Submitting a shadow report on time is an achievement. It does not guarantee that Commissioners will use it. Module 7 of RFLD’s manual, Reporting on the Maputo Protocol: a manual for shadow reports, covers the advocacy that turns a document into influence: briefing Commissioners, taking part in the NGO Forum, using side events and working with the media.
Brief the right Commissioners
Every State review has a Country Rapporteur Commissioner who leads on that State. The International Service for Human Rights, in its 2025 road map for civil society, advises working directly with that Commissioner and copying Commissioners on submissions. For issues under the Maputo Protocol, RFLD’s manual adds the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, whose mandate includes monitoring the Protocol.
The manual recommends sending the shadow report to both before the 30-day deadline and requesting a meeting. When time is short, a focused document helps.
The two-page briefing note
Commissioners receive many submissions. The manual’s briefing note template is designed to be read in a few minutes. It contains:
- a heading identifying the shadow report, the session and the submitting coalition
- a context section of a few lines on the State report
- the priority issues, each summarised in two sentences with key figures and sources
- five numbered suggested questions
- five priority SMART recommendations
- contact details for coalition members available during the session
The discipline of two pages forces choices. A coalition that cannot fit its main message on two pages may need to sharpen it.
The NGO Forum
Before each public session of the Commission, the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies convenes a Forum on the Participation of NGOs. Before the 89th Session, it met in Dakar from 8 to 10 October 2026. Registration closed on 18 September, and draft resolutions were due on 5 October. Participation is self-funded.
The Forum follows a familiar pattern. Plenary panels come first. Participants then work in special interest groups, which report back with recommendations. The May 2026 edition had seven such groups, one of them on women’s rights, and a panel on feminist approaches to peace and justice. The Forum’s resolutions and joint statement are presented to the Commission, which gives them a formal route into the session.
For women’s rights organisations, the women’s rights group at the Forum is a place to share findings and propose resolutions that echo the shadow report’s main asks.
Side events and panels
Public sessions include side events organised by NGOs, States and partners. At the 89th Session, side events were scheduled on several days. The programme also included a panel launch on “Advancing Women and Girls’ Rights Through Litigation” on 13 October. Side events allow a coalition to present its evidence to Commissioners and diplomats in a less formal setting.
Oral statements
Organisations with observer status can register to make oral statements during the public session. Registration usually closes two to three weeks before the session. For the 89th Session, it closed on 27 September 2026. Statements on the human rights situation fall under agenda item 4, while statements on Commissioners’ activity reports fall under item 7.
Organisations without observer status can work with a partner that holds it. The manual offers a template for a statement of about 350 words, suited to a few minutes of speaking time.
Working with the media
The manual treats media work as part of the advocacy plan. It recommends preparing press releases in national languages and offering interviews with coalition members. When the concluding observations are published, they should be shared widely. National media coverage can put pressure on a government in a way that a regional session alone may not.
Media work also carries risk. The manual recommends designating one spokesperson for the coalition. This keeps the message consistent and protects survivors and members who face a higher risk of retaliation.
Watching the review
The Commission streams its public sessions on its YouTube channel. Coalition members who cannot travel can still follow their State’s review and note which questions were asked and what remained unanswered. Those notes feed directly into follow-up.
Planning the advocacy calendar
All of these activities have their own deadlines. The manual’s planning calendar brings them together, so that a coalition sees at once when to submit the report, when to register for statements, when to apply for a side event and when to send the briefing note. The deadlines fall weeks apart. Missing one can close a door that the shadow report opened.
From session to home
Advocacy at the session matters most when it connects to work at home. The same messages delivered in Dakar or Banjul should reach national ministries and parliamentarians. The manual’s Module 8 on follow-up picks up the story from there.
The summary of the manual sets out the full sequence from planning to follow-up.
About the report
This article draws on RFLD’s report Reporting on the Maputo Protocol: a manual for shadow reports, published on 4 October 2026. Read the summary, download the English edition or the French edition.
