23 years after the Maputo Protocol: From promise to practice for women and girls in Africa

By Mumbi Mugo, Legal Advisor, Equality Now

On 11 July 2003, the African Union adopted the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa: the Maputo Protocol. 

More than two decades later, the Maputo Protocol remains the most comprehensive and progressive legal instrument for the protection and promotion of women’s human rights on the continent.

From guaranteeing the right to health, education and freedom from violence, to protecting political participation and economic rights, the Maputo Protocol remains a beacon of light and a powerful accountability mechanism.

Progress worth recognising

Forty-six of the 55 African Union member states have ratified the Maputo Protocol. Nine have yet to do so: Burundi, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Somalia and Sudan.

This level of ratification is significant. It reflects a shared continental commitment to equality, dignity, safety and autonomy for women and girls. But ratification alone is not enough.

Among the states that have ratified, domestication and implementation remain uneven. The gap between legal commitments and lived realities unfortunately remains wide for millions of women and girls across Africa.

Twenty-three years after the Protocol’s adoption, the question is no longer whether these commitments exist. The question is how they are fully reflected in national laws, and how consistently they are implemented in practice.

Article 14: health, autonomy and dignity

A key component of the Protocol’s vision is Article 14, which recognises women’s rights to health and reproductive autonomy.

Article 14 guarantees women the right to control their fertility, decide whether to have children, decide the number and spacing of children, and choose any method of contraception. It also requires access to family planning information and services, protection from sexually transmitted infections, and education on sexual and reproductive health.

Critically, the Maputo Protocol is the first and only binding international human rights treaty to explicitly guarantee access to safe abortion in specific circumstances, including where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental or physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the fetus, or in cases of sexual assault, rape or incest.

These protections are about more than healthcare. They are about dignity, equality, bodily autonomy, safety and the ability of women and girls to make decisions about their own lives.

Article 14’s reflection in national law

Across Africa, some countries have taken progressive steps to reflect Article 14 in domestic law and health systems.

Rwanda lifted its reservation on Article 14(2)(c) in 2012 and reformed its Penal Code in 2018 to permit termination of pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, forced marriage, and health risk without court authorisation. Ghana’s amendments to the Criminal Offences Act also provide a broader legal standard by allowing termination in cases of rape, incest, and risks to physical or mental health. 

Benin has substantially harmonized its laws with Article 14 of the Maputo Protocol by expanding legal access to safe abortion through the 2021 amendment and its 2023 implementing decree, while also strengthening its reproductive health policy framework. Kenya has incorporated SRHR priorities into national health policies, demonstrating how Article 14 can be advanced through longer-term public health systems. 

These reforms show that alignment with Article 14 requires clear legal standards, trained providers, accessible facilities, public information, and health systems that can support women and girls throughout their reproductive lives.

Harmonising laws on Article 14 remains critical

To make Article 14 meaningful, governments must also ensure that national laws align with regional commitments. When national laws align with regional commitments, health providers gain clarity, accountability mechanisms become stronger, services become more predictable, and women and girls are better able to exercise their rights without discrimination, stigma, or unnecessary barriers.

It can also address challenges with legal frameworks that remain unclear or restrictive. For example, Uganda has ratified the Maputo Protocol but maintains reservations to provisions of Article 14, while Nigeria has ratified the Protocol, but aspects of its legal framework remain narrower than Article 14’s protections, creating uncertainty for women, girls and healthcare providers. 

In the absence of harmonization, rights remain unevenly distributed. Progressive constitutional protections may coexist with restrictive or unclear laws. New policies may be undermined by older penal provisions. Administrative procedures may delay access to time-sensitive care. Health workers may be uncertain about what the law permits. Women and girls may be left unsure of what protections they can claim.

Harmonisation is therefore not only a legal exercise. Its impact is deeply human.

What governments must do now

As we commemorate 23 years of the Maputo Protocol, this moment invites reflection not only on what has been achieved, but on what remains unfinished.

The nine remaining African Union member states should ratify the Protocol without further delay. The 46 states that have ratified should accelerate domestication and implementation, harmonizing the Protocol’s provisions into concrete improvements in women’s and girls’ lived realities: in health, justice, economic life, political voice and safety.

The Maputo Protocol remains a living framework for justice, equality and accountability. Its power lies not only in the rights it declares, but in what it makes possible when those rights are implemented.