Norman Pinduka
The year 2023 marks two decades of celebrating the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol on Women's Rights). While acknowledging that a lot still needs to be done to ensure the robust protection of women and girls in African states, the Maputo Protocol on Women's Rights has dismantled many traditional, cultural, and societal constructs that encourage women's vulnerability in the social, economic, and political spheres of African societies. Across the continent, countries such as South Africa, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, Mali, and Uganda have seriously invoked provisions of the Maputo Protocol on Women's Rights either directly through state administrative and policy action or indirectly through judgments of national and regional tribunals requiring accountability for the rights therein. The Maputo Protocol on Women's Rights has been cited and relied upon by national and regional tribunals when making decisions, ensuring that the Women's Rights established in the Protocol are implemented for women and girls across Africa. Most African countries have shown interest in Women's Rights, as forty-four of the fifty-five African Union Member States have ratified the Maputo Protocol on Women's Rights. This could be considered a crucial turning point in advancing Women's Rights in African nations.
The position in the foregoing, however, does not accurately give an apt description of women and girls in refugee and internal displacement settings. The African Union Commission's Women, Gender, and Development Directorate (AUC-WGDD), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) (2020) acknowledge that women and girls who have been forced to leave their homes are frequently more likely to experience violence, neglect, and general declines in their wellness. They face particular dangers, such as sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), among other human rights violations. They are frequently denied the chance to actively and meaningfully engage in various decision-making processes. Given that Africa is simply a continent on the move as the forcibly displaced have tripled within the past decade, leading to a refugee and internally displaced person crisis that has never been seen before regarding scale, distance, and geography of movement, the current trends have two implications. First is the influx of refugees and the internally displaced in Africa, and second is the intensification of the vulnerability of women and girls in refugee and internal displacement situations. The trends are not likely to change anytime soon, as the surge of forcibly displaced people has continued.
Given such a background, it becomes pertinent and plausible for African states to consider, reconsider, and enhance the protection of women and girls in refugee and internal displacement settings by seriously invoking the Maputo Protocol on Women's Rights. It appears that the objective of the Maputo Protocol on Women's Rights to protect refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced women and girls, and other people of concern has been forgotten, yet Article 11(3) of the Maputo Protocol states that:
States Parties undertake to protect asylum-seeking women, refugees, returnees, and internally displaced persons against all forms of violence, rape, and other forms of sexual exploitation, and to ensure that such acts are considered war crimes, genocide, and/or crimes against humanity and that their perpetrators are brought to justice before a competent criminal jurisdiction.
While this is specific to women, such a provision must be read in line with the 1951 United Nations Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Additional Protocol; the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa; the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (2009); and other relevant laws for enhanced protection of women in refugee and internal displacement situations. Considering the protection of women in refugee and internal displacement circumstances requires a comprehensive strategy.
In 'Raising the bar on policies and partnerships for African people', there is a strong case for invoking the Maputo Protocol on Women's Rights for women in refugee and internal displacement settings through holistic measures and integrated processes.
First, it is necessary to acknowledge that the women and girls in refugee and internal displacement settings are vulnerable and exposed to socio-economic threats, and the number is likely to increase. This calls for an approach that is built on the 5 Cs - the main pillars: commitment, coordination, collaboration, continuous engagement, and continuous assessment. Second, raising the bar on policies and partnerships for African people entails the identification of the major and relevant players in the need to protect women and girls in refugee and internal displacement settings. The African Union as the regional body, sub-regional organisations (RECs), relevant State Ministries, refugee advocates, policymakers, and implementers, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), women and girls in refugee and internal displacement settings, the forcibly displaced, non-governmental organisations, and other relevant players can be considered as major players in the need to protect girls and women in refugee and internal displacement settings.
In the process of ensuring that women and girls in refugee and internal displacement situations are protected, 'going back to the basics' is the starting point. The identified stakeholders should participate in raising awareness of the vulnerability of women and girls in refugee and internal displacement settings. The need to hear the narratives and lived experiences of refugee and internally displaced women and children, including men and boys, is critical. This can help conscientious all the players involved so that they know their roles to attain the objectives of Article 11(3) of the Maputo Protocol. This can help demystify certain social constructs that weigh heavily on women and girls in refugee and internal displacement settings. The vulnerability of women is a result of historical processes, certain cultural norms and values, social constructs, customs, and practices that are never easy to destroy; hence commitment, collaborative and coordinated efforts could be helpful.
Given that in most refugee and internal displacement settings, there are diverse groups, it is reasonable for continuous engagement of the vulnerable individuals and groups to identify the challenges that confront them on the one hand. On the other hand, there is a need for continuous engagement among the identified players for monitoring and evaluation purposes. A continuous assessment of the implementation of Article 11 (3) of the Maputo Protocol on Women's Rights across the continent is pertinent. This must be done through a collaborative effort by the major players identified above. To raise the bar on policies and partnerships for women and girls in refugee and internal displacement settings, the choice of language and terms to be used must be familiar to and comprehensible to the women and girls in refugee and internal displacement settings and their male counterparts for clarity on the vulnerability of women and girls, including the acts that impact their health security.
Lastly, forced displacement issues still seem to be secondary to economic and political issues in all governance tiers in Africa. The need for a paradigm shift is imminent, where migration issues must be given equal attention at the state, sub-regional, and regional levels. Perhaps this can eliminate the solution approach, which is better than the prevention approach, where the focus can be on addressing conditions leading to women in refugee and internal displacement issues, which are the root causes for the inclusion of Article 11 (3) in the Maputo Protocol.
In concluding remarks, seriously invoking Article 11(3) of the Maputo Protocol on Women's Rights has become more pertinent given that women in refugee and internal displacement settings are exposed to human insecurities. The onus for the realisation of the goals set in the Maputo Protocol on Women's Rights is on different stakeholders, who have to utilise a coordinated, cooperative approach that is based on continuous engagement and assessment. 'Raising the bar on policies and partnerships for African people' can, in this way, be a realised goal.
1951 United Nations Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Additional Protocol.
African Union Commission - Women, Gender and Development Directorate (AUC-WGDD), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), 'Status of Women's Rights in Refugee and Internal Displacement Settings in Africa: The Context of AGA and APSA'(UN Women Africa, 2020) <africa.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Field Office Africa/Attachments/Publications/2021/06/Status of Womens Rights in Refugee and Internal Displacement Settings in Africa.pdf> accessed 7 July 2023.
African Union, 'Maputo Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa: Commemorating 20 Years' (African Union, 5 July 2023 to 5 July 2024) <https://au.int/en/newsevents/20230705/maputo-protocol-20-years> accessed 4 June 2023.
African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (2009).
Equality Now, '9 Ways the Maputo Protocol has Protected and Promoted the Rights of Women and Girls across Africa' (Equality Now, 24 March 2021) <https://www.equalitynow.org/news_and_insights/9_ways_maputo_protocol/> accessed 27 June 2023.
OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa.
Pinduka N, 'How Religion Trumps Health in Zimbabwe' (Oxford Political Review, 7 July 2022) <https://oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2022/07/20/how-religion-trumps-health-in-zimbabwe/> accessed 28 June 2023.
ReliefWeb - OCHA Services, 'Record 36 Million Africans Forcibly Displaced is 44 Rercent of Global Total' (ReliefWeb, 19 July 2022) <https://reliefweb.int/report/world/record-36-million-africans-forcibly-displaced-44-percent-global-total> accessed 7 July 2023.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 'UNHCR Calls for Concerted Action as Forced Displacement Hits New Record in 2022' (UNHCR, 14 June 2023) <https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/GTR-2022-final-embargoed.pdf> accessed 7 July 2023.