Every State that has ratified the Maputo Protocol must report to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on how it protects the rights of women. Civil society can answer that report with an alternative report, often called a shadow report. It is one of the most direct ways to bring the reality of women and survivors, including Vulnerable Groups, before the Commission.
This guide explains how the procedure works and what your organisation can do at each stage. It draws on the Commission’s own texts and on RFLD’s new manual for members.
Why alternative reports matter
The Protocol is ratified by 46 of the 55 African Union member states. Ratification creates a duty to report. Under Article 26 of the Protocol, States Parties must include in their periodic reports under Article 62 of the African Charter the measures they have taken to realise women’s rights.
Many States fall behind. At the Commission’s 81st Session in October 2024, only 21 of 45 States Parties had submitted at least one report on the Protocol, according to the International Service for Human Rights. Reporting under the Charter shows the same pattern. After the 87th Session in May 2026, six States had never reported and 18 had more than three reports overdue.
State reports often describe laws on paper. A shadow report tests those claims against practice, and Commissioners use this evidence to frame their questions.
To help members take this step, RFLD published Reporting on the Maputo Protocol: A Manual for Shadow Reports in October 2026. A French version is also available. The manual assumes no prior experience of the Commission.
How the reporting cycle works
The Commission’s Rules of Procedure, adopted in 2020, set the timetable. Rule 79 is the one to know.
- At least 180 days before the session, the Chairperson asks the State to confirm that it will present its report (Rule 79(1)).
- At least 120 days before the session, the electronic version of the State report must reach the Commission. The Secretary then publishes it online and announces when it will be examined (Rule 79(2)).
- At least 30 days before the examination, contributions from civil society, including shadow reports, must reach the Secretary. They should follow the Commission’s Guidelines on Shadow Reports and “speak to the actual Report” (Rule 79(3)).
- Contributions may be published on the Commission’s website (Rule 79(5)).
After the public dialogue, the Commission adopts concluding observations. Under Rule 82, this happens at the next ordinary session and never later than two sessions after the examination. The observations go to the State within 30 days and are then published. Rule 83 adds that they name the date of the next periodic report. Commissioners may also consider civil society information on implementation, so your follow-up work counts too.
States write their reports using the Commission’s Guidelines for State Reporting under the Protocol. These were adopted in November 2009 at the 46th Ordinary Session; the Commission’s website dates them February 2010. Part B of a State report is organised in eight clusters:
- Equality and non-discrimination
- Protection from violence
- Marriage
- Health and reproductive rights
- Economic, social and cultural rights
- Right to peace
- Armed conflict
- Specially protected groups
Knowing these clusters helps you. If your shadow report follows the same structure, Commissioners can read the two documents side by side.
Seven practical steps
Step 1: Check the calendar
Find out whether your State has submitted a report and when the Commission will examine it. Look at the States Reporting Status page and the session documents on the Commission’s website. Count back 30 days from the first day of the session. Then set your internal deadline a week earlier. Session dates can move, so check the latest communiqué before you fix your plan.
Step 2: Decide whether you are ready
The manual suggests some honest questions before you start. Is there a State report to respond to? Do you have at least three months? Do you hold evidence beyond press coverage? Can you follow up after the session?
Step 3: Build a coalition and choose your issues
The Commission encourages joint reports, and they carry weight. List every signatory on the cover or in an annex. Share the research and writing among member organisations, then validate the text together. Choose a small number of issues you can document well. Link each one to the paragraph of the State report it answers and to the article of the Protocol concerned.
Step 4: Collect evidence safely
The Commission asks for reliable and objective information. Court decisions, official reports, research and statistics carry the most weight. Avoid relying on press articles alone. Quote State sources with the exact reference, down to the page.
The manual offers a simple test drawn from OHCHR guidance. Start by asking whether a law or policy exists and whether it is applied and funded. Then ask whether women’s situation has actually changed. Budget evidence is often the strongest. Article 26(2) of the Protocol requires States to provide budgetary and other resources for the rights it guarantees.
RFLD’s method asks that each major claim rest on at least two independent types of source. This is RFLD guidance. The Commission does not require it.
Safety comes first. Obtain free, informed and specific consent, and explain that the report will be published. Remove identifying details from every case. Store data in encrypted form and limit who can open it. Give every survivor control over her story and avoid repeated interviews. Module 5 of the manual covers ethics and do-no-harm practice in detail.
Step 5: Write to the Commission’s format
The Commission’s Guidelines on Shadow Reports, adopted in 2022, set the format:
- Use a Word file, 12-point font, 1.5 line spacing, and numbered paragraphs and pages.
- Keep the main text to 15 pages or fewer. The cover page and footnotes do not count, nor do up to 10 annexes.
- Include a table of contents and limit the executive summary to one page.
- Write in at least one official African Union language. A second language is recommended.
- Respond to the State report, and end with questions and recommendations.
Write recommendations that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Formulas such as “allocate adequate resources to” or “provide in its next periodic report information on” give the Commission language it can reuse. Reports are published with the authors’ names. If you face a risk of retaliation, request anonymity.
Step 6: Submit and advocate
Send your report to the Secretary to the Commission in Banjul, The Gambia. Ask for an acknowledgement and keep a record of the date and time. Copy the Commissioner who serves as Country Rapporteur for your State and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa. Check the Secretariat email on the Commission’s website before sending.
Next, prepare a two-page briefing note. Give context, your priority issues, five suggested questions and five recommendations, with a contact person. Civil society cannot question the State during the dialogue, so these questions matter. Organisations with observer status can also deliver short oral statements in the public session. Focus each statement on one issue and one or two clear requests. Registration for statements usually closes two to three weeks before the session.
Step 7: Follow up
Once the concluding observations are published, build a national follow-up plan. For each recommendation, name the responsible institution, the action needed, a progress indicator, a coalition lead and a timeline. Keep an evidence file on each recommendation. It will be the starting point of your next shadow report.
A worked example timeline
The dates below are illustrative. They do not refer to a real session. Imagine that your State is due for examination on the opening day of a session that starts on Monday 3 May 2027.
- By Wednesday 4 November 2026: the Commission asks the State to confirm its report (180 days).
- By Sunday 3 January 2027: the State report must reach the Commission (120 days). Watch the website for its publication.
- Weeks 1 and 2 (4 to 17 January): read the State report and the previous concluding observations. Form the coalition and agree on focus and roles.
- Weeks 3 to 6 (18 January to 14 February): collect evidence through data requests, interviews, case files and court decisions. Complete ethics and safety checks.
- Weeks 7 and 8 (15 to 28 February): analyse the evidence. Draft the issue sections with their questions and recommendations.
- Week 9 (1 to 7 March): coalition review and legal check. Fact-check every figure against its source.
- Week 10 (8 to 14 March): write the executive summary and do a final edit. Translate into a second AU language if possible.
- Week 11 (15 to 21 March): hold the validation meeting and collect coalition signatures.
- Week 12 (22 to 26 March): submit by Friday 26 March, your internal deadline. Finish the briefing note.
- Saturday 3 April 2027: the formal deadline under Rule 79(3), 30 days before the examination. As it falls on a weekend, your margin matters.
- April: register for oral statements and share the briefing note with Commissioners.
The State report may be published later than the 120-day mark. If so, compress the evidence phase and lean on material your coalition already holds. This is why the follow-up file from the last cycle is so valuable.
What if your State has not reported?
A State’s silence does not close the door. In August 2023 the Commission adopted Resolution 566 on a proactive approach to prolonged delays in initial reports under Article 62 of the Charter. Under it, the Commission may send the State written questions and invite it to present its answers in a public session. It then adopts concluding observations. The same resolution calls on States to report under Article 26 of the Protocol.
Civil society can feed the Commission’s questions with documented information. Your evidence still counts, and it can encourage the Commission to use this procedure.
Observer status: what it adds
Any organisation can send a shadow report under Rule 79(3). Observer status adds the right to make oral statements in public sessions and to propose agenda items. Organisations without it can partner with an observer for the session.
The criteria are set by Resolution 572, adopted in Arusha on 9 November 2023. It revises the criteria of Resolution 361 of 2016. Applications must reach the Commission at least three months before an ordinary session. The file includes the statutes, proof of legal registration, a declaration of funding sources, audited financial statements, the latest activity report and a plan of action covering at least two years. Observers must then submit an activity report every two years.
Protection from reprisals
Rule 74 requires States Parties to ensure that no reprisal is taken against any person or entity that gives the Commission information, testimony or evidence. Before you submit, check that no contributor faces a risk you have not addressed. Designate one person in your coalition to handle any reprisal concern. The Commission’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders also acts as Focal Point on Reprisals.
How RFLD supports members
RFLD was founded in 2013. It holds ACHPR Observer Status N°553 and runs a liaison office in Banjul. Through our work with African Union mechanisms and the Maputo Protocol Hub, we coordinate shadow reporting on the Maputo Protocol and the African Charter. We also help grassroots organisations understand the steps to obtain observer status of their own.
Our network counts 1,143 member organisations in more than 35 countries. If your organisation plans a shadow report, download the manual and get in touch through our contact page.
References
- RFLD (2026). Reporting on the Maputo Protocol: A Manual for Shadow Reports. https://rflgd.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/rfld-manual-shadow-reports-maputo-protocol-2026-en-final.pdf
- African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (2020). Rules of Procedure. https://achpr.au.int/sites/default/files/files/2021-04/rulesofprocedure2020eng1.pdf
- ACHPR. Guidelines for State Reporting under the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. https://achpr.au.int/en/documents/2010-02-05/state-reporting-under-protocol-rights-women-africa
- ACHPR (2022). Guidelines on Shadow Reports. https://achpr.au.int/sw/node/2817
- ACHPR (2023). Guidance Note on State Reporting. https://achpr.au.int/sites/default/files/files/2023-05/eng-guidance-note.pdf
- ACHPR (2023). Resolution 566 (LXXVI) on a proactive approach to prolonged delays in initial State reports. https://achpr.au.int/sw/node/3824
- ACHPR (2023). Resolution 572 (LXXVII) on the criteria for granting and maintaining observer status. https://achpr.au.int/en/adopted-resolutions/572-resolution-criteria-granting-and-maintaining-observer-status
- ACHPR. States Reporting Status. https://achpr.au.int/index.php/en/states-reporting-status
- International Service for Human Rights. African Commission resources. https://ishr.ch
