issue: Maputo Protocol
This brief is addressed to non-governmental organisations, human rights institutions (HRIs), activists and political actors advocating for the universal ratification of the Maputo Protocol and the lifting of reservations. Available in English, French and Arabic.
These guides offer a practical path from international and regional commitment to national reality grounding the Protocol’s standards in the specific legal, political, and social context of four countries: Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda.
Today, 11 July 2026, marks 23 years since African governments made a promise to the women and girls of this continent. On this day in 2003, the African Union adopted the Maputo Protocol, the most comprehensive and progressive legal instrument for women’s human rights in the world. Twenty-three years on, the SOAWR Coalition and its 77 member organisations are here to say: the flame is still burning, and we intend to keep it that way. The Maputo Protocol was born from African women’s recognition that existing international frameworks, including CEDAW, did not fully speak to their lived realities. It was
See SOAWR’s full statement as read on May 12th, 2026 at the 87th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Banjul, The Gambia. Read the Full Statement The Statement covers six key areas for attention: A Call for the Universal Ratification of the Maputo Protocol Strengthening Implementation of the Maputo Protocol through the Withdrawal of Reservations on Some Provisions of the Maputo Protocol Persistent Non-Compliance with the Two-Thirds Gender Principle in Kenya Nigeria’s Compliance with the Maputo Protocol on Women’s and Girls’ Rights Concerns Over Senegal’s Amended Article 319 and Human Rights Compliance Ending Conflict-Related
Today, 11 July 2026, marks 23 years since African governments made a promise to the women and girls of this continent. On this day in 2003, the African Union adopted
July 2, 2026 “A Nation that Silences its Bravest Daughters Betrays its Future.” The SOAWR Coalition stands in solidarity with our sisters and partners in Uganda. We are extremely concerned
See SOAWR’s full statement as read on May 12th, 2026 at the 87th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Banjul, The Gambia. Read the
We are delighted to invite you to join the SOAWR Coalition and our member organisations at the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) in New
