At a public session of the African Commission, an oral statement gives an organisation a few minutes to speak directly to Commissioners. Used well, those minutes can carry the core of a shadow report into the session room and onto the record. RFLD’s manual, Reporting on the Maputo Protocol: a manual for shadow reports, offers a template for a statement of about 350 words and a method for writing it.
Who can speak
Oral statements are reserved for organisations with observer status and for national human rights institutions with affiliate status. Organisations without status can still be heard. The manual’s advice is to partner with an organisation that has observer status, so that a coalition’s evidence is presented by one of its members.
Statements must be registered in advance. Registration usually closes two to three weeks before the session. For the 89th Ordinary Session in Dakar, it closed on 27 September 2026.
Choosing the agenda item
Statements fit under specific agenda items. At the 89th Session, statements on the human rights situation fell under item 4, and statements on the activity reports of Commissioners and special mechanisms fell under item 7. A statement on the rights of women can respond to the activity report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa. A statement about a specific State may fit better under the human rights situation item.
Choosing the right item helps the statement land with the Commissioners most likely to act on it.
The template
The manual’s template follows a clear structure:
- Opening: thank the Commission, and name the speaker and the coalition.
- Issue: one sentence naming the problem and the State or region concerned.
- Evidence: one or two facts, with their sources and years.
- Protocol link: the relevant article of the Maputo Protocol and, where it applies, a General Comment.
- Request: one or two concrete asks, such as a question for the State or a recommendation.
- Closing: a reference to the full shadow report and where to find it.
About 350 words fits a short speaking slot when read at a calm pace. The exact speaking time is set by the Commission for each session, so check it when you register and cut the text to fit.
Writing for the ear
A statement is meant to be heard. The manual’s approach favours short sentences and numbers that are easy to remember. Avoid long lists of articles or abbreviations. If the statement includes a figure, say where it comes from in a few words.
The request is the most important part. Commissioners hear many statements. A clear ask, such as urging a State to provide information in its next periodic report on a stalled bill, is more likely to be remembered than a general expression of concern.
A model from the 83rd Session
The manual draws on a written intervention by Equality Now on the activity report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa at the 83rd Session, dated 15 April 2025. It addressed the Special Rapporteur directly and commended her work before setting out five themed asks:
Those asks welcomed Resolution 632 on the withdrawal of reservations to the Maputo Protocol and addressed gaps in rape laws in 45 countries. The intervention also called for family law reform and for an end to female genital mutilation, including in countries without a legal ban. Finally, it urged better State reporting, noting that only 21 of 45 States Parties had submitted reports under the Protocol.
The written version ran to about 1,500 words. A spoken statement must be much shorter. The exercise in the manual asks learners to cut a long written intervention down to a three-minute oral version without losing the asks.
Linking the statement to the shadow report
A statement works best when it points back to a written submission. The closing line should say where Commissioners can find the full shadow report and the coalition’s briefing note. If the Commission’s Secretariat publishes statements, the written version can include more detail than the spoken one.
The manual’s self-assessment rubric lists “preparing three-minute oral statements” as one of eight skills participants should feel confident about after training. The workshop agenda gives time to draft and practise one.
After the statement
Delivering the statement is one step in a longer process. The coalition should share the text with Commissioners and partners, and note any response from the State delegation. These notes feed into follow-up after the session.
A strong oral statement is short and specific. It gives a Commissioner something concrete to ask the State. For background on one of the most common asks, the withdrawal of reservations, see RFLD’s country briefs on lifting the reservations.
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.
