On 23 - 24 August 2026, the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria (the Centre), in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, Parliamentary Affairs and Women in São Tomé and Príncipe, validated the country’s Combined Reports to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) on the implementation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol) (the combined State Report). Once deposited, the combined State Report will mark the first time that the country has engaged in this process with this African regional human rights treaty monitoring body. Following the validation workshop, the Centre discussed the final steps required prior to the country submitting the combined State Report to the African Commission with Hon. Minister Vera Maria Assuncao Gomes Cravid, the Minister of Justice, Parliamentary Affairs and Women’s Rights, on 26 August 2026.
The invitation to support São Tomé and Príncipe in preparing its initial and subsequent combined State Reports on the African Charter and the Maputo Protocol was initiated through engagement with the Hon. Commissioner Maria Theresa Manuela, the African Commission Country Rapporteur assigned to Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe. Through her dedication to ensuring reporting compliance by the six Portuguese-speaking countries, the Centre has provided technical support in the drafting of State Reports to the African Commission by Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe. With the continued support and direction of Hon. Minister Vera Maria Assuncao Gomes Cravid, the process has been seamless. The engagements between the Centre and the various stakeholders in developing the State Report have reiterated the key role of women in decision-making processes in ensuring that the objective of gender equality is adequately captured in the formulation of laws and policies and is realised in everyday life for women and girls in a context-specific manner.
The women in leadership in this small Island nation with an estimated population of 246 000 in 2026, continue to demonstrate the mirror effect of women in leadership and decision-making processes. Maria das Neves, the first female Prime Minister championed the country’s domestic violence legislation in 2008 at a time when she was the only female member of parliament in a Parliament of 55 parliamentarians. As a demonstration of the legislative measures undertaken by the State to realise the rights enshrined in the African Charter and the Maputo Protocol, Law. No. 11/2008 on Domestic and Family Violence is an example of the measures reported on in the combined State Report.
Since the pioneering times of Maria das Neves, in 2022 São Tomé and Príncipe enacted a Political Parity Law that provides for a minimum of 40% of seats in elected bodies to be reserved for women, as well as minimum representation of women in Cabinet positions. The impact of these laws, accessibility, remedies available, challenges in implementation and measures to mitigate such challenges are also considered as part of the State report drafting exercise to determine the human rights situation of women and girls in the country. These and other non-legislative measures reported on in the combined State Report were reviewed as part of the Validation Workshop held in São Tomé and Príncipe on 23 and 25 August 2026 where a draft report prepared with the technical support of the Centre was considered by various stakeholders.
It is expected that the report will be revised to incorporate the proposed updates and be finalised for submission to, and subsequent review by, the African Commission. The project is implemented as part of the flagship State Reporting Project undertaken by the Centre since 2006. The project aims to increase the quantity and quality of State reports filed before the African Commission to stimulate the domestication and implementation of human rights obligations nationally. This year, for São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea Bissau and Cabo Verde in preparing their respective State Reports to the African Commission is supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
For more information, please contact:
Tel: +27 (0) 12 420 4306
Fax: +27 (0) 86 580 5743
matilda.lasseko-phooko@up.ac.za
Tel: +27 (0) 12 420 4197
Fax: +27 (0) 86 580 5743
lydia.chibwe@up.ac.za
