The Human Rights System under the Auspices of the African Union (AU) for the Protection of Women’s Rights in Africa

Abstract

In the bid for the African Union (AU) formerly referred to as the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to protect the fundamental human rights of the people of Africa, the African Regional human Rights system was established to address human rights issues that are peculiar to its people.

The term human rights in the African context connotes freedom, dignity, equality and social justice as foundations in the struggle to assert the core values of human existence. In the recognition of the concept of human rights in Africa, every African country has enshrined human rights in their constitutions; the inter-governmental organization of African States and the African Union regards the realization of human rights as one of its objectives and principles.

This article will describe the human rights structures created on a continental level in Africa and show the extent to which the African regional human rights system has impacted the promotion and protection of the women’s rights in Africa through African regional human rights instruments such as the African Charter which subsequently created the African commission, African Court on human rights and the women rights protocol (Maputo protocol). The Community Court of Justice (CCJ) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Court) also adjudicates on human rights issues; it is the first human rights body to find violation of the African region’s women’s rights treaty.