13. Concrete efforts to lobby for a specific instrument on women’s rights began in 1995, largely led by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the field of women’s rights. The first Special Rapporteur on Rights of Women in Africa was appointed in 1999; she supported the efforts of NGOs to develop a protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the rights of women. A minimalist approach was adopted by member States in addressing the inadequacies of the Charter. The agreement was to adopt a protocol, as opposed to a separate treaty with its own monitoring body. During the negotiations, certain draft provisions were contentious, for example, those on polygamy, harmful traditional practices, sexual orientation as a prohibited ground for discrimination, and women’s right to control their fertility.^[7] The draft protocol was finalized by a team of government experts, and adopted by the Assembly of the African Union in July 2003. It entered into force in 2005.

Link to full text of the report: Report-SRVAW-2015-eng