AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN RIGHTS ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN

Draft protocol

Contributor

Jan 10, 2002

The draft protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa as adopted by the Meeting of Government Experts in Addis Ababa on 16 November 2001.

ORGANISATION OF AFRICAN UNITY ORGANISATION DE L’ UNITE AFRICAINE

CAB/LEG/66.6/Rev.1

DRAFT PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS ON THE RIGHTS
OF WOMEN IN AFRICA

(as adopted by the Meeting of Government Experts
in Addis Ababa on 16 November 2001)

22 November, 2001

DRAFT PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER
ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS ON THE
RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA

The State Parties to this Protocol,

CONSIDERING that Article 66 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights provides for special protocols or agreements, if necessary, to supplement the provisions of the African Charter, and that the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government meeting in its Thirty-first Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in June 1995, endorsed by resolution AHG/Res.240 (XXXI) the recommendation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to elaborate a Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa;

CONSIDERING that Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights enshrines the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status;

FURTHER CONSIDERING that Article 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights calls on all Member States to eliminate every discrimination against women and to ensure the protection of the rights of women as stipulated in international declarations and conventions;

NOTING that Articles 60 and 61 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights recognize regional and international human rights instruments and African practices consistent with international norms on human and peoples' rights as being important reference points for the application and interpretation of the African Charter;

RECALLING that women's rights have been recognized and guaranteed in all international human rights instruments, notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and all other international and regional conventions and covenants relating to the rights of women as being inalienable, interdependent and indivisible human rights;

NOTING that women's rights and women's essential role in development have been reaffirmed in the United Nations Plans of Action on the Environment and Development in 1992, on Human Rights in 1993, on Population and Development in 1994 and on Social Development in 1995;

FURTHER NOTING that the Dakar Plan of Action of 1994 and the Beijing Programme of Action and Declaration of 1995 call on all Member States of the United Nations, which have made a solemn commitment to implement them, to take concrete steps to give greater attention to the human rights of women in order to eliminate all forms of discrimination and of gender-based violence against women;

BEARING IN MIND related Resolutions, Declarations, Recommendations, Decisions, Conventions and other Regional and Sub-Regional Instruments aimed at eliminating all forms of discrimination and at promoting equality between men and women;

CONCERNED that despite the ratification of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other international human rights instruments by the majority of Member States, and their solemn commitment to eliminate all forms of discrimination and harmful practices against women, women in Africa still continue to be victims of discrimination and harmful practices;

FIRMLY CONVINCED that any practice that hinders or endangers the normal growth and affects the physical and psychological development of women and girls should be condemned and eliminated;

DETERMINED to ensure that the rights of women are protected in order to enable them to enjoy fully all their human rights;

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1
Definitions

For the purpose of the present Protocol

a) "African Charter" shall mean the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights;

b) "African Commission" shall mean the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights;

c) "Assembly" shall mean the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU;

d) "Discrimination against women" shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction based on sex, or any differential treatment whose objective or effects compromise or destroy the recognition, enjoyment or the exercise by women, regardless of their marital status, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in all spheres of life;

e) "Harmful Practices" shall mean all behavior, attitudes and/or practices which negatively affect the fundamental rights of women and girls, such as their right to life, health, dignity, education and physical integrity;

f) "OAU" shall mean the Organization of African Unity;

g) "State Parties" shall mean the State Parties to this Protocol;

h) "Violence against women" shall mean all acts perpetrated against women which cause or could cause them physical, sexual, psychological, and economic harm, including the threat to take such acts; or to undertake the imposition of arbitrary restrictions on or deprivation of fundamental freedoms in private or public life in peace time and during situations of armed conflicts or of war;

i) “Women” shall mean persons of female gender, including girls.

Article 2
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

1. State Parties shall combat all forms of discrimination against women through appropriate legislative, institutional and other measures. In this regard they shall:

a) include in their national constitutions and other legislative instruments, if not already done, the principle of equality between men and women and ensure its effective application;

b) enact and effectively implement appropriate legislative or regulatory measures, including those prohibiting and curbing all forms of discrimination including those harmful practices which endanger the health and general well-being of women and girls;

c) integrate a gender perspective in their policy decisions, legislation, development plans, programmes and activities and all other spheres of life;

d) take corrective and positive action in those areas where discrimination against women in law and in fact continues to exist;

e) support the local, national, regional and continental initiatives directed at eradicating all forms of discrimination against women.

2. State Parties shall commit themselves to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women through public education, through information, education and communication strategies, with a view to achieving the elimination of harmful cultural and traditional practices and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes, or on stereotyped roles for men and women.

Article 3
Respect for Dignity

Women contribute to the preservation of those African values that are based on the principles of equality, peace, freedom, dignity, justice, solidarity and democracy. In this regard, the State Parties shall:

a) ensure that women and girls enjoy rights and dignity inherent in all human beings;

b) adopt and implement appropriate measures to prohibit any exploitation and degradation of women and girls.

Article 4
The Rights to Life, Integrity and Security of Person

1. Every woman and girl shall be entitled to respect for their life and the integrity and security of their person. All forms of exploitation, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment shall be prohibited.

2. State Parties shall take appropriate and effective measures to:

a) enact and enforce laws to prohibit all forms of violence against women and girls whether the violence takes place in the private or public sphere;

b) adopt such other legislative, administrative, social and economic measures as may be necessary to ensure the prevention, punishment and eradication of all forms of violence against women and girls;

c) identify the causes and consequences of violence against women and take appropriate measures to prevent and eliminate such violence;

d) actively promote peace education through curricula and social communication in order to eradicate elements in traditional and cultural beliefs, practices and stereotypes which legitimize and exacerbate the persistence and tolerance of violence against women and girls;

e) punish the perpetrators of violence against women and implement programmes for the rehabilitation of women victims;

f) establish mechanisms and accessible services for effective information, rehabilitation and reparation for victims of violence against women and girls;

g) prevent and prosecute perpetrators of trafficking in women and girls and protect those women and girls most at risk of such trafficking;

h) protect women from gender-based violence during situation of armed conflict and war and ensure that such violence is treated and prosecuted as war crimes and/or crimes against humanity;

i) respect and ensure respect for the provisions of the international humanitarian law applicable to situations of armed conflicts that affect the civilian population in general and women in particular;

j) protect asylum seeking, refugee, returnee, internally displaced women and girls against all forms of violence, abuse, rape and other forms of sexual exploitation, and ensure that women asylum seekers enjoy equal access with men to refugee status, determination procedures and women refugees shall be accorded the full protection and benefits guaranteed under international law, including their own identity and other documents;

k) prohibit all medical or scientific experiments on women and girls without their informed consent;

l) make adequate budgetary allocations for the implementation and monitoring of actions aimed at preventing and eradicating violence against women;

m) in those countries where the death penalty still exists, not to carry out death sentences on pregnant and nursing women and girls.

Article 5
Elimination of Harmful Practices

State Parties shall condemn all forms of harmful practices which affect the fundamental human rights of women and girls and which are contrary to recognized international standards, and, therefore, commit themselves, inter-alia, to:

a) create public awareness in all sectors of society regarding harmful practices through information, formal and informal education, communication and outreach programmes;

b) prohibit the medicalization and para-medicalization of female genital mutilation, scarification and all other practices and all other forms of violence against women in order to effect a total elimination of such practices;

c) provide the necessary support to victims of harmful practices through basic services such as professional health services, emotional and psychological counseling, and skills training aimed at making them self-supporting;

d) protect those women and girls who are at risk of being subjected to harmful practices and all other forms of violence, abuse and intolerance.

Article 6
Marriage

State parties shall ensure that men and women enjoy equal rights and are regarded as equal partners in marriage. They shall enact appropriate national legislative measures to guarantee that:

a) no marriage shall take place without the free will of both parties;

b) The minimum age of marriage for women shall be 18 years;

c) N.B: Three options were put under brackets for further consideration of this sub-article.

Option 1 - [polygamy shall be prohibited].

Option 2 - [they adopt the appropriate measures in order to recognize monogamy as the sole legal form of marriage. However, in existing polygamous situations, State Parties shall commit themselves to guarantee and protect the rights and welfare of women].

Option 3 - [polygamy must be the subject of mutual consent between the parties. The State parties shall commit themselves to guarantee and protect the rights and welfare of the women. However, the State parties shall ensure to encourage monogamy as the preferred form of marriage].

d) every marriage shall be recorded in writing and registered in accordance with national laws, in order to be legally recognized;

e) the husband and wife shall, by mutual agreement, choose their marital regime and place of residence;

f) a married woman shall have the right to keep her maiden name, to use it as she pleases, jointly or separately with husband's surname;

g) a woman shall have the right to keep her nationality, obtain another one or take up the nationality of her husband or transfer her nationality to her children by mutual agreement;

h) a man and a woman shall jointly contribute to safeguarding the interests of the family, protecting and educating their children;

i) during her marriage, a woman shall have the right to acquire her own property and to administer and manage it freely.

Article 7
Separation, divorce and annulment of Marriage

State Parties shall enact appropriate national legislative measures to ensure that men and women enjoy the same rights in case of separation, divorce and annulment of marriage. In this regard, they shall ensure that:

a) separation, divorce and annulment of a marriage shall be effected by judicial order;

b) women and men shall have the same rights to seek separation, divorce or annulment of a marriage;

c) in case of divorce, annulment of marriage or separation, men and women shall have the same reciprocal rights and responsibilities towards their children. In any case, the interests of the children shall be given paramount importance;

d) in case of divorce or annulment of marriage, men and women shall have the same rights to an equitable sharing of the joint property deriving from the marriage.

Article 8
Right to Information and Legal Aid

Women shall have the right to have their cause heard and State Parties shall have the duty to promote and ensure that the rights of women are protected in this respect. They shall:

a) take all administrative and appropriate measures to ensure equal access of women to legal aid services;

b) support local, national, regional and continental initiatives directed at giving women access to legal aid services;

c) set up adequate structures including appropriate educational structures for all social strata, with particular attention to women and sensitize and inform them of the rights of women and girls;

d) ensure that law enforcement organs at all levels are aware of gender equality and women's humans rights and enforce the law in a gender responsive manner.

Article 9
Right to participation in the Political
Process and Decision making

1. State Parties shall take specific positive action to promote the equal participation of women in the political life of their countries, ensuring that:

a) women do participate without any discrimination in all elections;

b) women are represented equally at all levels with men in all electoral and candidate lists;

c) women are equal partners with men at all levels of development and implementation of state policies and development programmes.

2. State Parties shall ensure women's increased, significant and effective representation and participation at all levels of decision-making.

Article 10
Right to Peace

1. Women have the right to a peaceful existence and the right to participate in the promotion and maintenance of peace.

2. State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure the increased participation of women:

a) in programmes of education for peace and a culture of peace;

b) in the structures and processes for conflict prevention, management and resolution at local, national, regional, continental and international levels;

c) in the local, national, sub-regional, regional, continental and international decision making structures to ensure physical, psychological, social and legal protection of asylum seekers, refugees, returnees and displaced persons, in particular women;

d) in all levels of the structures established for the management of camps and asylum areas.

3. State Parties shall take the necessary measures to reduce military expenditure significantly in favour of spending on social development in general, and the promotion of women in particular.

4. State Parties shall take special measures in accordance with international humanitarian law to ensure:

a) effective protection of women and children in emergency and conflict situations;

b) effective protection of asylum seekers, refugees, returnees and displaced persons, particularly women and girls;

c) full and equal participation in all aspects of planning, formulation and implementation of post conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation.

Article 11
Right to Education and Training

1. State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to:

a) eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls in the sphere of education and training;

b) eliminate all references in textbooks and syllabuses to the stereotypes which perpetuate such discrimination;.

c) protect the girl child from all forms of abuse, including sexual harassment in schools.

2. State Parties shall take specific positive action to:

a) increase literacy among women;

b) promote education and training for women and girls at all levels and in all disciplines;

c) promote the enrolment and retention of girls in schools and other training institutions and the organization of programmes for women and girls who leave school prematurely.

Article 12
Economic and Social Welfare Rights

State Parties shall adopt legislative and other measures to guarantee women equal opportunities to work. In this respect, they shall:

a) promote equality in access to employment;

b) promote the right to equal remuneration for jobs of equal value for men and women;

c) ensure transparency in recruitment, promotion and dismissal of women and combat and punish sexual harassment in the workplace;

d) allow women freedom to choose their occupation, and protect them from exploitation by their employers violating and exploiting their fundamental rights as recognized and guaranteed by conventions, laws and regulations in force;

e) create conditions to promote and support the occupations and economic activities of women, in particular, within the informal sector;

f) set up a system of protection and social insurance for women working in the informal sector of the economy and sensitize them to adhere to it;

g) introduce a minimum age of work and prohibit children below that age from working, and prohibit, combat and punish all forms of exploitation of children, especially the girl-child;

h) take the necessary measures to recognize the economic value of the work of women in the home;

i) guarantee adequate and paid pre and post-natal maternity leave in both the private and public sectors;

j) ensure equality in taxation for men and women;

k) recognize and enforce the right of salaried women to the same allowances and entitlements as those granted to salaried men for their spouses and children;

l) recognize that both parents bear the primary responsibility of upbringing and development of children and that this is a social function for which the State and the private sector take responsibility;

m) take effective legislative and administrative measures to prevent the exploitation and misuse of women in advertising practices.

Article 13
Health and Reproductive Rights

1. State Parties shall ensure that the right to health of women, including reproductive health are respected and promoted. This includes:

a) the right to control their fertility;

b) the right to decide whether to have children, the number of children and the spacing of children;

c) the right to choose any method of contraception;

d) the right to self protect and to be protected against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS;

e) the right to be informed on one's health status and on the health status of one's partner, particularly if affected with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS;

f) the right to have family planning education.

2. State Parties shall take appropriate measures to:

a) provide adequate, affordable and accessible health services, including information, education and communication programmes to women especially those in rural areas;

b) establish pre-and post-natal health and nutritional services for women during pregnancy and while they are breast-feeding;

c) protect the reproductive rights of women particularly by authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape and incest.

Article 14
Right to Food Security

State Parties shall ensure that women have the right to nutritious and adequate food. In this regard, they shall take appropriate measures to:

a) provide women with access to clean drinking water, sources of domestic fuel, land, and the means of producing nutritious food;

b) establish adequate systems of supply and storage to ensure food security.

Article 15
Right to Adequate Housing

Women shall have the right to equal access to housing and to acceptable living conditions in a healthy environment. To ensure this right, State Parties shall grant to women, whatever their marital status, access to adequate housing.

Article 16
Right to Positive Cultural Context

1. Women shall have the right to live in a positive cultural context and to participate at all levels in the determination of cultural policies.

2. State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to enhance the participation of women in the formulation of cultural policies at all levels.

Article 17
Right to a Healthy and Sustainable Environment

1. Women shall have the right to live in a healthy and sustainable environment.

2. State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to:

a) ensure a greater participation of women in the planning, management and preservation of the environment at all levels;

b) promote research into new and renewable energy sources and facilitate women's access to them;

c) regulate the management, processing and storage of domestic waste;

d) ensure that proper standards are followed for the storage, transportation and disposal of toxic waste.

Article 18
Right to Sustainable Development

Women shall have the right to fully enjoy their right to sustainable development. In this connection, the State parties shall take all appropriate measures to:

a) introduce the gender issue in the national development planning procedures;

b) ensure participation of women at all levels in the conceptualization, decision-making implementation, and evaluation of development policies and programmes;

c) promote women’s access to and control over productive resources such as land and guarantee their right to property;

d) promote women’s access to credit, training, skills development and extension services at rural and urban levels in order to provide women with a quality of life and reduce the level of poverty among women;

e) take into account indicators of human development specifically relating to women in the elaboration of development policies and programmes; and

f) ensure that the negative effects of globalization and any adverse effects of the implementation of trade and economic policies and programmes be reduced to the minimum for women.

Article 19
Widows' Rights

State Parties shall take appropriate legal measures to ensure that widow enjoy all human rights through the implementation of the following provisions:

a) prohibit that widows be subjected to inhuman, humiliating and/or degrading treatment;

b) widows shall become, de facto, the guardians and custodians of their children, after the death of their husband, unless this is contrary to the interests and the welfare of the children;

c) widows shall have the right to marry the person of their choice.

Article 20
Right to Inheritance

1. The widow shall have the right to an equitable share in the inheritance of the property of her husband. The widow shall have the right to continue to live in the matrimonial house, whatever be the matrimonial regime. However, she shall lose that right in the event of remarriage.

2. Women and girls shall have the same rights as men and boys to inherit, in equitable shares, their parents' properties.

Article 21
Special Protection of Elderly Women
and Women with Disability

State Parties shall undertake to:

a) provide protection to elderly women, poor women and women heads of families and take specific measures commensurate with their physical and moral needs;

b) provide protection to women with disabilities and take specific measures commensurate with their physical, economic and social needs as well as their access to employment and professional training.

Article 22
Monitoring
(N.B. this sub-article was put under brackets for further consideration)

[1. State parties shall ensure the implementation of this protocol at national level and give a report as part of the report submitted under article 62 of the African Charter, stating the measures undertaken for the full realization of the rights contained and recognized by this Protocol.

2. State parties to the Protocol shall ensure that:

a) any person whose rights or freedoms as herein recognized are violated, shall have an effective remedy ;

b) such a remedy shall be determined by competent judicial, administrative or legislative authorities, or by any other competent authority provided for by the legal system of the State.]

Article 23
Interpretation

The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights shall be seized with matters of interpretation arising from the application or implementation of this Protocol.

Article 24
Signature, Ratification and Accession

1. This Protocol shall be open to signature, ratification and accession by the State Parties, in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures.

2. The instruments of ratification or accession shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the OAU.

Article 25
Entry into Force

1. This Protocol shall enter into force thirty (30) days after the deposit of the fifteenth (15) instrument of ratification.

2. For each of the State Party that accedes to this Protocol after its coming into force, the Protocol shall come into force at the date of deposit of the instrument of accession.

3. The Secretary General of the OAU shall inform the State Parties of the coming into force of this Protocol.

Article 26
Amendment and Revision

1. Any State Party may submit proposals for the amendment or revision of this Protocol.

2. Proposals for amendment or revision shall be submitted, in writing, to the Secretary General of the OAU who shall transmit same to the State Parties within thirty (30) days of receipt thereof.

3. The Assembly, upon advice of the African Commission, shall examine these proposals within a period of one (1) year following notification of State Parties, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of this article.

4. Amendments or revision shall be adopted by the Assembly by consensus or, failing which, by a simple majority.

[5. The Commission may also, through the Secretary General of the OAU, propose amendments to this Protocol].

N.B. (this sub-article was put under brackets for further consideration.)

6. The amendment shall come into force for each State Party which has accepted it thirty (30) days after the Secretary General of the OAU has received notice of the acceptance.

Article 27
Status of the Present Protocol

None of the provisions of the present Protocol shall affect more favorable provisions for the realization of rights of women contained in the national legislation of State Parties or in any other regional, sub-regional, continental or international conventions, treaties or agreements applicable in these State Parties.

REPORT OF THE MEETING OF EXPERTS ON THE DRAFT
PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN
AND PEOPLES´RIGHTS ON THE RIGHTS
OF WOMEN IN AFRICA

12 – 16 NOVEMBER 2001
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

I. INTRODUCTION

In conformity with the letter and spirit of Resolution AHG/Res.240 (XXXI) by which the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU endorsed the recommendation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights on the elaboration of a Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, a meeting of Experts was held at Africa Hall in Addis Ababa, from 12 to 16 November 2001 to consider the said Draft Protocol.

II. ATTENDANCE

2. The following 44 Member States participated in the meeting: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, The Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, The Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

III. OPENING CEREMONY

3. The opening ceremony was presided over by Ambassador Vijay S. Makhan, Secretary General a.i. of the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

a) Opening Statement of Ambassador Vijay S. Makhan, Secretary General a.i. of the Organization of African Unity

4. In his opening statement, Ambassador Vijay S. Makhan on behalf of Mr. Amara Essy, OAU Secretary General on mission to New York, welcomed the delegations present to Addis Ababa.

5. He then stressed the importance of the place of the rights of women in the socio-political priorities of Africa, formalized by the adoption in 1981 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights by the Heads of State and Government. That Charter actually confirmed the fundamental freedoms and the rights of all African peoples without consideration for sex, race, religion, culture and other differences.
6. Ambassador Makhan stressed that at the time when the OAU was entering the phase of its transformation into the African Union, the challenge was to move from words to actions in order to ensure visibility and access by women to organs of power and decision-making process both at the level of Member States and the African Union. In order to facilitate equitable gender representation, he strongly encouraged African women to take advantage of that transitional period to become more interested in the work of the Union and its institutions. In those efforts, women should involve themselves and be involved more in the formulation and revision of laws, policies and practices in order to make their full contribution to the protection of human rights on the Continent and particularly those of the Girl Child in today's world of uncertainties.

7. Ambassador Makhan underscored the fact that the rights of women were human rights which should be defended at the local, national, regional and continental levels and in all their ramifications. To that end, he recalled the preponderant role of women in agriculture and food production while their place in the decision-making process of their society remained marginal.

8. In spite of that fact, Ambassador Makhan regretted the low consideration of the value of women in the different national administrations and International Organizations including the OAU. That state of affairs should be changed to ensure balance from all points of view between men and women. He pointed out that the Draft Protocol to the Charter on the rights of women would henceforth enable African women have the means, henceforth, to affirm themselves and articulate, daily, their rights and make all their contributions to the mental and physical well-being, to the family life and stability.

9. To conclude, Ambassador Vijay S. Makhan expressed confidence about the outcome of the meeting so that the Protocol could easily follow its route until its final adoption by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government.

b) Statement of Dr. Angela Melo, Special Rapporteur of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa

10. Taking the floor, Dr. Angela Melo recalled the relevance of the Draft Protocol and the efforts made by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to make it relevant to the needs of African peoples in general and African women in particular.

11. Dr. Angela Melo also recalled the different stages followed, from the Seminar in Lomé in 1995 to the Preparatory meetings of Banjul (1998), Dakar and Kigali (1999) during which there was general mobilization in favour of the rights of women. She thanked the different partners for their multifarious contributions, for the drafting of the draft document. She commended the African Commission and particularly Maitre Julienne Ondziel-Gnelenga, Former Special Rapporteur, for the efforts and sacrifices made to draw up the Draft Protocol. Similar gratitude was reiterated to all the partners which had actively contributed in that connection.
12. To conclude, Dr. Angela Melo appealed to all the Member States and the OAU to facilitate greater involvement and participation of African women at all stages of the building of the African Union and to speed up the process of the adoption of the Protocol.

IV. ELECTION OF OFFICERS

13. Ambassador Emmanuel Mendoume-Nze of the Gabonese Republic and Acting Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps was then called upon to inform the meeting about the outcome of his consultations carried out for the membership of the Bureau. On the basis of the outcome, the meeting elected the following Officers:

Chairman : Burkina Faso
1st Vice-Chairman : Burundi
2nd Vice-Chairman : Tunisia
3rd Vice-Chairman : Malawi
Rapporteur : The Sudan

14. Mrs. Mariam Marie Gisele Guigma, Minister of the Promotion of Women of Burkina Faso, Chairperson, thanked the Member States for the trust placed in her and her country to conduct the deliberations of the meeting. She stated that she relied on the cooperation of all the delegations with her and her Bureau to achieve the expected results. She proposed the methodology to be followed that is the consideration of the Preamble first and then the Articles, one by one. She specified that only Experts or representatives of Member States could intervene in the deliberations.

15. The Chairperson recalled that the consideration of the document by the Experts and the Representatives of the Member States was only one stage of the process for the adoption of the Draft Protocol. The Draft Protocol would be submitted to the appropriate Ministers before submitting it to the OAU decision-making organs that is the Council of Ministers and the Summit.

16. All the Delegations expressed their solidarity with the Algerian people following the serious floods over the past days which caused great loss of life and substantial material damage. The Algerian delegation thanked all the delegations for such expression of sympathy.

V. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

17. After some minor amendments, the meeting adopted the following Agenda:

1. Opening Ceremony
2. Election of Bureau
3. Adoption of the Draft Agenda
4. Organization of Work
5. Consideration of the Draft Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women
6. Adoption of the report and the Draft Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women
7. Any Other Business
8. Closing Ceremony

VI. ORGANIZATION OF WORK

18. The meeting adopted the following working hours:
Morning : 9:00 a.m. - 1:00p.m.
Afternoon : 2:30p.m. - 5:30p.m.

VII. CONSIDERATION OF THE DRAFT PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN

19. The Experts considered the Draft Protocol, article by article and paragraph by paragraph.

Preamble

20. Proposals were made by many delegations to supplement and improve the Preamble.

21. Paragraphs 1 to 4 were adopted without amendment.

22. Paragraph 5 was adopted with the following amendments:

a) include a reference to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child;
b) remove the comma between the words “human” and “inalienable” in the French version;

23. The Mozambican delegation noted some errors in the Portuguese version and requested that they be corrected. He mentioned in particular that the term “inter-governmental conventions” had been used instead of “international conventions.”

24. Paragraph 6 was adopted without amendments.

25. On paragraph 7, it was agreed that the full titles and dates of the documents adopted in Dakar and Beijing be included. The new formulation for this paragraph is as follows:

“FURTHER NOTING that the Dakar Plan of Action of 1994 and the Programme of Action and the Beijing Declaration of 1995 call on….”
26. Regarding paragraph 8, it was decided to remove the words “and other” before the word “Convention”, and to add thereafter “other Regional and Sub-Regional Instruments”.

27. Paragraph 9 was adopted without amendment.

28. Paragraph 10 was adopted with an amendment removing the term “emotional”. This paragraph was split into two, giving rise to paragraph 11 which starts with the word “DETERMINED”.

Article1
Definitions

29. Sub-paragraphs (a) to (d) were adopted without amendment.

30. On sub-paragraph (e), it was decided to add the adjective “little” before the word “girls” (the French text). The expression “right to health” will now include “right to education” and “right to dignity”.

31. In sub-paragraph (h) the following corrections were agreed upon: “perpetrated”, “economic”, “to undertake”, in situations of armed conflicts “or of war”. (the newly included words have been underlined).

32. It was agreed to add the definition (i) of the word “women” to include girls.

Article 2
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

33. It was decided to amend paragraph 1 as follows…“through appropriate legislative, institutional and other measures”.

34. In sub-paragraph (a) it was agreed to include the expression “if not already done” after the word “legislative”.

35. Paragraph (b) was reformulated as follows:

“enact and effectively implement appropriate legislative and regulatory measures, including prohibiting and combating all forms of discrimination and harmful practices which endanger the health and general well-being of women and girls”.

36. On sub-paragraph (c) it was decided to include the word “programmes” after the term “plans”.

37. Regarding sub-paragraph (d) it was agreed to insert the term “corrective and” between the words “take” and “positive”.

38. Sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph 2 was incorporated into paragraph 1 to form sub-paragraph (e). It starts with the term “support the” instead of “support to”.

39. Paragraph 2 as amended as follows:

a) insert the expression “commit themselves to modify” instead of “modify”;

b) remove the phrase “specific actions such as”;

c) incorporate sub-paragraph (a) into the heading;

d) include between the words “public” and “with a view” the expression “through information, education and communication strategies”.

Article 3
Respect for Dignity

40. In the opening paragraph, the principles referred to were listed in the following order: principles of equality, peace, freedom, dignity, justice, solidarity and democracy.

41. In sub-paragraph (a) it was agreed to include the expression “and little girls” after the word “women”. (in the French text)

42. In sub-paragraph (b), it was decided to add the expression “and to implement” after the verb “adopt” and little girls” at the end of the sentence.

Article 4
Right to Physical and Emotional Security

Article 5
Elimination of Violence Against Women

43. After a lengthy debate on these two articles, the meeting decided because of the overlap in their coverage, to merge them into one article entitled:

Article 4
“The rights to life, integrity and security of person”

44. Paragraph 1 of this new Article 4 was amended to read as follows:

“Every woman and girl shall be entitled to respect for her life and the integrity and security of her person. All forms of exploitation, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment shall be prohibited”.

45. Paragraph 2 of the new Article 4 was amended to read as follows:

“State Parties shall take appropriate and effective measures to: