This book assesses the impact and effectiveness of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) in 16 state parties. These countries are: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Eswatini, the Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Each of the chapters traces the impact that the Protocol has had on the policies, laws, court decisions, civil society activism, and legal education in the particular state. Each chapter also discusses the relationship of the state with the African human rights mechanisms. The book is an update of two prior volumes of essays, titled The impact of the African Charter and the Maputo Protocol in selected African states, published by PULP in 2012 and 2016, and edited by the Centre for Human Rights, Universityof Pretoria (Centre) and Victor Ayeni, respectively. The third edition, focused more narrowly on the Maputo Protocol, appears as the continent marks 20 years since the adoption of the Protocol on 11 July 2003. By 11 July 2023, 54 out of 55 African Union member states (with the exception of Morocco) have become party to the African Charter, and 44 of them have accepted the Maputo Protocol. The book is edited by and contains several chapters by alumni of the Master’s in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa programme of the Centre. The Centre intends to use this research as the basis for a continuously updated database on the impact of the African Charter and Maputo Protocol.

The year 2016 was declared by the African Union as the African ‘Year of Human Rights with Particular Focus on the Rights of Women’ to commemorate and celebrate significant milestones in the realisation of human rights on the African continent. The year marks the 35th anniversary of the adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter), 30th year since coming into force of the African Charter and 10 years since the inauguration of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Since its adoption, the African Charter has been supplemented by the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol). All AU member states (with the exception of new comer South Sudan) are state parties to the African Charter, and 36 of them have accepted the Maputo Protocol. This book assesses the impact and effectiveness of the African Charter and the Maputo Protocol in 17 African countries, namely Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The book is the result of research conducted by selected alumni of the Centre for Human Rights’ LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa programme.

- Statute of the ICTR.

Model Law on Access to Information for Africa and other regional instruments: Soft law and human rights in Africa Edited by Ololade Shyllon 2018 ISBN: 978-1-920538-87-3 Pages: 255 Print version: Available Electronic version: Free PDF available About the publication The adoption in 2013 of the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is an important landmark in the increasing elaboration of human rights-related soft law standards in Africa. Although non-binding, the Model Law significantly influenced the access to information landscape on the continent. Since the adoption of the Model Law, the Commission adopted several General Comments. The AU similarly adopted Model Laws such as the African Union Model Law on Internally Displaced Persons in Addressing Internal Displacement in Africa. This collection of essays inquires into the role and impact of soft law standards within the African human rights system and the AU generally. It assesses the extent to which these standards induced compliance, and identifies factors that contribute to generating such compliance. This book is a collection of papers presented at a conference organised by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, with the financial support of the government of Norway, through the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Pretoria. Following the conference, the papers were reviewed and reworked. Table of Contents Acknowledgments Preface Contributors Abbreviations and acronyms PART I: THE MODEL LAW AND ITS INFLUENCE ON ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN AFRICA Introduction Ololade Shyllon The impact of the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa Fola Adeleke Implementing a Model Law on Access to Information in Africa: Lessons from the Americas Marianna Belalba and Alan Sears The implementation of the constitutional right of access to information in Africa: Opportunities and challenges Ololade Shyllon PART II: COUNTRY STUDIES The Model Law on Access to Information for Africa and the struggle for the review and passage of the Ghanaian Right to Information Bill of 2013 Ugonna Ukaigwe The impact of the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa on Kenya’s Access to Information framework Anne Nderi The Sudanese Access to Information Act 2015: A step forward? Ali Abdelrahman Ali Compliance through decoration: Access to information in Zimbabwe Nhlanhla Ngwenya PART III: INFLUENCE OF SOFT LAW WITHIN THE AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM Soft law and legitimacy in the African Union: The case of the Pretoria Principles on Ending Mass Atrocities Pursuant to Article 4(h) of the AU Constitutive Act Busingye Kabumba The incorporation of the thematic resolutions of the African Commission into the domestic laws of African countries Japhet Biegon General Comment 1 of the African Commission of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A source of norms and standard setting on sexual and reproductive health and rights Ebenezer Durojaye The African Union Model Law on Internally Displaced Persons: A critique Romola Adeola Selected bibliography

At a UN General Assembly Special Session in 1999, governments recognised unsafe abortion as a major public health concern, and pledged their commitment to reduce the need for abortion through expanded and improved family planning services, as well as ensure abortion services should be safe and accessible. This technical and policy guidance provides a comprehensive overview of the many actions that can be taken in health systems to ensure that women have access to good quality abortion services as allowed by law.

This collection of essays in honour of Frans Viljoen shines a light on the increasingly important place of compliance in international law. With essays from leading scholars in the field of international human rights law, this festschrift provides compelling analysis of the nature of compliance in the African human rights context, the challenges that affect its place in these legal systems, and the ways in which increased compliance can be achieved. The volume is divided into three parts exploring: theoretical perspectives, thematic perspectives, and institutional perspectives. Each in turn helps to build a picture of theory and practice charting the historic developments of human rights law with several case studies to illustrate. Contributors provide detailed comparison with other national legal systems, such as the Inter-American IACHR and Court, placing these reflections in their global comparative context. The work concludes by considering the ways in which challenges can be overcome to achieve increased compliance with international human rights law in Africa. Compliance with International Human Rights Law in Africa is not only a work to honour the contributions of Frans Viljoen but is also an invaluable resource for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers, in the field of international human rights law.

Bibliography pp. 68-72.

As an instrument which addresses the circumstances which affect women's lives and enjoyment of rights in a diverse world, the CEDAW is slowly but surely making its mark on the development of international and national law. Using national case studies from South Asia, Southern Africa, Australia, Canada and Northern Europe, Women's Human Rights examines the potential and actual added value of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in comparison and interaction with other equality and anti-discrimination mechanisms. The studies demonstrate how state and non-state actors have invoked, adopted or resisted the CEDAW and related instruments in different legal, political, economic and socio-cultural contexts, and how the various international, regional and national regimes have drawn inspiration and learned from each other.

This book examines violence against women in Africa and criminal justice from the perspective of African scholars, practitioners and experts. As a global and long-standing issue, violence against women is gaining public visibility across the African continent with some states announcing a national crisis warranting immediate redress. At the global level, the elimination of all forms of violence against all women and girls forms a key part of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality. Split across two volumes, these books present a comprehensive analysis of the latest research and theories, principles and practices of criminal justice systems, criminal justice accountability mechanisms, and the key challenges women face in their quest for justice on the African continent. This volume (II) focusses on sexual violence and vulnerable women’s access to justice in Africa. Volume I focusses on legislation and its impact, the limitations of criminal justice responses, and the cultural and social norms regarding access to justice. Together, they adopt a comparative approach that highlight gaps and good practices to provide a rich source of authoritative information for promoting an intra-African dialogue and cross-fertilization of ideas across the different criminal justice traditions in Africa. Both volumes seek to advance discussions on eliminating violence against women in Africa and speak to those interested in criminal justice, violence, gender studies and African legal studies.