Challenges to the Implementation of the Maputo Protocol: The Case of Cameroon
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Date
2010-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This aim of this study is to explore the challenges faced by many African countries which
have ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) on the
Rights of Women in Africa, popularly known as the Maputo Protocol (MP). Its main focus is on
Cameroon, as this country is one of the last to have ratified the Protocol in May 2008, and also one
that witnessed a massive and long lasting protest.
The main preoccupation throughout the research was to understand why Cameroonians are so
radically opposed to the MP, in other words, the challenges faced by the government of Cameroon
in its attempt to the implement this instrument. The challenges are identified as being centered
around abortion and to a large extent the idea that the Protocol may be aimed at shattering the
foundation of the Cameroonian society by weakening the family which constitutes its central
pillar. Articles 5, 6, 7, 14, 17, 20 and 21of this instrument are at the center of controversy and tend
to justify the protests which took place in Cameroon.
To investigate these challenges, the researcher used both quantitative and qualitative methods.
Appropriate instruments of data collection were designed and suitable sampling techniques for
both methods were used in order to achieve the set objectives. The investigations conducted in
Cameroon reveal the existence of a great divergence between the MP’s approach to gender and
the feelings and perceptions of Cameroonians on the same issue. Africa’s culture in general and
that of Cameroon in particular, is built on a clear separation and specialization of roles in the
society for men and women. Africans in general still pay much attention to large families which
represent one of the most visible signs of social success and achievement. This can be seen through
the importance attached to marriage and parenthood, which are sacred and highly valued statuses
as indicated by almost all female and male research participants.
The provisions of the MP listed above seem to constitute in this regard, a threat to these
African values and explain the determination of Cameroonians to oppose it. Nevertheless, the study concludes that the MP should not be discarded, but should rather be amended or improved upon in the sense of adapting it to the African socio-historical context, (home-grown) as articulated by African theoreticians and intellectuals, so as to facilitate its acceptance and subsequent implementation by member States
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Gender Studies