In March 2026, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights opened a new process that matters for every woman and girl who lacks a safe toilet. Resolution 658 launches the drafting of Guidelines on the Right to Sanitation in Africa, with a specific focus on women and girls. RFLD’s policy brief, Women, Water and Article 15 of the Maputo Protocol, calls this a two-year window for civil society. This article explains why.
What Resolution 658 says
The Commission adopted Resolution 658 on 9 March 2026, at the close of its 86th Ordinary Session, held virtually. The resolution tasks two of the Commission’s mechanisms, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa and the Working Group on ESC Rights, with developing “Guidelines on the Right to Sanitation in Africa, with a specific focus on women and girls”. They have two years to do so.
The resolution recalls Articles 2, 3, 4, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 18 of the Maputo Protocol. It also looks back at the Commission’s 2019 Guidelines on the Right to Water in Africa. Their “gender-specific provisions, while present, require further elaboration”, the resolution finds.
The new guidelines also fill a gap identified in RFLD’s brief. Article 15 has no General Comment of its own, and General Comment No. 2, on parts of Article 14, does not mention water or sanitation.
Why sanitation needs its own guidelines
The figures explain the urgency. In 2024, only 26.0% of people in sub-Saharan Africa used safely managed sanitation, according to the UN Statistical Yearbook. In Western Africa the figure was 26.8%. In Middle Africa it was 15.6%.
Globally, the WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme reports that 3.4 billion people lack safely managed sanitation, including 354 million who practise open defecation. Its 2023 gender report found that women and girls face harassment at shared sanitation facilities.
There has been progress for children. The State of Africa’s Children 2026 report, launched by the African Union and UNICEF in September 2026, found that rural open defecation fell from 28% in 2015 to 20% in 2024. But only 30% of children used safely managed sanitation in 2024.
For women and girls, sanitation is about more than a toilet. It is about privacy during menstruation and safety at night. The global goal on sanitation, SDG target 6.2, already calls for “paying special attention to the needs of women and girls”. The new guidelines can explain what that means in African law.
What the guidelines should cover
RFLD’s brief asks the Commission to ensure that the guidelines address four areas:
- menstrual health, including facilities and materials in schools and health centres;
- safety, so that women and girls can use sanitation without fear of violence;
- women’s participation in planning and managing sanitation services;
- financing, with budgets that show how much reaches women and girls.
The brief also asks for open consultations with women’s organisations in all regions of Africa. Women who use shared toilets and fetch water every day know where the risks are.
Linking with continental policy
The guidelines will not start from nothing. The African Ministers’ Council on Water launched the African Sanitation Policy Guidelines in June 2021, to help governments develop sanitation policies. The Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy, endorsed in February 2026, sets a milestone for 2033: “Gender-balanced sanitation governance protocols adopted by 40% of Member States.”
RFLD’s brief asks the African Union and the Council to bring that milestone forward and extend it to water governance. The Commission’s new guidelines can give it a rights basis.
How civil society can take part
RFLD’s advocacy calendar marks 2026 to 2028 as the drafting period, with opportunities for written inputs and regional consultations. Women’s organisations can prepare now. They can gather community evidence on safety and menstrual health, always with the informed consent of the women concerned. They can also send joint written inputs with other organisations.
World Toilet Day, on 19 November 2026, is an early moment to draw attention to menstrual health and safe school sanitation. Read the summary of RFLD’s brief for the full advocacy calendar and recommendations.
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.
