Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa: Update on progress

Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa
Pambazuka News in Addis: “Anyone who could grab a copy did so”
Organizers of a campaign that seeks to pressure African states into ratifying the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa are confident that they will achieve the required number of ratifications for the Protocol to enter into force by the end of the year.
This follows intensive lobbying during the recently ended African Union Executive Council and Assembly meetings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by a broad coalition campaigning for the ratification of the protocol. The coalition is spearheaded by Equality Now, Femnet, Oxfam, Credo for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights and Fahamu. Fifteen ratifications are needed for the protocol to come into force.
Pambazuka News 162, the special edition produced by Fahamu in support of the campaign, was printed out and distributed in Addis Ababa. The edition featured prominently as a campaign tool in lobbying activities.
“It became a popular item at the Executive Council and also on the opening day of the summit. Anyone who could grab a copy did so. Through direct contacts and through the special issue of Pambazuka the activists reached a significant number if not all of the delegates present at the meeting. The activists also presented the special issue to the President of the Pan-African Parliament and AU commissioners urging them to support the campaign by attempting to influence the delegates in their various official capacities,” said a campaign report produced by Equality Now.
Meanwhile, the number of signatories to the online petition hosted on the Pambazuka News website continues to climb and has reached nearly 300. The petition remains active and supporters of the protocol are encouraged to sign.
Firoze Manji, Fahamu Director, said: “The African Union Executive Council and Assembly meetings have ended, but clearly pressure needs to be maintained in order to encourage African governments to ratify the protocol. We will therefore be continuing with the online petition so that people can voice their support for the ongoing campaign. We urge anyone who cares about the rights of women in Africa to immediately sign the petition.”
Equality Now’s Faiza Mohamed together with Mary Wandia of FEMNET, Irungu Houghton of Oxfam GB, Rotimi Sankore of CREDO, Hannah Forster of ACDHRS and Sarah Mukasa of AMWA took part in the pre summit activities in Addis Ababa highlighting the need for a speedy ratification of the Protocol on the rights of women.
According to the Equality Now report, a call for the ratification of the Protocol was included in the recommendations resulting from a pre-summit consultation on gender convened by the African Union. “These were further included in a draft declaration on gender which the heads of states were to adopt following a debate on gender on the first day of the summit.”
FEMNET, Equality Now, Oxfam and Credo held a successful press conference on 29th June where the media were briefed on concerns about the slow pace of member states in bringing the Protocol into force. The press conference attracted both local and international media and resulted in wide coverage.
“Following the press conference Libya and Rwanda deposited their instruments of ratification at the African Union bringing the total number of ratifications to three. The activists congratulated the Comoros, Libya and Rwanda for their commitment to uphold the human rights of women and urged them to encourage other countries to follow suit,” said the campaign report.
Equality Now detailed the following statements and commitments:
- The Tunisian Foreign Minister, who is a former Commissioner of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, confirmed his country’s determination to ratify the Protocol at the earliest possible.
- The Ghanaian Foreign Minister seemed surprised that his country had not ratified the Protocol and actually asked his ambassador for clarification. The latter briefed him and remarked that ratification is in process.
- The Lesotho ambassador told activists that his country has great interest in ratifying the Protocol especially now that they are hoping to host the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
- During the gender debate session following the opening of the Summit, the President of Botswana made a firm commitment in his announcement that his country would sign, ratify and implement the Protocol on the rights of women.
Mary Wandia (FEMNET) and Faiza Mohamed (Equality Now) also worked closely with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women, Commissioner Angela Melo, in lobbying governments and in exchanging ideas.
The AU Commissioner in charge of Political Affairs, Julia Joiner, also independently went around talking to various officials of the country delegations urging them to act fast on ratification.
The chairperson of the Africa Commission on Human and Peoples Rights also raised the ratification of the Protocol in its report to the Executive Council and the latter made a recommendation to the Assembly for its consideration.
The AU Assembly approved adoption of a gender declaration, which included a unanimous commitment to ratify the Protocol by end of 2004.
“Activists left the summit with an optimistic view that it is possible to bring the Protocol into force by year-end. A lot, however, depends on the effectiveness of the national campaigns,” said the Equality Now campaign report.

National Level Campaigns
The National level campaigns have continued and specific country updates are provided below. We also learned of some interventions made in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Malawi by activists who responded to the Petition’s call on ratification of the Protocol. In the DRC the Executive Director of the Centre d’Etudes et de Recherche en Droits de l’Homme et Democratie (CERDH) Joseph Yav Katsung wrote to the President and the National Assembly urging them to ratify the Protocol. In Malawi, the Women Lawyers Association reports that it has begun awareness creation activities around the Protocol within its ongoing activities.
Djibouti
Zeinab Kamil Ali, a member of Djibouti’s National Committee on Human Rights reported that an article in support of the ratification of the Protocol which also quotes the first lady was due to appear in the Nation, the local paper, on Monday 5th July. The hot season has commenced in Djibouti and parliament is in recess. The National Committee on Human Rights anticipates continuing with awareness raising activities, and intensifying lobbying officials towards the end of August as parliament is anticipated to reconvene in September or thereabouts.
The Gambia
The African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) continued to lobby government officials and parliamentarians alike. During her recent visit to the African Union, Hannah Forster, the Executive Director of the ACDHRS, obtained a copy of the Protocol showing signature by the Gambian Government, which she would now use as a lobbying tool with parliamentarians to push for ratification. While in Addis Ababa Hannah used her time to lobby the Gambian delegation as well as several other delegations during the opening of the meeting of the Executive Council.
Guinea Conakry
CPTAFE has stepped up its activities with a view to attaining an early ratification. It paid courtesy calls to various political administrative and judicial authorities in the country. An awareness and sensitization workshop was organized for the members of the National Assembly and during the workshop members of CPTAFE made presentations on the value of an early ratification of the Protocol. As a result 75 MPs made a commitment to participate in the ratification process. Parallel to the workshop a nation-wide sensitization campaign was launched using the radio, television and the print media to popularize the Protocol. CPTAFE has, in coordinating this activity, involved several non-governmental organizations as well as government departments. The population is to a major extent informed on the Protocol and its socio-political advantages. In the course of the organized debates, women and children have delivered very poignant messages on the situation and the role of women in Africa.
Next week CPTAFE has arranged to meet with the First Lady of the Republic of Guinea to interview her on the ratification process, which will be followed by a sensitization workshop with MPs and members of government. CPTAFE is optimistic that ratification by Guinea will happen soon.

Kenya
COVAW refocused its strategies after the recent cabinet reshuffle that saw the transfer of the Minister for Gender, Sports and Culture as well as the Minister for Foreign Affairs. COVAW is continuing its lobbying directed at the Vice President and Minister for Home Affairs, the Minister for Gender, Sports and Culture, the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the Minister for Foreign Affairs with assistance from its partner organizations that are collaborating in this process.
Mali
Following the lobbying activities carried out by civil society to get ratification before the Heads of States Summit, the Minister for Promotion of Women presented a Bill motioning the Government to ratify the Protocol. The Cabinet meeting of 9th June 2004 passed a decree for the ratification of the Protocol that will be submitted to the National Assembly for finalization and adoption into law.
The Association of Malian Women Lawyers (AJM) will therefore direct its lobbying activities at parliamentarians so that the process can be finalized in the shortest possible time. The activities scheduled include lobbying sessions with different commissions of the National Assembly particularly the Legal Commission and the Social Affairs Commission, press conferences and coordination of associations and women’s NGOs so as to apply pressure through different stakeholders. After ratification AJM envisages a bigger intervention to popularize the Protocol by translating it into local languages so as to reach a greater number of the Malian people. AJM plans to coordinate visits by its members to the interior of the country as well as awareness creation activities in the print and electronic media. The Association of Magistrates has been assisting with the campaign throughout and AJM finds this very helpful.
Mozambique
The Foundation for Community Development (FDC) continues to lobby for the ratification of the Protocol and has firm commitment from the Foreign Ministry that the Protocol will be tabled for ratification in the next session of Parliament early next year. FDC in collaboration with Commissioner Angelo Melo are preparing for popularization activities to market the Protocol with a view to winning support from both ruling party and opposition officials before the Parliament meets. It would also be an opportunity to popularize the Protocol for the benefit of the public. We expect FDC to soon submit a more detailed plan of action.
Sister Namibia
Sister Namibia reports that the Protocol has been debated in parliament and has not received any resistance. The only issue that has come up is that of marital rape. There has been an objection from only one Member of Parliament who immediately received resistance from both male and female parliamentarians on the grounds that the house already debated the issue of marital rape during the Domestic Violence Bill and the Rape Bill and that both were passed into law already. After the parliamentary debate the National Council will meet and Sister Namibia is optimistic that the process at this stage would be favorable to the ratification of the Protocol as the Council has previously been supportive of gender-related issues that have been tabled before it. In the unlikely event that there is a problem, the debate would move to the Parliamentary Select Committee. However Sister Namibia is optimistic that this problem should not arise and the process will move back to Parliament, which would ratify the Protocol.
South Africa
Elize Delport developed a training course through the Center for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria called “Gender Equality in Africa” that would take place during the 2nd week of September 2004 and which would focus on the Protocol. Several other organizations in South Africa are interested in the ratification campaign. The Women’s Legal Center based in Cape Town has begun mobilizing NGOs and Members of Parliament to have the Protocol ratified and are working in collaboration with the local office of Oxfam GB, which is also looking at the possibility of convening a stakeholders meeting.
Uganda
Akina Mama Wa Afrika (AMWA) is hoping to commence work on the Protocol in August 2004. As reported in the previous update their key strategy is to first popularize it amongst women NGOs with a view to building a common front and lobby strategy to engage government officials and MPs alike. In its plan AMWA is also consulting the Association of Women Parliamentarians.
Follow-up Plans
The campaign partners all plan to continue with their various awareness creation activities indicated above so as not to lose out on the gains made so far. Equality Now will also follow up with the various government contacts that have given their undertaking to have the Protocol ratified; and will continue to lend support to campaigning partners as deemed necessary. Equality Now will also continue to monitor the progress of ratification and keep the coalition updated.
FEMNET is planning to host a meeting in Nairobi in September 2004 to bring coalition activists together for an exchange of ideas on strategy for ratification as well as to discuss the post ratification phase. FEMNET and Oxfam GB will work out the resources needed for the convening of a meeting and will keep us posted on that.
The UNECA in Addis Ababa is convening the 7th Africa Regional Conference to review progress made after 10 years of the Beijing conference from 6th to 14th October 2004. This would be another opportunity to lobby countries that have not signed or ratified the Protocol by that time. Please let us know which of you are planning to attend this conference.
Equality Now
Africa Regional Office
13th July 2004