By Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD (Leading Environmental Law Scholar, Policy Advisor, Natural Resources Lawyer and Dispute Resolution Expert from Kenya), Winner of Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021, ADR Publication of the Year 2021 and CIArb (Kenya) Lifetime Achievement Award 2021*

Kenya and the African continent have for a long time struggled with the issue of gender equality and equity across societies especially with regard to economic, social and political spheres, with the women sometimes bearing the biggest brunt of this inequality and equity and occasionally men in some areas. Various African entities have come up with international and regional legal instruments meant to offer guidelines to countries on the measures to be taken to streamline gender issues in all areas of their people’s lives and development agenda. We briefly review the African legal and institutional framework for gender equality and its relevance to Kenya.

African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Banjul Charter)

The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (also known as the Banjul Charter) is an international (African region) human rights instrument that is intended to promote and protect human rights and basic freedoms in the African continent. The Banjul Charter obligates the Member States of the Organization of African Unity parties to the present Charter to recognize the rights, duties and freedoms enshrined in this Chapter and that they should undertake to adopt legislative or other measures to give effect to them. The Charter also guarantees that every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic group, color, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status.

Some authors have however questioned the commitment of African states in upholding human rights or even the effectiveness of the Charter itself in achieving protection of human rights. For instance, it has been observed that while the African Charter is defined as an application of the UN Declaration of Human Rights to the African perspective, and a legal instrument ‘written by Africans for Africans’, it is evident that African governments are less than willing to condemn human rights violations in their own states as demonstrated not only by the emphasis on development and political stability at the expense of human rights but also in the drafting of the African Charter itself.

Southern African Development Community (SADC), 1997 Declaration on Gender and Development and 2008 Protocol on Gender and Development

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Declaration on Gender and Development was made in 1997 on the basis that SADC Member States undertook, in the SADC Treaty Article 6(2), not to discriminate against any person on the grounds of inter alia, sex or gender. In addition, SADC Member States committed to mainstream gender into the SADC Programme of Action and Community Building initiatives as a prerequisite for sustainable development. SADC Member States acknowledged gender equality as a fundamental human right and therefore signed the Declaration on Gender and Development on 8th September 1997 to promote closer regional cooperation and collective action as a means of fostering gender equality and as a reaffirmation of SADC’s commitment to eliminating gender discrimination and mainstreaming gender issues in Southern Africa.

SADC Heads of State and Government signed and adopted the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development in August 2008 with the exception of Botswana and Mauritius. The Objectives of the Protocol are among others to provide for the empowerment of women, to eliminate discrimination and to achieve gender equality and equity through the development and implementation of gender responsive legislation, policies, programmes and projects. It also seeks to harmonise the various international, continental and regional gender equality instruments that SADC Member States have subscribed to.

Generally, the principle objectives of the gender-mainstreaming programme in SADC are to: put in place the necessary institutional mechanisms, operational guidelines and to promote a culture that will facilitate gender mainstreaming in the Secretariat; build the capacity of the staff of the Secretariat and SADC Member States to systematically develop, implement and sustain gender mainstreamed plans, strategies and programmes on an ongoing basis; ensure that the necessary human and financial resources for gender mainstreaming are mobilized for training; capacity building and programme implementation; and ensure that the commitments of the integration and development objectives to gender equality and women’s empowerment are effectively implemented at the Member State level. While Kenya is not a Member State of SADC, the above objectives though not fully implemented by the members offer some guiding principles for Kenya to consider.

African Union (AU), Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa

The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa requires that States Parties should combat all forms of discrimination against women through appropriate legislative, institutional and other measures. In this regard the Protocol requires State Parties to: include in their national constitutions and other legislative instruments, if not already done, the principle of equality between women and men and ensure its effective application; enact and effectively implement appropriate legislative or regulatory measures, including those prohibiting and curbing all forms of discrimination particularly those harmful practices which endanger the health and general well-being of women; integrate a gender perspective in their policy decisions, legislation, development plans, programmes and activities and in all other spheres of life; take corrective and positive action in those areas where discrimination against women in law and in fact continues to exist; and support the local, national, regional and continental initiatives directed at eradicating all forms of discrimination against women.

States Parties are also obligated to commit themselves to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of women and men through public education, information, education and communication strategies, with a view to achieving the elimination of harmful cultural and traditional practices and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes, or on stereotyped roles for women and men.

African Union Solemn Declaration of Gender Equality in Africa, 2004

The African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa was a Member State’s reaffirmation of their commitment to the principle of gender equality as enshrined in Article 4 (l) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, as well as other existing commitments, principles, goals and actions set out in the various regional, continental and international instruments on human and women’s rights, including the Dakar Platform for Action (1994), the Beijing Platform for Action (1995), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW -1979), the African Plan of Action to Accelerate the Implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms for Action for the Advancement of Women (1999); the Outcome Document of the Twenty-third Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (2000); UN Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security; and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003). The Members agreed to ensure the active promotion and protection of all human rights for women and girls including the right to development by raising awareness or by legislation where necessary.

African Union Gender Policy, 2009

The overall goal of the African Union Gender Policy is to adopt a rights based approach to development through evidence-based decision–making and the use of sex-disaggregated data and performance indicators for the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment in Africa. It seeks to promote a gender responsive environment and practices and undertake commitments linked to the realization of gender equality and women’s empowerment in Member States, and at the international, continental, regional and national levels.

*This is article is an extract from an article by Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD, Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021 (Nairobi Legal Awards), ADR Publisher of the Year 2021 and ADR Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 (CIArb Kenya): Muigua, K., Revisiting the Role of Law in Environmental Governance in Kenya, Available at: Muigua, K., Actualizing the National Policy on Gender and Development in Kenya, Available at: http://kmco.co.ke/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Actualising-the-National-Policy-on-Gender-and-Development-in-Kenya-Kariuki-Muigua-Ph.D-October-2020.pdf. Dr. Kariuki Muigua is Kenya’s foremost Environmental Law and Natural Resources Lawyer and Scholar, Sustainable Development Advocate and Conflict Management Expert. Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a Senior Lecturer of Environmental Law and Dispute resolution at the University of Nairobi School of Law and The Center for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP). He has published numerous books and articles on Environmental Law, Environmental Justice Conflict Management, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Sustainable Development. Dr. Muigua is also a Chartered Arbitrator, an Accredited Mediator, the Africa Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Managing Partner of Kariuki Muigua & Co. Advocates. Dr. Muigua is recognized as one of the leading lawyers and dispute resolution experts by the Chambers Global Guide 2021. 

References

African Union, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, 11 July 2003, Available at: https://au.int/en/treaties/protocol-african-charter-human-and-peoples-rights-rights-women-africa (Accessed 18 December 2021).

African Union, Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, adopted by the AU Assembly in 2004, Available at: https://au.int/en/documents/20200708/solemn-declaration-gender-equality-africa (Accessed 18 December 2021).

African Union Gender Policy, Rev 2/Feb 10, 2009, Available at: https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/Gender/African_Union_Gender_Policy_2009.pdf

African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, “Legal instruments,’ Available at:  https://www.achpr.org/ legalinstruments/detail?id=49 (Accessed 18 December 2021).

Organization of African Unity (OAU), African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (“Banjul Charter”), 27 June 1981, CAB/LEG/67/3 rev. 5, 21 I.L.M.

Patrick-Patel, L., ‘The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: how effective is this legal instrument in shaping a continental human rights culture in Africa?’ (Le petit juriste, 21 December 2014), Available at: https://www.lepetitjuriste.fr/the-african-charter-on-human-and-peoples-rights-how-effective-is-this-legal-instrument-in-shaping-a-continental-human-rights-culture-in-africa/ (Accessed 18 December 2021).

SADC, ‘Southern African Development Community: Gender’ https://www.sadc.int/issues/gender/ (Accessed 18 December 2021).

SADC, ‘Southern African Development Community: Gender Mainstreaming,’ Available at: https://www.sadc.int/issues/gender/gender-mainstreaming/ (Accessed 18 December 2021).