Writes Leo Odera Omolo
ON July 22, 2010 Uganda ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa also known as the Maputo Protocol. This is a landmark achievement which indicates Uganda’s commitment to be legally bound by this Protocol.
The Protocol was evolved out of concern that despite the ratification of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other international human instruments, women in Africa still continue to be victims of discrimination and harmful practices. The Maputo Protocol came into effect in November 2005, after 15 of the 53 African Union (AU) member countries ratified it.
The Protocol provides for elimination and discrimination against women; the right to dignity; the right to life, integrity and security of the person among many other rights.
In respect to procedures, it provides for remedies, implementation and monitoring, interpretation, signature, ratification and accession, entry into force, amendment and revision, status of the present protocol and transitional provisions.
Countries that ratify the protocol are obliged to ensure implementation and to submit periodic reports indicating legislative and other measures undertaken for the full realization of the rights recognized therein. Countries that ratify the protocol also undertake to provide budgetary and other resources. An international treaty such as the Maputo Protocol passes through three main stages— adoption, signing and ratification or accession.
The stage of adoption means that the text of the treaty has been negotiated and agreed upon. A treaty may be adopted by vote or by consensus. The Maputo Protocol was adopted by 53 heads of state of the AU in Maputo, Mozambique, on July 11, 2003.
When a state signs a treaty, it means it is obliged to refrain from enacting laws that discriminate against women.
Ratification can be done after signature or alongside with signature. Ratification indicates a state’s commitment to be legally bound by the treaty. It can be done after a treaty has entered into force or after a specified time limit for signature has expired.
When a state ratifies a treaty, it may enter a reservation at the same time as the instrument of ratification is deposited. Reservation means that it will not be legally bound by a particular article of the treaty. The Protocol allows reservations, provided such reservations are not incompatible with the object and purpose of the Protocol.
Uganda ratified with reservation on two provisions under Article 14 on Health and Reproductive Rights – women’s right to control their fertility and authorization of abortion in specific circumstances.
Women’s right to control their fertility and abortion are highly emotive subjects the world over. They hinge on religious, cultural, economic, social, human rights and political dimensions. Some argue that the best way to reduce recourse to abortion is to expand access to family planning; thus issues of fertility control and abortion are interlinked.
These issues deserve further debate because for example, promotion of reproductive health and rights is sometimes wrongly equated with abortion! Uganda is a jet setter in promoting respect for women’s rights and can be effectively used to enlist all African states to ratify the Maputo Protocol expeditiously.
Now is the time to tear down the oppression of women. The tidal wave is unstoppable.
Ends