Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol Text). African Union; 2003.
Publisher's VersionAbstracthttp://www.achpr.org/instruments/women-protocol/
The Maputo Protocol was originally adopted by the “Assembly of the African Union” in Maputo, Mozambique on July 11, 2003. The official document is titled “Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.”
The Maputo Protocol is a treaty instrument that is binding on all countries that ratify it. It went into effect in November 2005, after the minimum 15 of the 53 African Union member countries ratified it. As of June 2007, according to the African Union, 43 nations had signed it and 21 had formally ratified it: (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Libya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Senegal, Seychelles, Tanzania, Togo and Zambia).
Kounte K.
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Simplified). Peace Women; 2003.
Publisher's VersionAbstracthttp://www.peacewomen.org/node/89904
The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) on the Rights of Women in Africa was adopted in Maputo in July 2003, eight years after the commencement of the drafting process in Lomé, Togo in March 1995. This event marked a major achievement. However, before entering into force, the Protocol required ratification in fifteen member countries (Article 29). On 26 October 2005, Togo became the fifteenth country to ratify and deposit the Protocol before the Commission of the African Union. The Protocol entered into force a month later on 25 November 2005.
While celebrating this major achievement, the African women's movement remains vigilant in the pursuit of our next objective: the universal ratification of the instrument and its effective implementation. Only then will the status of African women significantly improve.
In pursuit of this objective, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom WiLDAF) sub-regional office for West Africa produced this simplified version of the Protocol, which can be used to educate and raise awareness of women's rights.
CEDAW – Guidelines on Reporting from States. UN Women. 2003.
Publisher's VersionAbstract
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/reporting.htm
This document (HRI/GEN/2/Rev.1/Add.2 ) contains the guidelines issued by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women for all reports submitted after 31 December 2002. These guidelines replace all earlier reporting guidelines issued by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, including those contained in HRI/GEN/2/Rev.1.
Merry SE.
Constructing a Global Law - Violence against Women and the Human Rights System. Law & Social Inquiry. 2003;28 (4) :941-977.
Publisher's VersionAbstracthttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-4469.2003.tb00828.x/ab...
*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.
This ethnographic analysis of one of the core human rights conventions suggests that despite the lack of enforceability of this convention and its operation within the framework of state sovereignty, it is similar to state law. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, or CEDAW, the major UN convention on the status of women, articulates a vision of women's equal protection from discrimination and addresses gender-based violence as a form of discrimination. It had been ratified by 171 nation states as of mid-2003. Its implementation relies on a complex process of periodic reporting to a global body meeting in New York and a symbiotic if sometimes contentious relationship between government representatives and international and domestic NGOs. Like state law, it serves to articulate and name problems and delineate solutions. It provides a resource for activists endeavoring to address problems of women's status and turns the international gaze on resisting nations. Its regulatory strength depends on the cultural legitimacy of the international process of consensus building and related social movements to define social justice in these terms. Thus, like state law, its impact depends on its cultural legitimacy and its embodiment in local cultures and legal consciousness. This examination of CEDAW as quasi law extends our understanding of law as a plural and a symbolic system rooted in a particular historical moment of globalization.
Not a Minute More: Ending Violence Against Women. UNIFEM; 2003.
Publisher's VersionAbstracthttps://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/blog/document/not-a-minute-more-ending-viol...
Our goal in this report is to highlight achievements and indicate what must be done to build on these achievements. The report provides examples of good practices as well as of efforts that did not meet the goals set out for them — and explores why not. It looks at the challenges ahead, and asks what the most fruitful next steps might be. The work of the last decades indicates several directions for the future, but one of the most critical areas is the need for collaboration and partnerships. No one government or international agency or civil society organization can hope to have an impact alone. Pooling resources, sharing strengths and knowledge and listening to local leaders will allow end-violence efforts to move to the next level. We hope that that the lessons gathered here will serve as a tool, a prod and an inspiration to those entrusted with building the rule of law and honouring human rights as the basis for human security everywhere.
