fbpx

On Friday, 19 October 2018, there was a one-day technical support meeting for stakeholders from Uganda. The meeting was organised jointly by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the Centre for Human Rights. The meeting was held at the Protea hotel, Entebbe. Participants for this meeting were drawn from Government ministries, National Human Rights Commissions and civil society in Uganda. Participants were also members of a task team that had been set up for the purposes of drafting state reports on all the treaties that Uganda is party to. The meeting was earmarked specifically to offer technical support to Uganda's current draft report as part of the state's efforts to fulfil its reporting obligations under the African Charter and the Maputo Protocol to the African Commission. 

The primary objective of the one-day meeting was essentially to discuss the current draft report that Uganda had prepared, identify as well as address gaps with a view to strengthen the report before it is submitted.  Uganda ratified the African Charter in May 1986 and the Maputo Protocol in July 2010. By virtue of its ratification of these instruments, the state has expressed commitment to the obligation under Article 62 of the African Charter and Article 26(1) of the Maputo Protocol to submit a report every two years to the African Commission. This report should be made up of two parts; Part A on the African Charter and Part B on the Maputo Protocol.

The last time Uganda reported to the African Commission was in 2012 and is yet to report on the Maputo Protocol. However, the Government of Uganda is currently in the process of drafting a state party report for consideration by the African Commission. The Centre’s team represented by Prof. M. Hansungule, Patience Mungwari Mpani and Ade Johnson were invited by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs specifically to offer technical support and guidance on the drafting and finalisation of the current draft report. 

The workshop began with an overview of the current draft report shared by the Commissioner from the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. Mr. Bisereko Kyomuhendo, Commissioner, Legal Advisory Services. This overview was followed by presentations with a focus on strengthening the capacity of delegates and representatives on the 'art' of drafting a state report. One presentation of particular importance was a presentation on concluding recommendations.  Prof. Hansungule gave an overview of the last concluding recommendations that were issued by the African Commission to Uganda. He reminded the stakeholders of the importance of responding to the previous concerns that the African Commission's experts had outlined when drafting the current report.

Attention was drawn to a major gap evident in the current draft report which was the fact that there was no section on the Maputo Protocol (Part B). To address this gap, participants went into groups of four themes (outlined in the Maputo Protocol guidelines) and were tasked with beginning the process of drafting the Part B section. 

The workshop ended with commitments from the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to not only continue the process of drafting including the section on the Maputo Protocol but to also importantly address structural and technical gaps in the current draft report.

line

For more information, please contact

Ms Adetokunbo Johnson

Project Officer: Women’s Rights Unit

Tel: +27 (0) 12 420 4306
Fax: +27 (0) 86 269 6141
ade.johnson@up.ac.za

Newsletter

 Subscribe to our newsletter