International Legal Obligations for Reproductive Rights

Reproductive and sexual health rights are grounded in a constellation of existing human rights that are contained in international and regional treaties. These reproductive and sexual health rights are an important tool in providing a comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS which places women's rights at its centre.

Report

Through a collaborative project the Gender Programme and ARASA focused on mapping the key international legal treaties and conventions that provide the legal framework for women's reproductive health and rights.

This report, titled International, African and country legal obligations on women's equality in relation to sexual and reproductive health, including HIV, authored by Liesl Gerntholtz and Catherine Grant and published jointly by ARASA and HEARD reviews the extent to which 18 countries in southern and eastern Africa, namely Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, have ratified and domesticated three key international treaties that support and promote women's reproductive health rights.

  • The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1966;
  • The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979; and
  • The Protocol of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the African Women's Protocol), adopted by the African Union in 2003.

Click here to see the latest information on countries that have ratified the African Women's Protocol.

The full report is available here.

Key Resources

 

Generating change

SADC Parliamentarians tackling gender inequalities and HIV

As part of their joint commitment to promote women's human rights, including sexual and reproductive rights, in the context of HIV and AIDS, HEARD and the Southern African Development Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) convened a workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 9 and 10 September 2010 to discuss the role of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the African Women's Protocol) in advancing women's rights in the context of HIV and AIDS.

The workshop report is available here.

In the interest of supporting the efforts of SADC Parliamentarians, the Gender Programme has compiled suggested key resources about important topics related to gender equality and HIV and AIDS, found here.