4. African states: Equal to the task?
Background:
An important step to establish a legal framework for the promotion and protection of the rights of women throughout the African continent was taken when The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa was adopted on 11 July 2003 by the Assembly of the African Union during its second summit in Maputo, Mozambique.
Scope:
The new protocol will complement the African Charter in advancing and ensuring the human rights of the African woman. It covers a broad range of human rights issues, including:
- Access to justice and equal protection before the law;
- The right to life, integrity and security of person; the right to inheritance, and calls for affirmative action to promote equal participation in the political and decision making process; equal representation of women in the judiciary and law enforcement agencies as an integral part of equal protection and benefit of the law;
- The broad range of economic, social and cultural rights for women i.e. the right to equal pay for equal work and the right to adequate and paid maternity leave in both private and public sectors; the rights of particularly vulnerable groups of women i.e. the elderly women, disabled women, widows, 'women in distress' - pregnant or nursing women in detention, poor women, women from marginalized population groups are all recognised; protection against harmful traditional practice; for women in armed conflict; refugee women; right to food security and adequate housing; and recognition of the right of women to participate in the promotion and maintenance of peace.
Landmark provisions highlight:
- The reproductive right of women to medical abortion when pregnancy results from rape or incest or when the continuation of pregnancy endangers the health or life of the mother; and
- The legal prohibition of female genital mutilation.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights will supervise the implementation of the Protocol pending the establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights.
States Parties to the Protocol commit themselves among others:
- To indicate in their periodic reports to the African Commission the legislative and other measures undertaken to ensure the full realization of the rights recognised in the Protocol;
-To include in their national constitutions and other legislative instruments these fundamental principles and ensure their effective implementation;
- To integrate a gender perspective in their policy decisions, legislation, development plans, and activities and to ensure the overall well-being of women; and
- To take effective measure to prevent the exploitation and abuse of women in advertising and pornography.
The Protocol will enter into force thirty (30) days after the deposit of the fifteenth (15) instrument of ratification. The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) has followed the process of the Protocol with keen interest since the beginning of the discourse in the early 1990s. The lobby for the Protocol has mobilised a wide number of networks when the inadequacies of the African Charter in providing for the rights of women was realized. ACDHRS has served as a member of the working group set up by the African Commission to develop and formulate the first draft which was forwarded to the AU, then OAU. Over the years, the Centre continued to work closely with other organisations and activists on the continent to maximize on our collective collaborative resources to advance this giant step in the cause of human rights.
The adoption of the Protocol ushers in a new and significant era in the promotion and protection of the rights of women in Africa. To date, only one country has ratified the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, while 30 have signed, thus indicating their intention.
The Appeal
While the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies congratulates African Governments for taking the step of adopting the Protocol, we would wish to urge member states to pursue the process of ratification of the Protocol with much vigour and speed to ensure a prompt entry into force of the instrument and therefore its implementation. If the Protocol is ratified and fully implemented, it has the potential to become an important framework to end impunity for all forms of violations of the human rights of women in Africa. Furthermore, the action of ratifying and ushering in implementation would reinforce commitment to end discrimination and violence against women. The women of Africa who have suffered for so long, whose efforts at building our beloved continent have gone on for too long without acknowledgement, and indeed the men of Africa, should be equalled to the task. This is a challenge and a duty we all owe to posterity and to Africa.
We therefore add our voice to all those of our brothers and sisters calling on states to stand up to this challenge and perform the duty it requires. The momentum should not be lost less history judges us unequalled to responsibility.
* Hannah Forster is Executive Director of the African Centre on Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS)
* Please send comments to
Background:
An important step to establish a legal framework for the promotion and protection of the rights of women throughout the African continent was taken when The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa was adopted on 11 July 2003 by the Assembly of the African Union during its second summit in Maputo, Mozambique.
Scope:
The new protocol will complement the African Charter in advancing and ensuring the human rights of the African woman. It covers a broad range of human rights issues, including:
- Access to justice and equal protection before the law;
- The right to life, integrity and security of person; the right to inheritance, and calls for affirmative action to promote equal participation in the political and decision making process; equal representation of women in the judiciary and law enforcement agencies as an integral part of equal protection and benefit of the law;
- The broad range of economic, social and cultural rights for women i.e. the right to equal pay for equal work and the right to adequate and paid maternity leave in both private and public sectors; the rights of particularly vulnerable groups of women i.e. the elderly women, disabled women, widows, 'women in distress' - pregnant or nursing women in detention, poor women, women from marginalized population groups are all recognised; protection against harmful traditional practice; for women in armed conflict; refugee women; right to food security and adequate housing; and recognition of the right of women to participate in the promotion and maintenance of peace.
Landmark provisions highlight:
- The reproductive right of women to medical abortion when pregnancy results from rape or incest or when the continuation of pregnancy endangers the health or life of the mother; and
- The legal prohibition of female genital mutilation.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights will supervise the implementation of the Protocol pending the establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights.
States Parties to the Protocol commit themselves among others:
- To indicate in their periodic reports to the African Commission the legislative and other measures undertaken to ensure the full realization of the rights recognised in the Protocol;
-To include in their national constitutions and other legislative instruments these fundamental principles and ensure their effective implementation;
- To integrate a gender perspective in their policy decisions, legislation, development plans, and activities and to ensure the overall well-being of women; and
- To take effective measure to prevent the exploitation and abuse of women in advertising and pornography.
The Protocol will enter into force thirty (30) days after the deposit of the fifteenth (15) instrument of ratification. The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) has followed the process of the Protocol with keen interest since the beginning of the discourse in the early 1990s. The lobby for the Protocol has mobilised a wide number of networks when the inadequacies of the African Charter in providing for the rights of women was realized. ACDHRS has served as a member of the working group set up by the African Commission to develop and formulate the first draft which was forwarded to the AU, then OAU. Over the years, the Centre continued to work closely with other organisations and activists on the continent to maximize on our collective collaborative resources to advance this giant step in the cause of human rights.
The adoption of the Protocol ushers in a new and significant era in the promotion and protection of the rights of women in Africa. To date, only one country has ratified the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, while 30 have signed, thus indicating their intention.
The Appeal
While the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies congratulates African Governments for taking the step of adopting the Protocol, we would wish to urge member states to pursue the process of ratification of the Protocol with much vigour and speed to ensure a prompt entry into force of the instrument and therefore its implementation. If the Protocol is ratified and fully implemented, it has the potential to become an important framework to end impunity for all forms of violations of the human rights of women in Africa. Furthermore, the action of ratifying and ushering in implementation would reinforce commitment to end discrimination and violence against women. The women of Africa who have suffered for so long, whose efforts at building our beloved continent have gone on for too long without acknowledgement, and indeed the men of Africa, should be equalled to the task. This is a challenge and a duty we all owe to posterity and to Africa.
We therefore add our voice to all those of our brothers and sisters calling on states to stand up to this challenge and perform the duty it requires. The momentum should not be lost less history judges us unequalled to responsibility.
* Hannah Forster is Executive Director of the African Centre on Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS)
* Please send comments to [email protected]