Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa ("Maputo Protocol") — core principles summary
Adopted by: African Union · Kind: Binding treaty · Scope: Regional (Africa) · Adopted: 2003
A protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, adopted at Maputo in 2003 and, by the African Union's own account, the first regional women's rights instrument of its kind anywhere. It builds on CEDAW, the two international covenants and the Universal Declaration, while going further to name harms those instruments do not address directly: it commits states to eliminate specific harmful traditional practices, female genital mutilation among them by name, and it states reproductive autonomy as a right rather than leaving it to be inferred. Forty-four of the African Union's 55 member states have ratified it, most recently South Sudan in 2023.
The Maputo Protocol, formally the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, was adopted by the African Union at Maputo, Mozambique on 11 July 2003. According to the African Union's own description it was the first regional instrument of its kind anywhere, a first rather than a follow-on to an existing regional women's rights treaty elsewhere.
It builds on the instruments that came before it and names them as insufficient on their own. The Protocol explicitly rests on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all of which are held in this bank, while going further to address human rights challenges specific to women and girls in the African context that those earlier instruments do not name directly.
The clearest instance of that is its treatment of harmful traditional practices. Rather than addressing them only through general non-discrimination language, the Protocol commits states to eliminate specific harmful practices and names female genital mutilation explicitly as a human rights violation to be ended. That is a level of specificity CEDAW's more general text does not reach, and naming the harm is what makes the obligation measurable.
The Protocol also states reproductive autonomy as a right rather than leaving it to be inferred, guaranteeing women improved autonomy in reproductive health decisions, and it sets that alongside rights to political participation and to social and political equality with men.
Adoption is broad but not universal, and the record should say so. As checked when this archive was built, 44 of the African Union's 55 member states had ratified the Protocol, most recently South Sudan in 2023. That is eleven member states outstanding, twenty years after adoption. The complete text is published in the African Union treaty repository.
Key provisions · 4 provisions
Core principle 1
The Protocol builds on CEDAW, the ICCPR, the ICESCR and the UDHR, while explicitly naming them as insufficient on their own to address human rights challenges specific to women and girls in the African context.
womens-rights · cedaw · regional
Core principle 2
The Protocol commits states to eliminate specific harmful traditional practices, explicitly naming female genital mutilation as a human rights violation to be ended.
fgm · harmful-practices · womens-rights
Core principle 3
The Protocol guarantees women improved autonomy over reproductive health decisions, alongside rights to political participation and social and political equality with men.
reproductive-rights · equality · political-participation
Core principle 4
The Protocol was the first regional treaty of its kind anywhere dedicated specifically to women's rights.
first-instrument · womens-rights · regional