Working to Advance
Health Equity in Africa

International, African and country legal obligations on women’s equality in relation to sexual and reproductive health, including HIV and AIDS

International, African and country legal obligations on women’s equality in relation to sexual and reproductive health, including HIV and AIDS

The lack of universal access to women’s reproductive health services has contributed to the collective failure to be on target and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. This is part and parcel of the failure to secure Universal Access by 2010 and is a major factor in the high burden of HIV and AIDS on the African continent. The international community has three major treaties that clearly set out the obligations and duties of African states in relation to women’s reproductive health, these are: the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); the International Convention on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); and finally, the Protocol of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (African Women’s Protocol). Despite the existence of three international treaties that offer a comprehensive vision of women’s reproductive health rights, the 18 countries in this study have not lived up to their commitments to the extent that not all of the countries have ratified all three treaties. This report provides a number of clear recommendations on the steps that the 18 focus counties need to take in order to ensure that women’s reproductive rights are achieved, with reference to the following: provision of resources; reproductive health and HIV; implementation by duty bearers; and finally, enforcement and accountability. Securing women’s access to reproductive rights is a major challenge in 2010 onwards. Through states ratifying, domesticating and transparently reporting on CEDAW, ICESCR and the African Women’s Protocol alongside civil society ensuring that this leads to significant changes on the ground, African states must take a major step towards achieving universal access to reproductive rights across Africa. The three treaties, alongside other African commitments, offer major routes through which countries can contribute to the rollback of HIV and AIDS and move forward towards ensuring the MDGs are reached by 2015.

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