NGOs Forum · 89th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR · Dakar
RFLD is honoured to announce that Honourable Commissioner Janet Ramatoulie Sallah-Njie, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, will join our panel at the Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the 89th Ordinary Session of the Commission.
The panel takes place on Thursday 8 October 2026, from 14:20 to 15:20, in Dakar. It asks a question that matters to every women’s organisation on the continent: what does an Afrofeminist reading of shrinking civic space tell us about protecting freedom of expression, association and assembly in Africa, and what practical steps can States and the African Commission take to defend those freedoms?
We thank the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS), Secretariat of the NGOs Forum, and its Executive Director Mrs Hannah Forster, for making this possible.
Why her presence matters
Commissioner Sallah-Njie brings the mandate that sits closest to the experience of the women this panel is about. Elected to the African Commission in October 2021 and sworn in on 15 November 2021, she is a Gambian lawyer with more than 30 years of experience as a constitutional lawyer and legislative drafter. She has served as Chief Parliamentary Counsel and Solicitor General of The Gambia and has advised governments and international agencies on laws relating to women, gender and development.
As Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, she follows how States implement the Maputo Protocol, including Article 9 on the right of women to participate in political and decision-making processes. Her contribution will focus on the barriers that keep women from participating fully and safely in public, political and civic life, and on the conditions needed for women and other marginalised groups to take part without fear.
What is at stake
Civic space is closing in many African countries. Restrictive laws on associations and the surveillance of human rights defenders are spreading, while online harassment grows. These measures weigh first on women-led organisations, which often work far from capitals, with small budgets and little legal protection. Women defenders face a second layer of risk: gendered smear campaigns and technology-facilitated violence designed to push them out of public life.
Looking at civic space through the experience of these organisations shows which protections work in practice and which remain on paper. That is the Afrofeminist lens this panel brings to the Forum.
The panel
Three questions for the Special Rapporteur
- From your mandate, which barriers most prevent women and women-led organisations from taking part safely and meaningfully in public, political and civic life in Africa today, including online?
- How can the Maputo Protocol and the Commission’s Guidelines on Freedom of Association and Assembly in Africa be used to protect women human rights defenders facing restrictive NGO laws and online harassment?
- What concrete steps can States, the Commission and civil society take before the next session to bring women’s experience of shrinking civic space into its resolutions and State reporting?
From the Forum to the Commission. The recommendations from this panel will feed into the resolutions and recommendations adopted at the close of the NGOs Forum on 10 October and presented to the African Commission at the opening of its 89th Ordinary Session.
Part of a wider programme
RFLD, a pan-African Afrofeminist network of 1,143 member organisations in more than 35 African countries, holds observer status with the African Commission. The panel is part of our programme for the 89th Session, which continues on 12 October with the panel “Defending without being exposed” on the main agenda of the Commission.
We look forward to a frank and practical exchange, and to working with the Special Rapporteur and our partners on the follow-up.
Follow RFLD on Facebook, LinkedIn and X for live updates from Dakar. Media enquiries: communications.info@rflgd.org.
Read more: RFLD panel on an Afrofeminist reading of shrinking civic space and why technology-facilitated violence against women is a human rights issue.
