Campaign for the ratification of the protocol on the rights of women launched in Ethiopia

For Immediate Release Contact: Sophia Denekew: 445098
29 June 2004 Rotimi Sankore: 09 639040
Faiza Mohamed: 251-9-682408

CIVIL SOCIETY COALITION LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN CALLING ON GOVERNMENTS TO RATIFY THE PROTOCOL ON THE RIGHTS OF AFRICAN WOMEN

GRAÇA MACHEL SIGNS CAMPAIGN PETITION URGING ALL AFRICAN COUNTRIES TO ACT IMMEDIATELY TO ENSURE PROTOCOL’S ENTRY INTO FORCE

29 June 2004 - A coalition of civil society organizations including Oxfam GB, Equality Now, FEMNET, CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights and FAHAMU today announced the launch of an international campaign urging member states of the African Union to ratify the African Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa without delay. The campaign will particularly target the 30 countries that have already signed the Protocol in a concerted effort to get the necessary ratifications for it to enter into force. The group will approach heads of state arriving for the upcoming summit, presenting them with a petition signed by individuals and organizations from across Africa including Graça Machel and supporters around the world urging swift ratification of the Protocol. Graça Machel emphatically stated, “I urge all African States to ratify the Protocol immediately because African women’s rights cannot be postponed.” In collaboration with national women’s and human rights groups, the coalition has already begun dialogue with government officials from several countries across the continent.

After a long-drawn deliberation process spanning 8 years, the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa was finally adopted by the African Union on 11 July 2003. The document is a supplementary protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which was adopted in 1981. Advancing the human rights of African women through creative, substantive and detailed language, the Protocol covers a broad range of human rights issues and is a comprehensive legal framework that African women can use to exercise their rights. Among other benefits it offers in promoting the human rights of women, the Protocol will advance gender equality by calling for affirmative action to promote equal participation in policy formulation, political decision-making, the judiciary and other law enforcement agencies. “Once it enters into force the Protocol will be a powerful new tool to achieve equal rights for women in Africa. It could well serve as a model for the rest of the world,” said Faiza Jama Mohamed, Africa Regional Director of Equality Now.

By adopting the Protocol on the Rights of Women in 2003, the African Union took a significant step forward in promoting the rights of African women - unfortunately individual countries have been slow to follow through. To enter into force the Protocol needs 15 ratifications. One year since its adoption the Protocol has 30 signatories and so far only one country (Comoros) has ratified. Echoing concerns about the lack of political will on the part of African countries to push forward with ratification, Mary Wandia of FEMNET noted, “Until it comes into force, the rights granted to women in the Protocol will simply remain hypothetical and the tedious lobbying efforts undertaken by civil society groups to ensure that the Protocol reflects a comprehensive list of rights for women will all be wasted.”

“Society must not assume that women’s rights issues are of concern only to women” stated Rotimi Sankore, Coordinator of CREDO. He emphasized further that “Women constitute roughly half of Africa’s population of 800 million persons. By denying women full economic, social and political rights, many African governments are in effect making it impossible for half their populations to contribute to the development of the continent thereby undermining the stated intentions of the African Union to advance the development of Africa.”

ENDS