Organisations that invest months in a shadow report want to know whether it makes a difference. RFLD’s manual, Reporting on the Maputo Protocol: a manual for shadow reports, answers honestly. The research literature rarely traces a straight line from a shadow report to a new law. What it does show is that shadow reports contribute to change, alongside other forms of advocacy. The manual presents these as contribution stories, never as proof of sole cause.
Mauritius: child marriage and the CEDAW Committee
The clearest example comes from Mauritius, one of the States on the agenda at the African Commission’s 89th Session. In October 2018, at the 71st session of the CEDAW Committee, Gender Links Mauritius and three partner organisations submitted what Gender Links describes as the first shadow report by a Mauritian NGO.
The report documented serious gaps in the law on marriage. Religious marriages were not registered, and civil law allowed marriage at 16 with parental consent.
The Committee’s concluding observations urged Mauritius to set a minimum age of 18 for both civil and religious marriage, without exceptions for parental consent, and to collect data on child marriage.
The Children’s Act 2020 came fully into force on 24 January 2022. It prohibits causing or forcing a child under 18 to marry, whether in a civil or a religious ceremony, and ends the exception that allowed marriage at 16.
Gender Links does not attribute the law to the CEDAW process alone. It credits a range of actors, including NGOs and the Ombudsperson for Children. That is the honest framing the manual recommends. The shadow report and the Committee’s recommendation gave the issue international weight. National advocates then carried it into law.
Kenya: a coalition on the Maputo Protocol
In Kenya, Equality Now and 17 Kenyan civil society organisations produced a joint shadow report on Kenya’s implementation of the Maputo Protocol, published in December 2021. It covered a wide range of issues, from political participation and sexual violence to child marriage, technology-facilitated violence and the rights of women with disabilities.
Kenya’s review was postponed from the 69th Session. Concluding observations on Kenya’s 14th Charter report and 2nd Maputo report were later adopted at the 88th Session in July 2026. The manual suggests a future exercise: once the text is published, compare the Commission’s recommendations side by side with those of the coalition. That comparison will show which civil society asks were taken up.
Malawi: setting up the next report
The Commission’s concluding observations on Malawi’s combined 2nd and 3rd report, adopted at the 70th Session on 9 March 2022, asked Malawi to report in its next report on the status of the Termination of Pregnancy Bill and the reasons for its delay. They also asked Malawi to pass a law on sexual harassment.
The text does not name shadow reports as a source. The manual uses it for another reason. The formula “provide in its next report information on” creates a specific obligation that civil society can propose word for word. It also sets up the next shadow report, which can check whether the State has answered.
Namibia: follow-up at national level
In November 2024, the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria held two separate meetings in Windhoek. One brought together civil society organisations to work on shadow reporting. The other brought together government ministries to discuss implementing the Commission’s recommendations. Issues still open included restrictive abortion law and incomplete comprehensive sexuality education.
The manual uses this as a model for follow-up. Recommendations have more chance of being implemented when both civil society and government engage with them after the session.
Rwanda: a focused report
In 2022, two Rwandan organisations published a 14-page shadow report on Article 14 of the Maputo Protocol, on health. It drew on focus groups and interviews with 155 participants in nine districts. Among other things, it recommended extending abortion provision to trained midwives and nurses and unconditional access to contraception for adolescents aged 15 to 19. Its narrow focus and short length make it a useful model for organisations with limited resources.
What makes the difference
Across these cases, the manual draws several lessons:
- Specific facts about the law and its effects gave committees something concrete to act on.
- Precise asks, such as a minimum age of 18 without exceptions, are easier to adopt and to track.
- Joint reports carry more weight and help sustain follow-up.
- Change happened where national actors kept pushing after the session.
Patience and persistence
None of these changes happened quickly. In Mauritius, more than three years passed between the CEDAW review and the full entry into force of the Children’s Act. Shadow reporting is one tool in a long campaign, and its value grows with each cycle.
The manual encourages organisations to document their own contribution stories. Each one strengthens the case for civil society engagement with human rights bodies. For RFLD’s related work on reservations to the Protocol, see the 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.
