Maputo Protocol

Maputo Protocol
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa
	Signed and ratified Acceded or succeeded Only signed Not signed Territories of non-AU states
	Signed and ratified Acceded or succeeded Only signed Not signed Territories of non-AU states
Type	Human rights instrument (women)
Drafted	March 1995 (Lome, Togo)
Signed	11 July 2003
Location	Maputo, Mozambique
Effective	25 November 2005
Condition	Ratification by 15 nations of the African Union
Signatories	49
Parties	44
Depositary	African Union Commission
Languages	English, French

The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol, is an international human rights instrument established by the African Union that went into effect in 2005. It guarantees comprehensive rights to women including the right to take part in the political process, to social and political equality with men, improved autonomy in their reproductive health decisions, and an end to female genital mutilation.^[3] It was adopted by the African Union in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2003 in the form of a protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (adopted in 1981, enacted in 1986).

^ Spain (Canary Islands and Plazas de soberanía), France (Mayotte and Réunion), Portugal (Madeira) and the United Kingdom (Saint Helena).
^ Cite error: The named reference PANA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ The Maputo Protocol of the African Union Archived 15 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, brochure produced by GTZ for the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development