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On 26 - 27 of September 2024, the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria hosted a regional workshop on enhancing the ratification and implementation of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (African Disability Protocol).

The African Disability Protocol was adopted by the African Union (AU) Assembly with a view to promote and protect rights of persons with disabilities in Africa. The regional workshop sought to encourage and foster open dialogue among AU Member States on effective implementation strategies and encourage a wider ratification of the African Disability Protocol as the Protocol has come into force.

The workshop brought together stakeholders from organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), government officials, academia, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), donors, and civil society organisations (CSOs) from African countries that have ratified the African Disability Protocol, including South Africa, Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Uganda as well as countries that are yet to ratify the African Disability Protocol like Ethiopia, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Botswana  and Lesotho.

The Protocol addresses unique challenges faced by persons with disabilities in Africa in a way it was not addressed by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It complements the CRPD by affirming rights already recognised by CRPD and addressing specific issues relevant to the African context. The Protocol reformulates and extends rights under the CRPD and explicitly recognises novel rights like freedom from harmful practices which are relevant for persons with disabilities in Africa. Implementation of the African Disability Protocol requires states to give adequate attention to cross-cutting rights under the Protocol such as the right to legal capacity and access to justice which serve for the realisation of other rights as well as contemporary issues under the Protocol such as technology, and sexual and reproductive rights.

Extensive discussions during the workshop focused on identifying effective strategies for the implementation of the Protocol. Participants stressed the need to work closely with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) to develop state reporting guidelines for the implementation of the African Disability Protocol. The value of observer status before the  AU human rights mechanisms for OPDs and CSOs working on disability rights was also emphasised. This would enable them to use regional avenues like the sessions of these mechanisms and NGO forums to galvanise support for ratification and implementation of the African Disability Protocol. Using strategic litigation before regional human rights mechanisms such as the African Commission and African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) as a tool to ensure implementation of the Protocol was also suggested as a strategy of implementation. To this end, strengthening collaboration among stakeholders and pushing states to ratify the African Court Protocol and make declaration under the article 34(6) of the Court’s Protocol so that individuals can be able to bring complaints to The AfCHPR is necessary to ensure effective litigation at the regional level. Increasing visibility of the African Disability Protocol and linking the implementation of the Protocol to the AU policy strategy framework was also suggested as strategy for ratification and implementation of the African Disability Protocol.

At the end of the workshop, the need for the full implementation and ratification of the African Disability Protocol was emphasised, alongside the need to intensify advocacy campaigns, strengthening collaboration among OPDs, CSOs and state actors; working closely with the AU institutions. 

The Centre will continue to exert its efforts to ensure implementation of the African Disability Protocol in the states that have ratified the Protocol.


For more information, please contact:

Manager: Disability Rights Unit

Tel: +27 (0)12 420 6398
 dianah.msipa@up.ac.za

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