By A Representative
Ahead of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, regional experts, jurists, and civil society leaders issued an urgent call to defend women’s and girls’ rights against an increasingly coordinated pushback fueled by narratives of family, tradition, and sovereignty. Speaking at a recent SHE & Rights session on gender equality, health rights, and human rights accountability, advocates highlighted the pressing need to turn established regional legal frameworks into lived realities while confronting efforts to erode protections across Africa and globally. The event was jointly hosted by the Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion and Citizen News Service alongside international partner organizations.
Dr. Robert Eno, Registrar of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, clarified that a controversial draft African Charter on "family sovereignty and values" was not initiated by the African Union and remains far from consideration by the AU Assembly. While expressing doubt that the text would reach the Assembly anytime soon, Dr. Eno warned against complacency, noting that the broader struggle involves entrenched discriminatory practices such as unequal inheritance, divorce barriers, and the non-recognition of marital rape. He urged human rights defenders to expand their engagement beyond traditional legal forums into homes, schools, places of worship, and community spaces to build broad-based understanding that gender equality strengthens rather than undermines families.
Representatives from the global feminist movement Musawah outlined how conservative networks weaponize culture, religion, and the concept of family protection to stall crucial reforms. Senior Regional Programme Officer Rehema Namukose pointed to legislative trends across countries like Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda, where restrictive measures gain traction—often supported by external funding—while vital family-law updates on marriage, custody, and bodily autonomy face persistent delays. Global Executive Director Samah Hadid emphasized that Musawah counters these strategies from within the Muslim legal tradition by equipping lawyers and advocates with egalitarian Islamic arguments, demonstrating that faith and cultural heritage are fully compatible with gender justice.
Scrutiny was also directed toward existing treaties, with Fatou Bantou Salah of the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa advocating for a "Pause for Purpose" regarding the African Union Convention on Eliminating Violence Against Women and Girls. Adopted in early 2025, the convention currently has nine signatories and two ratifications out of the fifteen required to take effect. Salah stressed that the ratification process should be paused to conduct a comprehensive legal review and address substantive gaps, including limited references to female genital mutilation, child marriage, and conflict-related sexual violence.
Highlighting grassroots health challenges, Vimbai Kapurura, Executive Director of Girls Not Brides and Founder of Women Unlimited Eswatini, pointed out that infrastructure gains must translate into dignified, accessible care. While Eswatini has seen declines in adolescent birth rates, high unmet needs for family planning persist among rural and impoverished youth, leaving young women disproportionately vulnerable to HIV and systemic barriers. Kapurura identified Eswatini’s upcoming Universal Periodic Review in late 2026 as a pivotal opportunity to align state commitments with community realities.
The discussion further addressed the rights of older persons through updates on the drafting of a legally binding United Nations treaty. Khalid Hassine, Secretary of the UN Inter-Governmental Working Group on the Human Rights of Older Persons, and Shobha Shukla, Chairperson of Development Justice for Older Persons, emphasized the critical intersection of ageism and gender discrimination. Shukla stressed that older women and marginalized groups must be recognized as active contributors and rights holders rather than passive recipients of charity, urging civil society to mobilize ahead of upcoming intergovernmental negotiations in October 2026.
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