We are approaching 20 years since the adoption of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. Often referred to as the Maputo Protocol, it has served to ensure and uphold the rights of women and girls on the African continent. The Protocol constitutes a joint language and framework for women’s rights and represents an important milestone for Member States of the African Union. While 42 out of 55 Member States have ratified the Protocol, its actual implementation and realisation remains questionable. Looking back over the past 20 years while gazing into the future – what has been accomplished so far and what are the remaining challenges? In our ambition to drive Swedish feminist foreign policy, how do we better engage in Europe-Africa relations for enhanced implementation of the Maputo Protocol? How do we better make use of the Protocol as a platform and tool to enhance the rights of women and girls in Africa within the framework of Swedish Development Cooperation?

This four-country exchange (Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan, and Sweden) on the Maputo Protocol brings together prominent voices on the rights of women and girls from the field of diplomacy, politics, and social movements on the ground. Join us!

Panelists

Jenny Ohlsson, State Secretary to the Minister for International Development Cooperation at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Sofia Calltorp, Swedish Ambassador for Gender Equality at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Hon. Sophia Pal Gai, MP in the National Parliament and Member of Women Parliamentary Caucus, South Sudan

Esther Waweru, Senior Legal Advisor on Equality, Equality Now

Gloria Mafole, Human Rights Advocate Layer and Country Director in Tanzania, LM International

Doreen Avi, a Young Activist for the Rights of Women and Girls, and Global Trainee, LM International

Moderator

Josephine Sundqvist, PhD, Secretary-General, LM International