Regional

2017

Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR)

9,900

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) at its 24th Extra-Ordinary Session, held in Banjul, Republic of The Gambia, in August 2018, decided to elaborate a General Comment on Article 7(d)  of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (or Maputo Protocol) to look at the question of ‘equitable share’.  This stepping stone was linked to support through this 2016 SRM.

During the SRM period a meeting to revise the draft protocol to ensure its adoption at the ACHPR ordinary session in October/November took place on September 2, 2017 in Accra, Ghana. The draft protocol intended to clarify various legal issues pertaining to women’s land and property rights in marriage as well as the notion of ‘equitable sharing’ cited in Article 7(d), which focuses on the question of women’s rights to land in general and access to property in cases of divorce.  Agreed changes to the General Comment included the utilization of additional legal research to bolster the GC’s normative framework, verification of definitions for legal concepts used, and clarification of the issues included in the recently adopted GC as well as in the description of state obligations. Once adopted, it will be the first General Comment by the ACHPR to address women’s land and property rights, establishing a continent-wide standard based on human rights principles.  Want to know more about the Maputo Protocol? Please watch this short clip “ The Journey of 15 years: Maputo Protocol 2003 – 2018”