Forty-six African States have ratified the Maputo Protocol. Nine of them still limit its reach through reservations or declarations. Since the African Commission adopted its Advocacy Framework for Withdrawing Reservations at the 86th Ordinary Session in March 2026, each of these nine States has a clear invitation to review its position.
RFLD’s Lifting the Reservations turns that framework into a country-by-country agenda. This guide gives the essentials in one place: what each reservation does and the next moment when advocates can raise it.
Algeria
Algeria reserves three whole articles: marriage (Article 6), divorce and annulment (Article 7) and health and reproductive rights (Article 14), without giving reasons. Next moment: its next periodic report under the African Charter, which should include its first report on the Protocol.
Cameroon
Cameroon made a general declaration that creates uncertainty about medical abortion under Article 14(2)(c), although Section 339 of its 2016 Penal Code already allows abortion after rape and when the mother’s health is in serious danger. Next moment: the concluding observations that follow the examination of its report at the 89th Ordinary Session in Dakar.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia has one of the longest lists, covering violence (Article 4), the minimum age of marriage (Article 6) and inheritance (Article 21). Its Criminal Code still defines rape as an act committed outside marriage. Next moment: follow-up of the Commission’s concluding observations and preparation of the next periodic report.
Kenya
Kenya’s reservation to Article 14(2)(c) excludes the obligation to authorise medical abortion after rape or incest. The African Commission’s framework says it “leaves women and girls to procure unsafe abortions”. Kenya’s own 2010 Constitution already allows abortion when the life or health of the mother is in danger. Next moment: follow-up of the concluding observations adopted at the 88th Ordinary Session in July 2026.
Mauritius
Mauritius withdrew its reservation on the minimum age of marriage in 2023. It still reserves Article 6(c) on monogamy, Article 12(2) on positive measures in education and Article 14(2)(c) beyond 14 weeks of pregnancy. Next moment: the concluding observations on its 11th periodic report, examined in Dakar in October 2026.
Namibia
Namibia made its reservation to Article 6(d) on the registration of marriages conditional on a law on customary marriages. Its new Marriage Act of 2024 sets the minimum age at 18. The remaining step is to confirm that the condition is met. Next moment: its next periodic report.
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The Sahrawi Republic has the broadest set of reservations, from harmful practices and marriage to access to justice, health and inheritance, justified by religious grounds. Its own Constitution guarantees complete equality between women and men. Next moment: the concluding observations on its combined report and initial Maputo Protocol report.
South Africa
South Africa’s reservations are protective: they aim to keep a higher national standard, for example the abolition of the death penalty and the validity of unregistered customary marriages. Article 31 of the Protocol already protects more favourable national law, which makes these reservations unnecessary. Next moment: its next periodic report.
Uganda
Uganda limits women’s right to control their fertility and the obligation to authorise medical abortion. The Commission recorded in 2024 that unsafe abortion accounts for 26 per cent of maternal deaths in the country. Next moment: the submission and examination of its 9th periodic report.
Withdrawal is a short letter
The Gambia in 2006, Rwanda in 2012 and Mauritius in 2023 have shown that reservations can be lifted. A withdrawal needs no new ratification. It is a written notification from the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, and it takes effect on receipt.
Members in these nine countries can use the briefs in shadow reports, meetings with parliamentarians and requests to national human rights institutions. The publication includes model letters and a twelve-month plan. Read the full briefs online, the lessons from past withdrawals and the Protocol in eight African languages.
