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At a memorable advocacy meeting organised by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, in collaboration with the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and HelpAge International, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Ms Pholile P. Shakantu, speaking on behalf of the Deputy Prime Minister, Senator Themba Masuku, committed to the ratification of both the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa (Protocol on the Rights of Older Persons) and Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa (Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities).

She pledged that the Government of Eswatini will take actionable steps towards the ratification of the two Protocols. Should Eswatini ratify these Protocols, it will be the second country in Africa to ratify the Protocol on the Rights of Older Persons (after Lesotho) and the first country in Africa to ratify the Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Each Protocol will need 15 states to ratify it before it can come into force.

The advocacy meeting, which was jointly organised by the Centres’ Women’s Rights and Disability Rights Units, was held on 12 September 2019 at Lugogo Sun. It brought together representatives of government ministries, civil society organisations and representatives of older persons and persons living with disabilities. The meeting provided an opportunity for participants to share some of the challenges and lived realities of older persons and persons living with disabilities in Eswatini. For many older women, ‘old age is an illness’ because of a lack of age-sensitive and age-friendly laws, policies and programmes on positive ageing. This is the bitter truth across the African continent that necessitates the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Older Persons and the Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Accordingly, the two Protocols will strengthen the normative framework for the protection and promotion of the rights of older persons and persons with disabilities.

pdfProtocol on the Rights of Older Persons
pdfProtocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities


For more information on ratifying the Protocol on the Rights of Older Persons, please contact:

For more information on ratifying the Protocol on the Rights of Older Persons with Disabilities, please contact:

Innocentia Mgijima-Konopi
Manager: Disability Rights and Law Schools Programme

Tel: +27 (0) 12 420 6398
Fax: +27 (0) 86 580 5743
innocentia.mgijima@up.ac.za

For more information on the #AgeWithRights campaign, visit www.chr.up.ac.za/agewithrights

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