Gender champion of the African Union (AU) and President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has made a clarion call on some 13 African states who are yet to ratify the Maputo protocol, an instrument that seeks to protect women and girls, to do so without further delay.
The AU states that have neither signed nor ratified the protocol are Botswana, Egypt, and Morocco. The states that have signed but not yet ratified it are Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Madagascar, Niger, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan.
Describing the Maputo protocol as one of the “world’s most comprehensive and progressive women’s rights instruments,” President Akufo-Addo urged his colleague heads of state whose nations are yet to take steps to ratify the protocol, to do so this year, particularly as the protocol turns 20 in July 2023.
Call for ratification
President Akufo-Addo made the call in his capacity as the AU gender champion at the Presidential High-Level Advocacy Breakfast Meeting on Gender organised by the Women Gender Youth Directorate of the African Union Commission at the Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 18 February 2023, on the sidelines of the 36th Ordinary Session of The Assembly of the African Union.
“It matters also that in Maputo, Mozambique, in July 2003, African Union Heads of State and governments adopted one of the world’s most comprehensive and progressive women’s rights instruments, the protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the rights of women in Africa.
“The protocol popularly referred to as the Maputo Protocol turns 20 this year and requires us to take stock of how well we have fared toward achieving the goals of the protocol,” President Akufo-Addo said.
According to President Akufo-Addo, “to date, 42 African member states have ratified it and though this is one of the highest numbers of ratifications for any AU instrument, we have to be even more deliberate in ensuring all countries ratify and implement the Maputo Protocol”.
The President therefore noted, “It is time for action”, and for the African continent to “demonstrate its commitment to this noble cause through the ratification and implementation of the most progressive women’s rights instruments in the world, the Maputo Protocol on the Rights of Women.”
“I call on the remaining member states who are yet to ratify the Maputo Protocol to do so and submit their instruments of ratification to the AU Commission as soon as possible.
“Let us remind ourselves that discrimination and inequality have unbearable burdens and costs on our economies, societies, and the development of the African continent,” President Akufo-Addo said.
“We should stand together to create a boldly visible force for gender equality, saying no to acts and threats of violence against women and girls,” he added.
Appointment as gender champion
President Akufo-Addo, in 2017, was appointed as Chairperson of the AU’s Committee on Gender and Development (AU Gender Champion) by the then African Union (AU) Chairperson, President Alpha Condé of Guinea.
On the 14 of November 2017, a few months after his appointment as AU Gender Champion, President Akufo-Addo launched the Gender and Development Initiative for Africa (GADIA) to spearhead his implementation of his agenda as the AU Gender Champion.
The Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E Kwesi Quartey, joined President Akufo-Addo in Accra to launch the initiative under the theme, Africa Women as Leaders in Business and Politics.
Maputo protocol
The Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (‘the Maputo Protocol’) was adopted by Heads of State and Government in Maputo, Mozambique on 11 July 2003.
The Maputo Protocol advances African women’s rights and guarantees extensive rights to African women and girls and includes progressive provisions on harmful traditional practices, such as child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), reproductive health and rights, roles in political processes, economic empowerment, and ending violence against women.
