RFLD’s manual, Reporting on the Maputo Protocol: a manual for shadow reports, is written to be taught as well as read. It assumes no prior experience and includes everything a facilitator needs to run a workshop for a coalition or a national human rights institution. This article walks through the training tools in the manual’s annexes.
The workshop agenda
Annex A sets out a three-day workshop that covers all nine modules. Each half-day combines teaching with a practical exercise:
- Day 1, morning: Module 1 on the duty to report, with the “Know your State” exercise.
- Day 1, afternoon: Module 2 on the African Commission’s procedures, with the “Count back from session” exercise.
- Day 2, morning: Modules 3 and 4 on planning and evidence, with the “From claim to indicator” exercise.
- Day 2, afternoon: Module 5 on ethics and safety, practised through the “A difficult case” exercise.
- Day 3, morning: Module 6 on writing, with the “Upgrade five recommendations” exercise.
- Day 3, afternoon: Modules 7 to 9, then planning for the coming session.
The agenda can be adapted. A coalition already familiar with the Commission might shorten the first day. A group preparing for a specific review might spend more time on writing.
The exercises
Each exercise turns a module into practice.
“Know your State” asks participants to find out where their State stands, including whether it has reservations and how many reports it owes. The answers come from the Commission’s States Reporting Status page and the Protocol’s ratification records.
“Count back from session” uses real dates. With the 89th Session, for example, participants compute the Rule 79(3) deadline for each State under review by counting back 30 days from the examination date.
“From claim to indicator” takes a sentence from a State report and asks what evidence would show whether it is true in practice, from the law on paper to change in women’s lives.
“A difficult case” presents a realistic scenario in which the value of a testimony must be weighed against the safety of the person who gave it.
“Upgrade five recommendations” asks participants to rewrite general recommendations into specific, measurable ones that the Commission could adopt word for word.
The self-assessment rubric
Annex B is a self-assessment rubric. Participants rate their confidence, on a scale of 1 to 5, on eight skills: explaining the Article 26 reporting duty, locating State reports and examination dates, applying the format rules, using indicators, obtaining informed consent and managing reprisal risks, writing SMART recommendations, preparing three-minute oral statements and designing national follow-up plans.
Used at the start and end of a workshop, the rubric shows where confidence has grown and where more support is needed. It also helps a coalition decide who should lead each part of the work.
The model report extract
Annex C provides a model report extract. It is fictional, which allows trainers to discuss it freely without exposing any real person or organisation. Participants can use it to see how an issue section looks in practice: the State report paragraph cited, the evidence, the suggested questions and the recommendations.
Reference material
The remaining annexes support the training. Annex D collects key legal texts. Annex E is a glossary of 16 terms, from affiliate status and concluding observations to reservation and SMART recommendation. Annex F lists useful resources and links. Annex G offers sample questions organised by article of the Protocol, covering 13 articles. Annex H provides a planning calendar template.
Templates for the work itself
Alongside the annexes, the manual contains templates that participants can take straight into their own work: a coalition agreement, an evidence matrix, an informed consent record, a shadow report outline, a two-page briefing note, an oral statement and a follow-up plan. A workshop can end with each participant holding a first draft of one of these.
Lessons from earlier training
The manual builds on earlier efforts. In April 2022, UNDP and its partners trained 30 civil society organisations online over three days, from Addis Ababa, when their own facilitators’ manual was being pre-tested. That manual, published in 2023, teaches Maputo and CEDAW reporting side by side. RFLD’s manual adds depth on ethics and on advocacy at the African Commission.
Training for RFLD’s network
RFLD brings together 1,143 member organisations in more than 35 African countries. Many of them document violations every day without ever sending that evidence to the African Commission. The workshop format is designed to change that, one coalition at a time.
Facilitators who want an overview before planning a session can start with the summary of the manual.
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.
