The Optional Protocol on African Women's Human Rights does if protect our rights?

• Author: Wanyeki, L. Muthoni

The World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna, Austria in 1993 was notable for the advances it made in human rights theory and practice with respect to women's human rights. These advances include the recognition that human rights as traditionally understood can be (and are) violated in gender-specific ways and the recognition that human rights violations for which the state is responsible also take place within the private sphere--that violence against women is itself a human rights violation. Thus the slogan that emerged from Vienna: women's rights are human rights. Commendably, following almost directly on from Vienna, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights of the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) made two important decisions to:

Develop an additional protocol on women's human rights to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights;

Nominate a Special Rapporteur on women's human rights charged with providing information on women's human rights to the African Commission and with playing an intermediary role between the African Commission and state and non-state actors on women's human rights.

These decisions were endorsed by Resolution AH6/Res 240 (xxxi) of the 31st Ordinary Session of the (then) Organisation of African Unity (OAU) held in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia in June 1995.

Julienne Ondziel-Gnelenga was nominated as the Special Rapporteur at the 23rd session of the African Commission, held in Banjul, the Gambia from April 20-29, 1998. Her mandate was for a period of four years and ended last year. She was replaced by Angela Melo from Mozambique whose terms of reference include contributing towards the elaboration of the Optional Protocol on women's human rights for the African Charter and following its process of its adoption by the now African Union.

The African Commission initially established a working group to proceed with the development of the Optional Protocol including the Special Rapporteur, some of its Commissioners and some members of civil society.

The working group developed a project around elaborating the Optional Protocol, based at Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) West African office in Togo. They convened three meetings of the working group with a broader range of civil organisations and forwarded the final outcomes to the African Commission. At the 26th Ordinary Session of the African Commission, the draft Optional Protocol was adopted and forwarded to the AU secretariat: for distribution to its member states.

The member states made their contributions and negotiations on the final Optional Protocol began in. earnest last year. One Experts' Group meeting has already been held, in November 2001. The last Experts' Group and Ministerial meetings will now be held in December 2002, following which the Optional Protocol will be forwarded to the African Union for adoption at its next Ordinary. Session in Mozambique in 2003.

The draft Optional Protocol is in three sections. The first section covers the rationale behind the elaboration of the optional Protocol, making reference to both regional nd international commitments regarding women's human rights. The second section outlines the rights to be upheld by the Optional Protocol. And the third and final section covers implementation by addressing the manner in which it is to be adopted and monitored, as well as the process through which it may be amended. The rights affirmed fall into four broad categories: civil and political rights; economic, 'social and cultural rights; the rights to development and peace; and reproductive and sexual rights.

A number of African women's networks and organisations have...