S4 E4: #RatifyADRP: Call on African leaders to ratify the African Disability Rights Protocol

<p>In conversation with Farouk Adedoyin and Reda Benkhadra</p> <p> </p> <p>Every year, students at the <a href='https://www.chr.up.ac.za/'>Centre for Human Rights</a>, <a href='https://www.up.ac.za/'>University of Pretoria</a> on <a href='https://www.chr.up.ac.za/hrda'>the LLM/MPhil programme in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HRDA)</a> are assigned to <a href='https://www.chr.up.ac.za/dru-clinic'>human rights clinics</a> which contribute to the work of the Centre’s <a href='https://www.chr.up.ac.za/units'>research units</a> and give the students practical experience and advance the Centre’s mission towards the realisation of human rights in Africa. In the year 2022, the HRDA students embarked on a #<a href='https://www.chr.up.ac.za/campaigns/ratifyadrp'>RatifyADRP campaign</a>, urging African Union member states to ratify the <a href='https://www.chr.up.ac.za/images/researchunits/dru/files/Roadmap_3_Disabilities.pdf'>Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa (Africa Disability Protocol).</a></p> <p> </p> <p>The African Union Assembly adopted the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa (Africa Disability Protocol) on 28 January 2018. The African Disability Protocol is the culmination of the African Union’s efforts to create a framework to safeguard the human rights of persons with disabilities on the continent. However, the Protocol has not yet attained the 15 ratifications required for it to come into force. To date, the Protocol has been signed but not ratified by Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Mali, Rwanda, South Africa and Togo.</p> <p>This episode calls on all Africans, especially stakeholders to advocate, campaign and ensure that the Protocol is ratified by all the 55 members of the African Union.</p> <p>#RatifyAfricanDisabilityRightsProtocol</p> <p>#RatifyADRP</p> <p> </p> <p>This conversation was recorded on 5 July 2