Advocacy works best when it follows the calendar of decision-makers. RFLD’s policy brief, Women, Water and Article 15 of the Maputo Protocol, closes with an advocacy calendar for 2026 to 2028. It lists the moments when women’s organisations and their allies can press for action on women’s right to water. This article walks through it.
Why the next two years matter
Several processes converge between now and 2028. The African Union made water and sanitation its theme for 2026 and endorsed the Africa Water Vision 2063. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has two years, under Resolution 658, to draft Guidelines on the Right to Sanitation in Africa with a focus on women and girls. Senegal and Cameroon are revising their water laws. The UN Water Conference takes place in December 2026.
Each of these is a chance to bring Article 15 of the Maputo Protocol, and its duty to “provide women with access to clean drinking water”, into the room.
The calendar at a glance
- 15 October 2026: International Day of Rural Women, with national dialogues on the brief.
- October 2026: 89th Ordinary Session of the African Commission in Dakar, with oral statements and side events on Article 15.
- 19 November 2026: World Toilet Day, focused on menstrual health and safe school sanitation.
- 2 to 4 December 2026: UN Water Conference in the United Arab Emirates, co-hosted by Senegal, with a push for commitments on gender and water.
- 2026 to 2028: drafting of the African Commission’s Guidelines on the Right to Sanitation, with written inputs and regional consultations.
- February 2027: AU summit, with a review of the 2026 theme and follow-up of the Africa Water Vision 2063.
- 22 March 2027 and 2028: World Water Day, with national accountability reports.
- Each session of the African Commission: examination of State reports, with questions on Article 15 and shadow reports.
At the African Commission
The 89th Ordinary Session in Dakar is a key stop. RFLD’s brief asks the Commission to ask specific questions on Article 15 when it examines State reports, and to include water in its concluding observations. It also asks the Commission to consider a General Comment on Article 15. None exists today.
Women’s organisations can prepare oral statements and submit shadow reports. RFLD’s manual on shadow reports explains how to do this. The drafting of the sanitation guidelines under Resolution 658 offers further openings, with written inputs and regional consultations through 2028.
At the UN Water Conference
The conference in December is convened by UN General Assembly resolution 78/327. Senegal, a State Party to the Maputo Protocol with no reservation, is co-host. Senegal also hosted the high-level preparatory meeting in Dakar in January 2026. RFLD’s brief asks civil society to take part in national processes linked to the conference, so that gender and water commitments carry African women’s priorities.
At the African Union
The AU summit in February 2027 will review the 2026 theme of the year. The brief asks the AU to use the closing of the theme to adopt a continental commitment on women’s rights to water and sanitation, building on Article 15. It also asks the AU and the African Ministers’ Council on Water to add sex-disaggregated indicators to the Africa Water Vision 2063, including time spent collecting water and women’s share of decision-making posts.
At home
National moments matter as much as continental ones. The calendar opens on 15 October, the International Day of Rural Women, with national dialogues planned around the brief. World Water Day on 22 March offers an annual opportunity to publish accountability reports on what governments have done. The law revisions in Senegal and Cameroon are a chance to add a gender chapter, with a duty to reduce women’s time burden and to guarantee safe access at any time of day.
The case for acting now
In households without water on the premises, women and girls fetch it in 7 out of 10 cases. In rural Middle Africa, only 2.8% of people had safely managed drinking water in 2024. The legal duty to change this has existed since 2003, and 2026 has brought rare political attention to water. RFLD’s calendar is a plan to use that attention for women.
Read the summary of the brief and share the calendar with partners who can act on it.
About the report
This article draws on RFLD’s report Women, Water and Article 15 of the Maputo Protocol, published on 4 October 2026. Read the summary, download the English edition or the French edition.
