Analysing the monitoring mechanisms of the African women’s protocol at the level of the African Union

Abstract

The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa was adopted under article 66 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to supplement the provisions on women’s human rights protection of the Charter. Consequently, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights are the human rights bodies at the African Union level that are mandated to oversee the implementation of the African Women’s Protocol. Until now the African Union has had three judicial and human rights institutions, namely, the African Commission, the African Court and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, to oversee the implementation of the human rights set out in its different treaties. To emphasise the importance of the realisation of women’s human rights, the African Commission created the mechanism of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa. Despite the adoption of the African Women’s Protocol and the mechanism of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, violations of women’s human rights across the continent remain widespread. The article’s contention is that, as the African Commission has several aspects to its mandate and has to oversee all aspects of human rights in Africa, women’s human rights do not receive the attention they require. The article analyses whether existing mechanisms sufficiently ensure the oversight of the Women’s Protocol and proposes alternatives that the African Union may explore to do so.