Honorable Chairperson of the ACHPR,<\/p>\n
Alliances for Africa is an international African led non-governmental human rights, peace and
\nsustainable development organization. AfA works with partners in, around and beyond the
\ncontinent of Africa. Alliances for Africa is a member of the Solidarity for African Women\u2019s
\nRights (SOAWR), a coalition of over 60 organizations working on women\u2019s rights in 32
\ncountries in Africa. SOAWR was formed with the principal objective of advocating for the
\nratification, domestication and implementation of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human
\nand Peoples\u2019 Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), which was
\nadopted 17 years ago.
\nHonorable Chairperson, as the global community begins taking steps towards an economic and
\nsocial recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alliances for Africa and the SOAWR
\nCoalition calls upon the African Union and its member states to apply a human rights based
\napproach to these post COVID-19 recovery efforts. Specifically, we urge the African Union and
\nits member states to take into serious consideration the gendered effects of the COVID-19
\npandemic, in particular the disproportionately harmful effects of the pandemic on the rights of
\nwomen and girls in Africa. We urge the Commission to develop guidelines on human rights
\nbased and gender sensitive approaches when it comes to government-led efforts aimed at the post
\nCOVID-19 economic and social recovery, along the lines of earlier guidelines by the ACHPR on
\npromoting similar approaches on the question of combatting the pandemic. These proposed
\nguidelines would take into consideration the need for increased resources, focus and attention on
\nthe disproportionate effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the social and economic rights of
\nwomen, their right to live free of violence and discrimination, as well as their right to live in a
\npositive cultural context free from the risk of harmful cultural practices.
\nHonorable Chairperson, our attention has been drawn to reports of sexual violence against
\nwomen in several parts of Ethiopia at present, but with particular concern to the conflict-hit
\nTigray region of Ethiopia given the gravity and the scale of the violations as well as the presence<\/p>\n
of foreign troops, thus warranting coordinated national, continental and international responses
\nto address the situation. These reports have also been raised by the United Nation\u2019s Special
\nRepresentative on Sexual Violence in Conflict and have been charaterized as a systematic use of
\nsexual violence as a weapon of war through its use as both a strategy and tactic of conflict and
\ncoercion. The horrendous survivor accounts from the Tigray region of sexual abuse of civilians
\nonly serve to confirm that there is nothing inevitable about this brutal state of affairs. The Federal
\nDemocratic Republic of Ethiopia is a signatory to several international and regional human rights
\ntreaties including the African Charter and its Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. We
\ntherefore invoke the ACHPR\u2019s mandate to protect the rights of the women in Tigray and other
\nregions in Ethiopia where is there is active conflict and women girls safety has been
\ncompromised and urge the Commission to urgently set in motion the mechanism of the Special
\nRapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa and the Commissioner Rapporteur for Ethiopia to
\nestablish an immediate inquiry into the allegations and collaborate with relevant national,
\nregional and global actors responsible for the promotion and protection of the rights of women to
\nredress any violations of women\u2019s rights in the Tigray region, including through prosecutions
\nunder international criminal law. This inquiry needs to extend to violations committed by all
\nparties, including Eritrean forces in Tigray. Further, we demand that the Special Rapporteur on
\nthe Rights of Women in Africa urge the relevant authorities to put in place measures to ensure
\nthat women and girls in the region are protected from rape and sexual assault in line with
\nEthiopia\u2019s human rights obligations and take all steps necessary to address and mitigate the harm
\nto victims of sexual violence that have already occurred through a survivor-centered approach.
\nHonorable Chairperson, African Union member states committed to achieve universal
\nratification of the Maputo Protocol by 2020. Regrettably, to date, four months after the end of the
\nAfrican Women\u2019s Decade, 13 AU member states are yet to ratify the Maputo Protocol. We urge
\nthe remaining 13 AU member states \u2013 Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic,
\nChad, Egypt, Eritrea, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic,
\nSomalia, South Sudan and Sudan \u2013 to urgently ratify the Maputo Protocol in order to
\nensure that the women and girls in these countries enjoy their rights as enshrined in the
\nProtocol. Additionally, it is concerning that only 16 of the 42 state parties to the Maputo
\nProtocol have reported on the Maputo Protocol, almost 18 years since its adoption. Alliances for
\nAfrica and the SOAWR Coalition urge the ACHPR to continue to encourage Member States to
\ncomply with their reporting obligations under Article 62 of the African Charter and Article 26 of<\/p>\n
the Maputo Protocol. Further, we urge the Commission to adopt and popularize the Guidelines
\non Shadow Reporting under the African Charter and the Maputo Protocol.
\nI thank you.
\nDone in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria on 13 April 2021
\nThe SOAWR Coalition is comprised of:
\n1. Action for Development (ACFODE)
\n2. African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS)
\n3. African Women\u2019s Development Fund
\n4. African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)
\n5. Akina Mama wa Afrika
\n6. Alliances for Africa
\n7. Association des Juristes Maliennes (AJM)
\n8. Association des Juristes S\u00e9n\u00e9galaises
\n9. Association of Egyptian Female Lawyers (AEFL)
\n10. Atwar Organization for Research and Social Development (Atwar)
\n11. BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights
\n12. Cellule de Coordination sur les Pratiques Traditionnelle Affectant la Sant\u00e9 des Femmes et
\ndes Enfants (CPTAFE)
\n13. Center for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD)
\n14. Center for Human Rights \u2013 University of Pretoria
\n15. Center for Reproductive Rights
\n16. Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW)
\n17. Centre for Justice Studies and Innovation (CJSI)
\n18. Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
\n19. Coalition on Violence Against Women
\n20. Collectif des Associations et ONGs F\u00e9minines du Burundi
\n21. Eastern African Sub-regional Support Initiative
\n22. Equality Now
\n23. Fahamu Networks for Social Justice
\n24. Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya<\/p>\n
25. Fondation Pour l’\u00c9galit\u00e9\/ CIDDEF
\n26. Forum Mulher
\n27. Girl Child Network
\n28. Great Lakes Initiative for Human Rights and Development (GLIHD)
\n29. Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS)
\n30. IGED Africa
\n31. ICJ Kenya
\n32. Inter-African Committee (IAC) on Harmful Traditional Practices
\n33. Inter-African Network for Women, Media, Gender Equity and Development
\n(FAMEDEV)
\n34. Ipas Africa Alliance for Women\u2019s Reproductive Health and Rights
\n35. Jossour
\n36. KADIRAT
\n37. Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC)
\n38. Make Every Woman Count
\n39. Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre\/ NGOGCN
\n40. NAFGEM Tanzania
\n41. NGO Gender Coordination Network
\n42. Oxfam GB
\n43. People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA)
\n44. Question de Femmes
\n45. Reproductive Health and Rights Alliance
\n46. R\u00e9seau des Femmes Leaders pour le D\u00e9veloppement (RFLD)
\n47. Sister Nambia
\n48. STEWARD Women
\n49. Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)
\n50. Tomorrow’s Child Initiative
\n51. Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre (TLAC)
\n52. Uganda Women Network (UWONET)
\n53. Union Nationale Des Femmes Djiboutiennes
\n54. Voix de Femmes
\n55. WANET
\n56. WLSA ZAMBIA<\/p>\n
57. Women in Law and Development in Africa
\n58. Women NGO Secretariat of Liberia
\n59. Women of Liberia Peace Network
\n60. Women\u2019s Advocacy and Communication Network
\n61. Women’s Counselling and Information Centre (WCIC)
\n62. Women’s Rights Advancement & Protection Alternative (WRAPA)
\n63. Young Liberian Women Organization for Improvement (WOFIM)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n