Ethiopia ratified the Maputo Protocol in 2018 with one of the longest lists of reservations and declarations among the nine States that still limit the treaty. RFLD’s report Lifting the Reservations: nine country briefs on the Maputo Protocol shows that several of them protect gaps in Ethiopian law that the Protocol was written to close.
Key facts
Ethiopia ratified the Protocol on 18 July 2018. It made reservations to seven provisions: Articles 6(c), 6(d) and 6(f) on marriage, Article 7(a) on separation by agreement, Article 10(3) on military spending, Article 21(1) on inheritance, and Article 27 on the African Court’s role in interpreting the Protocol.
It also made interpretive declarations on six provisions: Articles 4(2), 6(b), 6(j), 7(d), 13(i) and 14(1)(b). Ethiopia’s periodic reports under the African Charter were examined at the 83rd Ordinary Session in 2025. It submitted its initial report under the Protocol in January 2024.
What the reservations and declarations do
The African Commission’s Advocacy Framework quotes Ethiopia’s reasons. Some of them are worth reading closely:
- Article 4(2), on preventing and punishing violence against women, is subordinated “to the relevant provision of its Criminal Code on the crime of rape”.
- Article 6(b), on the minimum age of marriage, is applied in line with “family law, which allows dispensation from this minimum age of marriage”.
- Article 21(1), on inheritance, is applied so that a spouse inherits only as a legatee by will.
- Article 7(a) is limited to domestic law that permits separation by agreement.
The framework lists the reservations to Articles 6(c), 6(f), 10(3) and 27 as vague. On Article 6(d), Ethiopia shares a concern also raised by South Africa: that a marriage should not be treated as invalid only because it has not been registered.
Why they can be lifted
The brief looks at the domestic laws behind the reservations. The Revised Family Code of 2000 sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 but allows a “dispensation of up to two years”. The Criminal Code of 2004 “defines rape as an act committed outside wedlock, which excludes marital rape”.
These are exactly the gaps that Articles 4 and 6 of the Protocol address. A reservation that keeps them in place shields domestic law from the treaty’s standard. Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties is clear that a party may not invoke its internal law to justify failing to perform a treaty.
Where Ethiopia argues that its law offers better protection, Article 31 of the Protocol answers the concern. It already guarantees that more favourable national provisions prevail. In its initial report under the Protocol, Ethiopia stated that its reservations do not impede the realisation of women’s rights and that it had no plans to withdraw them. The brief invites a fresh look.
Questions for dialogue
- What steps will Ethiopia take to criminalise marital rape and align Article 620 of its Criminal Code with the Protocol?
- How many dispensations from the minimum age of marriage are granted each year?
- Would Ethiopia withdraw its vague reservations, such as those on Articles 10(3) and 27?
- How do inheritance rules protect surviving spouses when there is no will?
The ask
For the government, the brief recommends starting the review of reservations with Articles 4(2) and 6(b), and reporting on progress in the next periodic report. For Parliament, it recommends amending the Criminal Code to criminalise marital rape and removing the dispensation from the minimum age of marriage.
The national human rights institution is asked to advise on whether each reservation is compatible with the Protocol. Civil society is encouraged to document the impact of the reservations ahead of the next examination of Ethiopia’s State report. RFLD’s manual on shadow reports can help organisations structure that evidence.
Where to start
A long list of reservations does not have to be lifted all at once. Mauritius withdrew one reservation in 2023 and kept others under review. The brief suggests that Ethiopia could follow a similar path, starting with the provisions on violence and on the age of marriage, where the gap between domestic law and the Protocol is clearest.
RFLD will share the brief with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa and the Country Rapporteur Commissioner for Ethiopia, and will support member organisations to bring the reservations into the follow-up of the 2025 concluding observations.
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.
