Highlights from this issue
Featured in this issue
2005-09-20, Issue 222
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/29497
Printer friendly version
Pambazuka News 222: The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on Women’s Rights in Africa: From ratification to the realisation of African women’s human rights
Pambazuka News has been supporting the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR). Ahead of a conference co-convened by the African Union (AU) and SOAWR to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia between 27 and 30 September,
this edition consists of editorials written by SOAWR members and updates about the progress of the campaign from across the African continent.
The conference seeks to chart out the next steps for the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women. With 13 countries having ratified the Protocol, attention needs to shift from a focus on campaigning for ratification to strategies for domestication and implementation for rights realisation by African women and girls.
The conference will take place at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It will bring together 40 senior staff from women’s organisations, research institutions, African governments and the AU. Key outputs will include a conference communiqué and a booklet on strategies for implementation. It is expected that the conference will influence implementation strategies within the AU and at least twelve African countries.
Background
On July 11, 2003, the Heads of State and Government of the AU adopted the Protocol. A year later, Heads of State and Government of the AU adopted the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa in which they undertook to sign and ratify the Protocol by the end of 2004. Ongoing campaigns and pressure by the AU and NGOs have since contributed to the ratification of the Protocol by 13 countries namely Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa.
The Protocol legitimises the struggles for gender equality and the promotion and protection of women’s human rights as an African struggle. Despite its imperfections, it is a potential force for freedom and justice for African women. If properly harnessed, it could serve as an effective empowerment tool for African women. Empowering African women, who make up more than half of the continent’s population, will have a positive multiplier effect that will end with happier, healthier and wealthier African families.
As more countries ratify the Protocol, the challenge shifts from ratification to domestication, implementation and rights’ realisation. From experience with the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and national legal frameworks, a number of obstacles will stand in the way of harnessing the potential force of the Protocol. At the societal level, the strength of patriarchal (interpretations of) culture, tradition and religion, the co-existence of multiple legal systems and the public/private dichotomy continue to disempower African women. At an organisational level, the weakness of the African women’s movement and key alliances and partnerships within it continue to mitigate against African women’s empowerment. At the national level, gender machineries in several African countries are characterised by powerlessness and poor resources.
Furthermore, there is little awareness about the Protocol and the standards that it sets for Africa. This fact is compounded by the low use of international human rights instruments and the poor record of compliance of States Parties to these instruments. The Protocol itself does not contain sanctions for non-compliance. And uncertainties abound regarding the merger of the Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Court of Justice of the AU. It is as yet unclear how the merger will affect the AU’s capacity to promote and protect human rights. In addition, countries will also have to make a declaration accepting the competence of Court to receive individual complaints before their citizens enjoy its protection.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\
SMS messages in support of the Solidarity for African Women's Rights campaign:
1. Thanx 4 the update. Its gd progress. I'll share the information with my colleagues. Tanzania
2. Hooray 4 the gd news. Uganda
3. Youth dev't forum uganda do recommend the ratification of women's rights in africa and world over,and we do commit ourselves to advocate for it and stand, Uganda
4. Great news! Thanks 4 the hard work sisters, South Africa
5. Great News. We should continue our fight for more ratification. DRC
6. I am in support of the ratification of the protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. Nigeria
7. African leades: Walk the talk on women's rights. Ratify and implement. Kenya
You can send an SMS message in support of the SOAWR by sending a message to +27-832-933-934 with the word petition followed by your full name
Nearly 4 000 people have told African leaders to ratify the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa.
You can join then now by signing a petition to African leaders online, by email or through sending an SMS message.
To sign online, visit http://www.pambazuka.org/petition
To sign by email, send a message to petition@pambazuka.org with your full name in the body of the email
To sign by SMS, send a message to +27-832-933-934 with the word petition followed by your full name
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\
Contents
* Challenges of Domestication: The Protocol To The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on The Rights of Women in Africa
Once 15 African countries have ratified The Protocol To The African Charter On Human and Peoples' Rights On The Rights of Women in Africa, its provisions will have to be included in country-level legislation. This is the next challenge facing the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Campaign, says Sarah Mukasa, who assesses some of the potential stumbling blocks inherent in the domestication process. “It is imperative that strategies adopted for this campaign take into account these factors and prepare for the resistances that will surely come,” she warns.
* HIV/AIDS – A challenge to the successful implementation of the protocol
HIV/AIDS poses an enormous challenge to gender equality in Africa, states Elize Delport. She writes that The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa has the potential to ensure the development of a strategic human rights response specifically suited to those most affected by the pandemic – the women of sub-Saharan Africa.
* Regulation of information during conflict situations: The role of women
If women are to participate fully in brokering peace, in decision making, and in post conflict reconstruction, it is imperative that they work in partnership with all forms of media at their disposal to raise awareness, to ensure participation of women of all ages, to influence policy decisions, and to ensure accountability on the part of governments, NGOs, and international organizations, writes Amie Joof- Colé?
* Strategies for civil society organisations in moving from ratification to implementation in West Africa
Most West African countries have signed and ratified international and regional instruments on women's rights, notes Aminata Dieye. But despite the legal arsenal, statutory inadequacies and weaknesses translate into continued existence of discriminatory provisions. It has become crucial, she argues, that organisations are better mobilised and more vigilant so that change in African women's lives becomes a reality. (French version also available)
* Who will Bell the Cat? Restoring Rights to African Women
Macro-economic reform, armed conflict and weak democratic political institutions are some of the limitations to enacting laws that protect women. A strong political will by African governments against these forces is crucial for the enforcement of laws that protect women, writes Eve Odete.
* Women and the MDGs
In 2000, 189 world leaders signed the Millennium Declaration and committed to "free all men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty". As a result eight Millennium Development Goals were formulated with a target to half poverty by 2015. The 2005 World Summit of the UN General Assembly will be held from 14-16 September to review progress towards these goals. Karoline Kemp examines what the MDGs say about gender and how they relate to African women.
* Women’s rights: Campaign updates from around Africa