An urgent call for the implementation of gender related judgements and decisions delivered by African Union human rights mechanisms

The 2025 international human rights day is celebrating the 77th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)  under the theme “Human Rights, Our Everyday Essentials”. The theme is a call to reaffirm the values of human rights and show that they remain a winning proposition for humanity in these turbulent times characterised by backlash and retrogression. The theme is timely for Africa  where despite significant progress made  through instruments such as  the Protocol to the Africa Charter on Human & Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa ( the Maputo Protocol); women and girls across the continent continue to face barriers in accessing justice and enjoying the full benefit of legal victories. 

African human rights bodies and the challenge of non-compliance

The African Union has three main human rights bodies: the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights. The three bodies are complemented by sub-regional judicial mechanisms such as the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) and the ECOWAS Court. These bodies have issued important judgments addressing gendered violations, including forced and child marriage, conflict-related sexual violence, and the right to education. However, most decisions remain unimplemented, resulting in low compliance across the continent. This implementation crisis creates “paper justice” for victims, especially women and girls whose cases are already under-litigated, and threatens to erode the legitimacy of the AU’s human rights treaties and mechanisms.

Forum on the implementation of gender-related decisions

Equality Now convened a forum on the status of implementation of gender related decisions in October 2025. The forum focused on the following decisions: Communication 341/2007: Equality Now & The Ethiopian Women’s Lawyers Association (EWLA) vs the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia;  Communication 686/18 – Association des femmes avocates défenseurs des droits humains, lnstitute for Human Rights and Development in Africa & Equality Now c/ République Démocratique du Congo; African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court) Judgement: Application 046/2016 – APDF & IHRDA vs Republic of Mali; Communication No: 0012/Com/001/2019, Decision No 002/2022: Legal and Human Rights Centre and Centre for Reproductive Rights (on behalf of Tanzanian girls) v United Republic of Tanzania: and Women Against Violence and Exploitation in Society (WAVES) and Another v Sierra Leone (ECW/CCJ/APP/22/18) [2019] ECOWASCJ 19. Experts from AU Human Rights Organs, Regional Courts, the Pan African Parliament,  the Office of the Legal Counsel, National Human Rights Institutions, CSOs, and academia convened in Nairobi, Kenya to review the implementation of gender-related judgments in the African human rights system evaluated the progress and the complexities that characterize implementation. The overall finding was that most of the decisions remain unimplemented, not due to a lack of frameworks, but due to insufficient follow-up, fragmented coordination, and broader structural constraints.

Expert recommendations for strengthening implementation

Experts called for the reinforcement of follow up on implementation as a central pillar of the fulfilment of human rights obligations and gender justice. They reiterated the need for embracing gender-transformative multi-sectoral approaches and centering survivors through inclusive and participatory processes, to move closer to ensuring that legal gains become lived realities for women and girls across Africa. Key recommendations made include: 

Strategic engagement with states using pattern analysis: Mapping the  behaviour of states type/category of state in matters of implementation, namely cooperative states; calculating states; indifferent states, and recalcitrant states noting the importance of having innovative advocacy strategies based on state behavior.

CSO reporting on implementation: A call for CSOs to submit reports on the status of implementation after 180 days, even without state submissions, and include implementation updates in shadow reports to AU and UN bodies.

Filing for implementation hearings: Use the 2020 Rules of Procedure of the Court, Commission, and Committee to request implementation hearings.

Strengthening accountability: Urge AU Policy Organs to adopt enforceable measures for non-compliance, including naming, shaming, and sanctions.

Establishing national multi-sectoral mechanisms: Create well-funded, gender-transformative National Reporting, Monitoring, Implementation, and Follow-Up Mechanisms (NRMIFs) involving government, CSOs, NHRIs, academia, and survivors.

Enhancing coordination among implementation focal points: Form a multi-sectoral working group linking mechanisms of the Commission, Court, and Committee with NHRIs and CSO partners.

Translating decisions into local languages to promote accessibility and use at community level.

Using peer review mechanisms: Encourage states to address each other’s non-compliance through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Mechanism and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) which can be an important strategy for gaining traction on the status of implementation of decisions among member states. 

Why gender-transformative approaches matter

Gender transformative approaches seek to challenge gender inequality by transforming harmful gender norms, roles and relations, while working towards redistributing power, resources, and services more equally. When gender- related judgments are implemented through the integration of gender transformative approaches, they create ripple effects that transform societies. 

By joining hands, AU human rights mechanisms, states, CSOs, and NHRIs can take concrete steps toward bridging the gap between promise and practice, between law and justice, and between surviving and thriving. To paraphrase Eleanor Roosevelt who was one of the drafters of the UDHR; “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world…Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”The implementation of gender related decisions in Africa is an everyday essential imperative that demands urgent collective citizen  action.