{"id":108210,"date":"2018-01-17T18:47:38","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T16:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/next-steps-to-getting-africas-protocol-on-womens-rights-implemented-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2018-01-17T18:47:38","modified_gmt":"2018-01-17T16:47:38","slug":"next-steps-to-getting-africas-protocol-on-womens-rights-implemented-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/next-steps-to-getting-africas-protocol-on-womens-rights-implemented-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Next steps to getting Africa’s protocol on women’s rights implemented | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Next steps to getting Africa’s protocol on women’s rights implemented<\/a>: <\/p>\n

Member states of the African Union in session at the union's headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia<\/span> Tiksa Negeri\/Reuters<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The African Union has taken several initiatives to demonstrate its commitment to eliminating injustices against women in Africa. The most recent has been a meeting ahead of the African Union (AU) summit scheduled for later this year to highlight the continent\u2019s commitment to gender equality.<\/p>\n

Other examples include the African Women\u2019s Decade (2010-2020), adopting the African Union Gender Policy and creating a fund for African women. In addition, the AU declared 2016 the year of human rights with a particular focus on the rights of women.<\/p>\n

Fifteen years ago the AU adopted the Maputo Protocol under the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights to boost the protection of women. Its implementation was meant to be overseen by the African Commission on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights, a human rights body set up under the African Charter. And the process was meant to be monitored by the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa. <\/p>\n

Despite the protocol\u2019s adoption, the violation of women\u2019s rights is still widespread across the continent. The list is long. But some of the more egregious acts include violence against women, child marriage, gender-based discrimination and exploitative widow rites. The reasons for these range from culture, to tradition, ignorance, lack of education and patriarchy. <\/p>\n

The problem is that the protocol\u2019s provisions remain mere words on paper. This is because its potential has been stifled by a weak monitoring and evaluation function. <\/p>\n

There is a solution to the problem: the creation of an institution whose sole purpose is to protect women\u2019s rights. But it will require political will and a commitment to make the necessary funds available.<\/p>\n

Turning point for women\u2019s rights<\/h2>\n

The protocol was considered the turning point for the protection of women\u2019s rights in Africa. It is a comprehensive document that contains several innovative provisions to curb violations of women\u2019s rights. <\/p>\n

Some of its ground breaking provisions include the prohibition of female genital mutilation and child marriage, the right to abortion in certain cases, the obligation to punish perpetrators of violence against women, and the allocation of budgetary resources to realise women\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n

If put into practice, the Maputo Protocol would go some way in ensuring that women\u2019s rights are realised. But states aren\u2019t doing enough. And they are rarely held accountable for their failures.<\/p>\n

The African Commission, as the monitoring body, has been trying to do its bit. For example, the protocol is considered when states do their reporting. The Special Rapporteur is also required to popularise the protocol\u2019s provisions. <\/p>\n

But the Commission has its hands full trying to keep up with all the other human rights listed in the African Charter. <\/p>\n

I would argue that to fully realise the rights set out in the Maputo Protocol, a separate institution needs to be established to oversee its implementation. An example of how this could work is already in place when it comes to children\u2019s rights. Children are protected by the African Children\u2019s Charter. The African Committee of Experts oversees implementation. Women need similar protection mechanisms.<\/p>\n

A separate institution would focus only on women\u2019s rights. It would draw its inspiration from the children\u2019s committee. This committee has taken huge strides since its inception including conducting child-specific research, the adoption of general comments and the frequent consideration of state reports on the implementation of the African Children\u2019s Charter.<\/p>\n

Establishing a new institution, however, will face resistance. The fact that the Maputo Protocol was adopted as a supplement to the African Charter demonstrates that the drafters of the Protocol did not want the document to be read separately. This could become the basis of the argument against the creation of a new and separate body to oversee the Maputo Protocol because the Charter is implemented under the auspices of the African Commission. <\/p>\n

However, the Protocol is a stand alone document that should not depend on Charter\u2019s provisions. An alternative option would be to strengthen current mechanisms instead of establishing yet another institution. But reinforcing existing mechanisms would not be as effective as creating a a separate entity with a singular focus. <\/p>\n

Because the African Commission has several other mandates to focus on, the creation of a new institution would free the Commission of its obligations in the area of women\u2019s rights, allowing it to use its resources to champion universal human rights. <\/p>\n

Indeed, resources are likely to be the biggest challenge to the establishment of an African women\u2019s rights body. But, expensive or not, Africa cannot escape the importance of women\u2019s rights in the contemporary world. The African Union must be encouraged to dedicate itself to raising funds to ensure that those rights are properly protected. Declarations, meetings and protocols will be futile unless the African Union drastically reforms the current system to ensure that women\u2019s rights are realised.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Ashwanee Budoo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong> The Conversation \u2013 Articles (AFRICA)<\/a><\/small>
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Read more on The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Join the fun:<\/strong> Add Your event<\/a> | Submit a Press Release<\/a> | Add your listing<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Next steps to getting Africa’s protocol on women’s rights implemented: Member states of the African Union in session at the union's headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tiksa Negeri\/Reuters The African Union has taken several initiatives to demonstrate its commitment to eliminating injustices against women in Africa. The most recent has been a meeting ahead of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[4635,8890,2481,20971,4332,11329,1870,10678,5250],"class_list":{"0":"post-108210","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-africa-news-2","7":"tag-africas","8":"tag-conversation","9":"tag-getting","10":"tag-implemented","11":"tag-next","12":"tag-protocol","13":"tag-rights","14":"tag-steps","15":"tag-womens","16":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}