African
Solemn Declaration
on Gender Equality in Africa, 2004
In July 2004, the AU met for its Third Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
During the summit, the heads of state adopted the Solemn Declaration on Gender
Equality in Africa, which affirmed the
commitment of member states to the task of mainstreaming gender into the AU's
approach to health, human rights, education, economic development, governance,
and peace and security. This was the first time a continental organization took
ownership of gender mainstreaming at the highest level, prioritizing issues
such HIV/Aids and the recruitment of child soldiers.
In ratifying the Solemn Declaration, the AU agreed to:
- expand and promote the gender parity principle to all the AU organs, and not
merely the Commission;
- ensure the participation and representation of women in peace processes,
including the prevention and resolution of conflicts and post-conflict
reconstruction;
- accelerate the implementation of gender-specific economic, social and legal
policies in order to combat the HIV/Aids epidemic;
- launch a campaign to end the recruitment of child soldiers and the sexual
exploitation and trafficking of women and girls;
- ensure the active promotion and protection of the human rights of women and
girls;
- protect the property and inheritance rights of women;
- expand the education of women and girls, particularly in rural areas.
Protocol to the
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, 2003
At the regional level, African NGOs have successfully lobbied and advocated for
greater recognition of women's rights at the AU. As a result of their efforts,
the Protocol was adopted at the Second Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly in Maputo, Mozambique,
in 2003 and contains 32 articles relating to the protection of women's human
rights in Africa. Included in this Protocol
are specific protections for women in armed conflicts and for women's rights to
peace and sustainable development, among others. The Protocol entered into
force in 2005 after being ratified by 16 member states.
African Charter on
Human and Peoples' Rights (also known as the Banjul Charter), 1981
Adopted on 27 June 1981 and entered into force on 21 October 1986
("African Human Rights Day"), this charter is unique because it
covers economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political
rights, thus differentiating it from the European and American Conventions on
Human Rights, which follow a more traditional line. Not only does the African
Charter articulate the rights afforded to individuals and peoples, but it also
elaborates on measures to safeguard these rights. Some of the rights stipulated
in the charter include: the rights of women; the right to national and international
security; the right to development; the right to equality (before the law); and
the right to non-discrimination.
