High Level Consultation on the Ratification of the Maputo Protocol

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January 29, 2018

INVITATION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA

When: Monday, 29 January 2018

Time: 08.00 – 09.30

Where: Sheraton Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Who: The meeting will be hosted by H.E. President Nana Akufo-Addo, the AU Leader on Gender and Development with the support of the African Union Commission. The Women, Gender and Development Directorate (WGDD) and the Office of the Legal Counsel (OLC) together with the Embassy of the Republic of Ghana as well as the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will support the organization and convening of this high- level meeting.

The high-level meeting will be attended by the Heads of State and Government of countries that are yet to ratify the Maputo Protocol. The Head of State will be accompanied by two experts.

Objective: High Level Consultation Meeting on the Ratification of the Maputo Protocol for the AU Member States that are yet to ratify the Protocol to mobilize political support towards future ratification of the Maputo Protocol.
The Maputo Protocol was adopted in July 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique and entered into force in 2005 after securing 15 ratifications. Unlike any other women’s human rights instrument, the Maputo Protocol details wide-ranging and substantive human rights provisions for women, covering the entire spectrum of civil and political, economic, social and cultural as well as environmental rights.

Since its coming into force, Maputo Protocol has given rise to the adoption and promulgation of equally innovative and progressive legislation, policies and other institutional mechanisms to advance women’s human rights at a national level. To promote the ratification and implementation of the Maputo Protocol, the African Heads of State and Government, adopted in 2004, the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA), in which they committed to ratify the Maputo Protocol by the end of 2004 to pave the way for the domestication and implementation of the Protocol alongside other national, regional and international instruments on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Furthermore, in 2009, the African Women’s Decade (2010 -2020) was also adopted and committed AU Member States to universal ratification, full domestication and implementation of the Maputo Protocol by 2020. To date, out of 55 AU Member States, 40 have ratified the Maputo Protocol, South Sudan being the latest to ratify. Six countries have ratified the Protocol with reservations. These are: Cameroon, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa and Uganda.

Sixteen (16) countries have not ratified the Protocol. These are: Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Tunisia. While most countries have signed the Protocol, three countries have neither signed nor ratified the Protocol. These are Botswana, Egypt and Morocco. With only two years remaining before the 2020 deadline for universal ratification, there is a need to accelerate efforts to encourage the remaining 16 Member States to ratify the Maputo Protocol.

It is in this regard that H.E. President Nana Akufo-Addo, in his capacity as the AU Leader on Gender and Development is undertaking this initiative to engage his fellow Heads of State and Government of the 16 countries that have not ratified the Maputo Protocol to do so urgently.

Journalists are invited to cover the High Level Consultation on the Ratification of the Maputo Protocol on Monday 29 January 2018 at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Media inquiries should be directed to:

Mrs. Rahel Akalewold / Directorate of Information and Communication / E-mail: RahelA@africa-union.org

For further information:
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: dic@africa-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia