The Centre for Human Rights (CHR), which is part of the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria, has identified a need to support the African Commission in the development of reporting guidelines under the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (African Women’s Protocol or Protocol) in order to promote strengthened state reporting and facilitate subsequent meaningful engagement between state parties and the ACHPR on women’s rights.  On 6 and 7 August 2009, the CHR facilitates a working meeting in Pretoria with invited experts and members of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission).  The overall goal of this working meeting is to strengthen the capacity of the African Commission to promote and protect women’s rights in Africa through monitoring implementation of the Protocol.

The Protocol is a legally binding multilateral supplement to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter), adopted in 2003 by the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government. The Protocol entered into force on 25 November 2005. By 30 June 2009, it had been ratified by 27 of the 53 African Union (AU) members, all of which are also state parties to the African Charter.

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