Campaign to ratify Protocol on Womens Rights in the African Union
Date: January 1, 1970
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African civil society groups in 13 countries have launched a petition to African leaders as part of a continent-wide campaign to mobilise support for the ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women.
As the tempo picked up at the Southern African Gender and Media Summit on Monday, another campaign was gathering momentum in cyberspace. African civil society groups in 13 countries have launched a petition to African leaders as part of a continent-wide campaign to mobilise support for the ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women. So far the campaigners have collected over 1154 signatures, of which 305 came in via short messaging service (SMS). The campaigners are demanding that African governments ratify the Protocol with immediate effect.
The Protocol provides a framework for comprehensive reform of national legislation that guarantees the rights of women. But in order to come into force it needs to be ratified by at least 15 countries. To date, only four countries – Comoros, Libya, Namibia and Rwanda – have ratified the protocol. In urging support for the petitions on the Protocol, Raashied Galant of the Gender Advocacy Programme (GAP), said civil society should engage with the campaign as a matter of urgency. At the moment the footwork is being done by governments,he said. Civil society organisations must understand and learn to engage with this process.
Gender and Media Summit
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