductive right to medical abortion in cases of rape and incest, explicitly calling for criminalizing female genital mutilation, and clearly prohibiting the abuse of women in advertising and pornography. “The Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa has intensified the discussion on and recognition of the human rights of women in Africa. The status quo is being reexamined and this process will hopefully lead to the formulation and implementation of laws at the national level, which will comply with the provisions of the Protocol. It is a hard road to travel and it is a long, long way to go but we will surely get there,” said Hannah Forster of African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS).

The pioneering role of Africa’s civil society organizations in making the Protocol an effective human rights tool is a model for international advocacy. These organizations are spearheading various strategies to domesticate the Protocol, such as training magistrates, applying Protocol standards to family codes, reviewing penal codes, educating religious leaders, undertaking gender audits of laws, sensitizing parliamentarians, and translating the Protocol into local languages. “African civil society has indeed set a landmark example for the rest of the world in terms of organizing around implementation of international human rights law. States Parties must now simply follow the lead set by these organizations and exercise political will to protect the rights of African women,” remarked Taina Bien-Aimé, Executive Director of Equality Now, New York.

Coalition Members
African Centre for Democracy And Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS), Akina Mama wa Afrika, Association des Juristes Maliennes, Cellule de Coordination sur les Pratiques Traditionelle Affectant la Sante des Femmes et des Enfants, Centre for Justice Studies and Innovations (CJSI), Coalition on Violence Against Women, Equality Now-Africa Regional Office, FAHAMU, FAMEDEV-Inter-African Network For Women, Media, Gender and Development, FEMNET-African Women’s Development and Communication Network, Federation of Women Lawyers, Kenya (FIDA-Kenya), Foundation for Community Development, Inter-African Committee on Harmful Traditional Practices (IAC), Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS), Oxfam GB, Sister Namibia, Union Nationale des Femmes de Djibouti, Voix de Femmes, University of Pretoria Center for Human Rights, Women Direct, Women of Liberia Peace Network (WOLPNET), Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternatives (WRAPA)