The 89th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights opens in Dakar in October 2026. Two of the nine States that still limit the Maputo Protocol through reservations or declarations have reports scheduled for examination. RFLD’s report Lifting the Reservations: nine country briefs on the Maputo Protocol treats this session as a test of the Commission’s new approach to reservations.
Two reports, two different cases
Mauritius presents its 11th periodic report, covering 2019 to 2024, on 15 October 2026. Mauritius withdrew its reservation to Article 6(b) on the minimum age of marriage on 10 April 2023. It still reserves seven provisions, including Article 14(2)(c) on medical abortion where a pregnancy has exceeded 14 weeks, and Article 12(2) on positive action in education.
Cameroon presents its combined 7th to 9th periodic report on 17 October 2026. Cameroon made a general interpretive declaration at ratification in 2012. The brief finds that it “creates uncertainty about how Cameroon applies Article 14(2)(c)” and that it operates as a reservation under the test the Commission uses.
The two cases call for different conversations. With Mauritius, the dialogue can build on a withdrawal that has already happened and ask what comes next. With Cameroon, the first step is to clarify what the declaration actually does, since its wording is broad.
What the Advocacy Framework asks of the Commission
The African Commission adopted its Advocacy Framework for Withdrawing Reservations at the 86th Ordinary Session in 2026. The framework asks the Commission to call for withdrawal in its concluding observations and to use the State reporting procedure to press the issue. It also asks the Commission to praise States that withdraw.
The Dakar session is therefore one of the first chances to apply the framework in a State review. The concluding observations adopted after these dialogues will show how far the Commission is ready to go. Past practice has been uneven. In 2016 the Commission asked South Africa to “lift all reservations under the Maputo Protocol”. In 2022 it called on Kenya to withdraw its reservation on Article 14(2)(c). In the same year it did not call on Namibia to withdraw its reservation. In March 2024 it asked Uganda to consider lifting the reservations on Articles 14 and 21.
Questions RFLD proposes
The country briefs offer questions that Commissioners can put to each delegation. A selection:
- To Mauritius: following the 2023 withdrawal on Article 6(b), which reservation does it intend to review next?
- To Mauritius: would it narrow its reservation to Article 14(2)(c) where a woman’s life or health is in danger after 14 weeks?
- To Cameroon: does the general declaration restrict Article 14(2)(c) in any of the cases it lists?
- To Cameroon: would it consider withdrawing the declaration, given the Protocol’s own prohibition of female genital mutilation?
What civil society can do before and after Dakar
The brief on Mauritius asks civil society to brief Commissioners before 15 October 2026 and to follow up the concluding observations. The brief on Cameroon asks organisations to brief the Country Rapporteur Commissioner before the examination and to follow up afterwards. The Country Rapporteur Commissioner is the member of the Commission responsible for following a given State.
The report’s toolkit includes a model paragraph for shadow reports. It invites the Commission to recommend that the State withdraw the reservation, in line with the Advocacy Framework, and to request information on the timetable for withdrawal in the next periodic report. Organisations new to the process can draw on RFLD’s manual on shadow reports under the Maputo Protocol.
Once the session closes, the follow-up begins. Concluding observations are only useful if they reach the ministries and parliamentary committees that can act on them. The report’s monitoring checklist asks advocates to note the recommendation on reservations and to verify any withdrawal on the African Union treaty page.
RFLD in Dakar
RFLD will raise the reservations of Cameroon and Mauritius during the 89th Ordinary Session. It is sharing the nine briefs with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa and with the Country Rapporteur Commissioners for the nine States. Any withdrawal that follows will be tracked on the Maputo Protocol Hub of RFLD’s DƆNÙESÈ Data Center.
A reservation can end with a single letter from a Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission. The dialogues in Dakar are a good moment to ask both delegations when that letter might be sent. The full set of briefs is presented in the report summary.
About the report
This article draws on RFLD’s report Lifting the Reservations: nine country briefs on the Maputo Protocol, published on 4 October 2026. Read the summary, download the English edition or the French edition.
