To celebrate the gains made since the adoption of the Maputo Protocol and take stock of how the lived realities of women and girls in Africa have been impacted by its ratification, domestication and implementation, the protocol marked its 20th anniversary recently.
A two-day high-level meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya, in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR), themed, ‘Accelerating Promises for African Women and Girls’, had in attendance key players advancing the rights of women and girls in Africa.
For the Executive Director, BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights, Bunmi Dipo-Salami, who doubles as the Chair, 20th Anniversary Planning Committee, SOAWR, the protocol is focused on advocating for the ratification, domestication, implementation and accountability of the Maputo Protocol.
While assessing the situation of women’s rights in Africa, the gaps, threats, challenges and opportunities, the participants identified long-term strategies for addressing them.
On July 11, 2003, in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, the AU Heads of State and Government adopted the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), defining the rights of women and girls across the continent.
With over 80 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in 33 African countries, including Nigeria, SOAWR, which was established in 2004, has the vision to ensure that African women fully enjoy their rights as provided for under the Protocol.
The mission of the coalition is to hold African Union Member States accountable and enhance partnership to fulfil their obligations under the Protocol; and also to encourage other stakeholders to actively apply the Protocol for the promotion and protection of the rights of women.
Baobab for Women’s Human Rights is an active member of the SOAWR, linking hands with other members at the national and regional levels to popularise the Protocol and push for its domestication in Nigeria and other countries in the region, through research and documentation, sensitisation, advocacy campaigns, capacity enhancement, strategic partnerships and alliances.
Commenting on the anniversary, Dipo-Salami noted: “On this occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Protocol, BAOBAB calls on the leadership of the National Assembly through the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, to consider the domestication of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa in the interest of Nigeria. As we all know, a nation prospers only when the lives of women are meaningful across board.”
