1 African Union (AU), Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa, 29 January 2018, Art. 12, available at: https://au.int/en/treaties/protocol-african-charter-human-and-peoples-rights-rights-persons-disabilities-africa (all internet references were accessed in October 2022).

2 See Constitutive Act of the African Union, 2158 UNTS 3, 11 July 2000 (entered into force 26 May 2001), available at: https://au.int/en/constitutive-act. Article 3(h) states that one of the objectives of the AU is to “promote and protect human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant human rights instruments”.

3 According to the database The Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC), no fewer than twenty armed conflicts are currently taking place in Africa. See Geneva Academy/RULAC, “Conflicts”, available at: www.rulac.org/browse/conflicts.

4 The World Health Organization estimates that 15% of the world's population is living with a disability, and that this percentage increases in crises, including armed conflicts. African countries experiencing conflict are no exception. For details, see World Health Organization, Disability and Health, 24 November 2021, available at: www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health; Oversee Advising Group, Fonds humanitaire en République Démocratique du Congo and Handicap International, Prise en compte des Personnes Handicapées dans la réponse humanitaire en RDC : Enquête CAP multisectorielle couplée avec les Questions du Washington Group, Rapport de synthèse, ReliefWeb, 1 October 2021, available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/prise-en-compte-des-personnes-handicap-es-dans-la-r-ponse; Human Rights Watch, “South Sudan: People with Disabilities, Older People Face Danger”, 31 May 2017, available at: www.hrw.org/news/2017/05/31/south-sudan-people-disabilities-older-people-face-danger.

5 International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), “Violence in Congo's Kasai Region Even Harder on Disabled People”, 1 December 2017, available at: www.icrc.org/en/document/violence-congos-kasai-region-even-harder-disabled-people.

6 Janet E. Lord, Desk Review on Humanitarian Action Inclusive of Persons with Disabilities, Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), 1 March 2018, available at: https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/iasc-task-team-inclusion-persons-disabilities-humanitarian-action/documents/desk-review-humanitarian.

7 Ibid.

8 See ICRC, above note 5, which points out that people with reduced mobility were the hardest hit by violence in Kasai Region, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

9 Ibid.

10 Human Rights Watch, “Cameroon: Make Humanitarian Response More Inclusive”, 10 December 2019, available at: www.hrw.org/news/2019/12/10/cameroon-make-humanitarian-response-more-inclusive.

11 It is estimated that 9.3 million persons with disabilities have been forced to flee their homes, many of them because of armed conflict. The majority of them are in Africa, which has the highest percentages of refugees and internally displaced persons in the world. For details, see Human Rights Watch, “UN: War's Impact on People with Disabilities”, 3 December 2018, available at: www.hrw.org/news/2018/12/03/un-wars-impact-people-disabilities; Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Global Report on Internal Displacement 2020, April 2020, pp. 1–26, available at: www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2020/.

12 See United Nations (UN) General Assembly, World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons, Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc. A/37/351, 15 September 1982, Annex, Section VIII, Recommendation 1 (IV), available at: https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N82/238/48/PDF/N8223848.pdf?OpenElement; and Corrigendum, UN Doc. A/37/351/Add.1/Corr.1, 22 October 1982, available at: https://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?OpenAgent&DS=A/37/351/Add.1/Corr.1&Lang=E.

13 UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Migrants and Refugees with Disabilities Must be Priority in New Global Compact on Migration – UN Experts”, Press Release, 12 April 2017, available at: www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2017/04/migrants-and-refugees-disabilities-must-be-priority-new-global-compact; Human Rights Watch, One Billion Forgotten: Protecting the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2011, pp. 11–12, available at: www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/2014%20disabilities_program_low.pdf.

14 Human Rights Watch, above note 11.

15 Ibid.

16 Human Rights Watch, “UN: High Risk in Conflicts for Children with Disabilities”, 2 February 2022, available at: www.hrw.org/news/2022/02/02/un-high-risk-conflicts-children-disabilities.

17 Serges Kamga, Alain Djoyou, “A Call for a Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa”, African Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol. 21, No. 2, p. 222Google Scholar.

18 Ibid.

19 See OAU Secretary, General Report CM/2112 (LXX), adopted by the 23rd session of the Labour and Social Affairs Commission meeting in Algiers, Algeria, 12–13 April 2000, and endorsed by the 72nd session of the OAU Council of Ministers and 36th Assembly of Heads of State and Government, respectively, meeting in Lomé, Togo, 6–8 July 2000, Decision CM/Dec.535 (LXXII) Rev.1.

20 Ibid. For further details, see also UN Enable, African Decade of Disabled Persons (2000–2009), 2003, available at: www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/disafricadecade.htm#_edn50.

21 This conference took place in Kigali, Rwanda, on 8 May 2003.

22 AU, Kigali Declaration, 8 May 2003, available at: www.achpr.org/legalinstruments/detail?id=39.

23 Ibid., para. 19.

24 Ibid., para. 20.

25 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), Resolution on the Transformation of the Focal Point on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa into a Working Group on the Rights of Older Persons and People with Disabilities in Africa – ACHPR/Res.143(XXXXV)09, 27 May 2009, para. (a), available at: www.achpr.org/sessions/resolutions?id=228.

26 Ibid., para. (a) i–iii.

27 See, for example, S. A. D. Kamga, above note 17, pp. 223–4.

28 Ibid., p. 224.

29 Ibid.; Japhet Biegon, “The Promotion and Protection of Disability Rights in the African Human Rights system”, in Ilze Grobbelaar-du Plessis and Tobias van Reenen (eds), Aspects of Disability Law in Africa, Pretoria University Law Press, Pretoria, 2011, available at: www.pulp.up.ac.za/edited-collections/aspects-of-disability-law-in-africa; Mureriwa, Juliet, “Some Reflections on the Draft African Disability Protocol and Socio-Economic Justice for Persons with Disabilities”, Economic and Social Rights Review, Vol. 12, No. 3, 2011, p. 3Google Scholar; Combrinck, Heléne and Mute, Lawrence M., “Developments Regarding Disability Rights During 2013: The African Charter and African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights”, African Disability Rights Yearbook, Vol. 2, 2014, p. 313Google Scholar.

30 ACHPR, Resolution to Increase Members of the Working Group on Older Persons and People with Disabilities in Africa – ACHPR/Res.170(XLVIII)10, 24 November 2010, available at: www.achpr.org/sessions/resolutions?id=344.

31 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), 2515 UNTS 3, 6 December 2006 (entered into force 3 May 2008), available at: www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html.

32 Lawrence Mute, Concept on the List of Issues to Guide Preparation of a Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa, Revised Draft as of 3 May 2012, available at: https://blindsa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IDEA-PAPER-ON-THE-LIST-OF-ISSUES-TO-GUIDE-PREPARATION-OF-A-PROTOCOL-ON-T....doc.

33 ACHPR, “Comments Invited on Draft Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa”, March 2014, available at: www.achpr.org/news/viewdetail?id=129.

34 Ibid.

35 Yeung Kam John Yeung Sik Yuen, Report of the Chairperson of the Working Group on The Rights of Older Persons and People with Disabilities in Africa, Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire, October 2012, available at: www.achpr.org/public/Document/file/English/activty_report_older_persons_eng.pdf (emphasis added).

36 Secretariat of African National Institutions, Regional Workshop on Promoting the Rights of People with Disabilities: Towards a New UN Convention – Final Declaration, Munyonyo-Kampala, Uganda, 6 June 2003, para. 30, available at: www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/contrib-uganda.htm.

37 UN Enable, Ad Hoc Committee, Proposed Modifications by Governments, Seventh Session, 2005, Art. 4, para. 6, available at: www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc7african.htm (emphasis added). See also, for other examples of contributions from Africa regarding this topic, Kenya, Position of Kenya on Draft Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, 10 January 2006 and 7 October 2005, available at: www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc7kenya.htm. It is also worth mentioning the addition of the words “in particular during armed conflicts and foreign occupation” to the end of para. (u) of the preamble to the CRPD at the initiative of the Arab Group, of which several African States are members. For details regarding that contribution, see Ad Hoc Committee on Convention on Persons with Disabilities, “Ad Hoc Committee Agrees on New UN Convention to Protect Disabled Persons’ Rights”, Press Release, UN Doc. SOC/4716, 28 August 2006, available at: https://unis.unvienna.org/unis/en/pressrels/2006/soc4716.html. For further details on this subject, see Arlene S. Kanter, “The Promise and Challenge of the United Nations Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities”, Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce, Vol. 34, 2007, pp. 300–1.

38 ICRC, “Quelle différence y a-t-il entre le droit humanitaire et le droit des droits de l'homme ?”, 1 January 2004, available at: www.icrc.org/fr/doc/resources/documents/misc/5qlbu7.htm.

39 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, 11 July 2003 (entered into force 25 November 2005), Art. 11, available at: https://au.int/en/treaties/protocol-african-charter-human-and-peoples-rights-rights-women-africa.

40 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/153/Rev2, July 1990 (entered into force 29 November 1999), Arts 22 and 23, available at: https://au.int/en/treaties/african-charter-rights-and-welfare-child.

41 African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), 52 ILM 400, 23 October 2009 (entered into force 6 December 2012), Arts 4, 7, etc., available at: https://au.int/en/treaties/african-union-convention-protection-and-assistance-internally-displaced-persons-africa.

42 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons, 31 January 2016, Art. 12, available at: https://au.int/en/treaties/protocol-african-charter-human-and-peoples-rights-rights-older-persons.

43 See African Peer Review Mechanism, The Africa Governance Report: Promoting African Union Shared Values, January 2019, p. 25, available at: https://au.int/en/documents/20190118/africa-governance-report-promoting-african-union-shared-values; The Africa Governance Report: Promoting African Union Shared Values, December 2019, p. 27, available at: https://au.int/en/documents/20191218/africa-governance-report-promoting-african-union-shared-values.

44 See, in particular, Kampala Convention, Arts 3–7.

45 For details, see above note 37.

46 ACHPR, above note 33.

47 Regarding the value of a preamble in interpreting a treaty, see, inter alia, Quôc Dinh Nguyên, Patrick Daillier and Alain Pellet, Droit international public, 7th ed., L.G.D.J., Paris, 2002, p. 131; Mustafa Kamil Yasseen, “L'interprétation des traités d'après la Convention de Vienne sur le droit des traités”, in Recueil des cours de l'Académie de droit international, Vol. 51, 1976; Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1155 UNTS 331, 23 May 1969 (entered into force 27 January 1980), available at: https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsIII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXIII-1&chapter=23&Temp=mtdsg3&clang=_en, Art. 31, which begins “The context for the purpose of the interpretation of a treaty shall comprise, in addition to the text, including its preamble and annexes: […]” (emphasis added).

48 The ICRC commentary on Article 1 indicates, for instance, that the drafters of the four Geneva Conventions had agreed to adopt a very general formulation as regards the general obligation to “ensure respect for” IHL. This comment shows that the very general formulation used admits of a broad, evolutive interpretation of this provision. In particular, it allows the introduction of an external dimension to the obligation to ensure respect for the Conventions, i.e. the obligation on the States to ensure respect for the Conventions not only by their own populations, but also by others. See ICRC, Commentary on the First Geneva Convention: Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, 2nd ed., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2016, paras 155–7, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/ihl/full/GCI-commentary.

49 Geneva Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 287 (entered into force 21 October 1950) (GC IV); Protocol Additional (I) to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, 1125 UNTS 3, 8 June 1977 (entered into force 7 December 1978) (AP I).

50 Kobila, James Mouangue, “Article 66”, in Kamto, Maurice (ed.), La Charte africaine des droits de l'homme et des peuples et le protocole y relatif portant création de la Cour africaine des droits de l'homme : Commentaire article par article, Bruylant, Brussels, 2011, pp. 1981–2Google Scholar.

51 See, for example, Tami Tamashiro, Impact of Conflict on Children's Health and Disability, UNESCO, 2010, available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000190712. See the travaux préparatoires of the CRPD, in particular the discussion regarding protection of persons with disabilities during armed conflict. On this topic, see, inter alia, UN Enable, Daily Summary related to Draft Article 8: Right to Life, prepared by Landmine Survivors Network, Vol. 3, No. 7, 13 January 2004, available at: www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/wgsuma8.htm; UN Human Rights Commission, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health, Paul Hunt, submitted in accordance with Commission Resolution 2002/31, paras 59, 65 and 67, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2003/58, 13 February 2003, available at: https://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?OpenAgent&DS=E/CN.4/2003/58&Lang=E; Plümper, Thomas and Neumayer, Eric, “The Unequal Burden of War: The Effect of Armed Conflict on the Gender Gap in Life Expectancy”, International Organization, Vol. 60, No. 3, 2006, pp. 723–4CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

52 See, for example, Claude Pilloud et al., Commentary on the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht, 1987, pp. 916–17, para. 3152; Krill, Françoise, “La protection de la femme dans le droit international humanitaire”, Revue Internationale de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 67, No. 756, 1985, p. 347CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

53 The vast majority of armed conflicts in progress on the African continent in which atrocities are committed against civilians – including people with disabilities – are non-international in nature. For further details, see RULAC, above note 3. For some examples of violations committed against persons with disabilities, see, for example, Human Rights Watch, “Central African Republic: People With Disabilities Left Behind”, 28 April 2015, available at: www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/28/central-african-republic-people-disabilities-left-behind; Human Rights Watch, above note 4.

54 See Article 3(4) common to the four Geneva Conventions.

55 African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), General Comment on Article 22 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child: Children in Situations of Conflict, September 2020, paras 32 and 65.

56 For an analysis of these provisions, see Fomekong, Steve Tiwa, “Reflections on Humanitarian Law Dimensions of the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa”, African Yearbook on International Humanitarian Law, Vol. 2020, No. 1, 2020CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

57 Kampala Convention, Art. 9.2(c) (emphasis added).

58 AU, Common African Position on Humanitarian Effectiveness, 2016, available at: www.tralac.org/images/docs/9719/common-african-position-cap-on-humanitarian-effectiveness-may-2016.pdf (emphasis added).

59 AU, African Union Policy Guideline on the Role of the African Standby Force in Humanitarian Action and Natural Disaster Support, 2016, available at: www.peaceau.org/uploads/01-asf-in-hands-guidelines.pdf.

60 For a brief outline of the general protection to which such persons are entitled, see, for example, Alice Priddy, Disability and Armed Conflict, Academy Briefing No. 14, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Geneva, April 2019, pp. 57–73, available at: www.geneva-academy.ch/joomlatools-files/docman-files/Academy%20Briefing%2014-interactif.pdf. See also ICRC, “How Law Protects Persons with Disabilities in Armed Conflict”, 13 December 2017, available at: www.icrc.org/en/document/how-law-protects-persons-disabilities-armed-conflict.

61 See, for example, GC IV, Art. 30; and AP I, Arts 17 and 70. For an overview of this special protection, see, for example, A. Priddy, ibid.; and ICRC, ibid.

62 See, for example, Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, 2056 UNTS 211, 18 September 1997 (entered into force 1 March 1999), Art. 6, available at: https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=XXVI-5&chapter=26&clang=_en; Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects (Protocol V), 1342 UNTS 137, 28 November 2003 (entered into force 12 November 2006), Art. 8, para. 2, available at: https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=XXVI-2-d&chapter=26&clang=_en.

63 GC IV, Art. 17.

64 Geneva Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949, 75 UNTS 135 (entered into force 21 October 1950), Art. 30.

65 Ibid.

66 See A. Priddy, above note 60, p. 53.

67 Ibid.

68 AU, Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa, above note 1, Art. 1.

69 See A. Priddy, above note 60, p. 19. See also Lord, Janet E., “Persons with Disabilities in International Humanitarian Law”, in Gill, Michael and Schlund-Vials, Cathy J. (eds), Disability, Human Rights and the Limits of Humanitarianism, Routledge, London, 2015, p. 160Google Scholar.

70 See, also, J. Lord, ibid., p. 160.

71 The obligation to give advance warning of attacks that may affect the civilian population is set out in AP I, Art. 57.2(c), for instance.

72 AU, Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa, above note 1, Art. 12(b).

73 CRPD, Art. 19.

74 See UN, The Sustainable Development Agenda, available at: www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/; UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, available at: www.preventionweb.net/sendai-framework/sendai-framework-for-disaster-risk-reduction.

75 The resulting Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action reaffirms these principles. See, for example, para. 1.6 of the Charter, available at: https://humanitariandisabilitycharter.org/.

76 This formulation is partly taken from ICRC, above note 60, p. 7.

77 See also Women's Refugee Commission, Disability Inclusion: Translating Policy into Practice in Humanitarian Action, 18 February 2014, available at: www.womensrefugeecommission.org/research-resources/disability-inclusion-translating-policy-into-practice-in-humanitarian-action/; UNICEF, Including Children with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, 2017, available at: https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/pdf/unicef_wash_english.pdf/; IASC, Guidelines: Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, July 2019, available at: www.coordinationsud.org/wp-content/uploads/IASC-Guidelines-on-the-Inclusion-of-Persons-with-Disabilities-in-Humanitarian-Action-2019.pdf.

78 NEPAD, African Post-Conflict Reconstruction Policy Framework, June 2005, available at: https://sarpn.org/documents/d0001357/index.php.

79 Ibid.

80 Charles-Philippe David and Olivier Schmitt, “La reconstruction post-conflit”, in La Guerre et la paix : Approches et enjeux de la sécurité et de la stratégie, Presses de Sciences Po, Paris, 2020, p. 401.

81 Ibid., pp. 401 ff.

82 Ibid., p. 401.

83 Ibid., p. 403. Stephanie Ortoleva, “Women with Disabilities: The Forgotten Peace Builders”, Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review, Vol. 33, 2010; Pearl Praise Gottschalk, “‘How Are We in This World Now?’ Examining the Experiences of Persons Disabled by War in the Peace Processes of Sierra Leone”, Master's Dissertation, University of Victoria, 2007, available at: https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/299?show=full; World Institute on Disability, The Involvement of Persons with Disabilities in Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding Efforts: Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PWD) as Part of the Solution in the Post-Conflict Arena, August 2014, available at: www.usip.org/sites/default/files/WID_Disability_Inclusive_Peacebuilding_Process%20.pdf.

84 C.-P. David and O. Schmitt, above note 80, p. 403.

85 Ibid., pp. 401–3.

86 Ibid., p. 403. Vivien Hart, “Constitution-Making and the Transformation of Conflict”, Peace & Change, Vol. 26, No. 2, 2001.

87 For details in this regard, see Steve Tiwa Fomekong, “La contribution de l'Union africaine au droit international humanitaire”, Thèse de doctorat, Université Laval, Québec, 2020, pp. 137–40; Mohammed Abdelwahab Bekhechi, “Article 27 §1”, in M. Kamto (ed.), above note 50, pp. 681–5.

88 See Fatsah Ouguergouz, La Charte africaine des droits de l'homme et des peuples : Une approche juridique des droits de l'homme entre tradition et modernité, 1st ed., Collection : Publications de l'Institut universitaire de hautes études internationales, Presses Universitaires de France, Geneva and Paris, 1993, pp. 8 ff and 233–54.

89 See, inter alia, ibid., p. 233; Mubiala, Mutoy, Le Système régional africain de protection des droits de l'homme, Collection Organisation internationale et relations internationales, Bruylant, Brussels, 2005, pp. 5–8Google Scholar and 34–5; Michel-Cyr Djiena Wembou and Daouda Fall, Droit international humanitaire : Théorie générale et réalités africaines, Collection Logiques Juridiques, L'Harmattan, Paris, 2000, pp. 303 ff; Kéba M'Baye, “Human Rights in Africa”, in Karel Vasak (ed.), The International Dimensions of Human Rights, Vol. 2, UNESCO, Paris, 1982, p. 589.

90 Regarding this particularity of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, see, inter alia, F. Ouguergouz, above note 88, pp. 233–54; Kéba MBaye, Les droits de l'homme en Afrique, Editions A. Pedone, Paris, 1992, pp. 49 ff; Alain Didier Olinga, “Article 29, alinéas 2 à 8”, in M. Kamto (ed.), above note 50, pp. 738–48.

91 African Youth Charter, 2 July 2006 (entered into force 8 August 2009), Art. 17(f), available at: https://au.int/fr/treaties/african-youth-charter.

92 See ibid., preamble, para. 23.

93 See Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, above note 75, para. 1.2.

94 Constitutive Act of the African Union, above note 2, Art. 3(f).

95 Abass, Ademola and Baderin, Mashood A., “Towards Effective Collective Security and Human Rights Protection in Africa: An Assessment of the Constitutive Act of the New African Union”, Netherlands International Law Review, Vol. 49, No. 1, 2002, p. 5Google Scholar.

96 Loïc Robert, “La contribution de l'Union européenne au droit international des droits de l'homme”, Thesis, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, 2014, p. 10 (our translation).

97 AU, List of Countries which have Signed, Ratified/Acceded to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa, 28 March 2022, available at: https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36440-sl-PROTOCOL_TO_THE_AFRICAN_CHARTER_ON_HUMAN_AND_PEOPLESaEUtm_RIGHTS_ON_THE_RI._.pdf.

98 For details, see UN Treaty Collection, Status of Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, available at: https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=IV-15&chapter=4&clang=_en.

99 Ibid.

100 Sitaraman, Srini, State Participation in International Treaty Regimes, Ashgate Publishing Company, Abingdon, 2009, p. 5Google Scholar.

101 See Guzman, Andrew, How International Law Works: A Rational Choice Theory, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2008, pp. 119–81CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Robert O. Keohane, “Realism, Neorealism and the Study of World Politics”, in Robert O. Keohane (ed.), Neorealism and its Critics, Columbia University Press, New York, 1986, pp. 7–8.

102 See also Maluwa, Tiyanjana, “Ratification of African Union Treaties by Member States: Law, Policy and Practice”, Melbourne Journal of International Law, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2012, p. 12Google Scholar.

103 See also AU, Introductory Note of the Chairperson of the Commission to the Annual Report on the Activities of the African Union and its Organs, AU Doc. EX.CL/1061(XXXII), 2018, p. 40, available at: https://archives.au.int/bitstream/handle/123456789/8422/EX%20CL%201061%20XXXII%20INTR_E.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y.

104 See, for example, AU Executive Council, Fourteenth Ordinary Session, Decision on the Status of Signature and Ratification of OAU/AU Treaties and the Harmonization of Ratification Procedures, AU Doc. EX.CL/Dec.459(XIV), January 2009; and Decision on the AU 2009 Calendar of Meetings, Doc. EX.CL/453(XIV), AU Doc. EX.CL/458(XIV), January 2009, both available at: https://au.int/en/decisions-42; AU Executive Council, Twenty-first Ordinary Session, Decision on the Status of Signature and Ratification of OAU/AU Treaties, Doc. EX.CL/728(XXI), AU Doc. EX.CL/Dec.705(XXI), July 2012, available at: https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/9652-ex_cl_dec_696-725_xxi_e_final.pdf; Report on the Status of OAU/AU Treaties (as at 11 July 2012), AU Doc. EX.CL/728(XXI), July 2012, available at: www.peaceau.org/en/resource/91-organ-executive-council.

105 African Union Commission and New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/Manatū Aorere, African Union Handbook 2020, 7th ed., Addis Ababa, 2020, p. 38, available at: https://au.int/en/handbook.

106 Kenya ratified the Protocol on 15 November 2021. See AU, above note 97.

107 See, for example, UN Enable, Ad Hoc Committee, above note 37; Position of Kenya, above note 37.

108 For details, see, inter alia, Lorenzo Wakefield and Nkatha Murungi, “Domesticating International Standards of Education for Children with Intellectual Disabilities: A Case Study of Kenya and South Africa”, in I. Grobbelaar-du Plessis and T. van Reenen (eds), above note 29; C.-P. David and O. Schmitt, above note 80, pp. 403 ff.

109 See Maluwa, Tiyanjana, “Beyond Rhetoric: Commitment to and Ratification of African Human Rights and Human Rights-Related Treaties”, in Maluwa, Tiyanjana (ed.), Law, Politics and Rights: Essays in Memory of Kader Asmal, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden and Boston, 2013, p. 83Google Scholar.

110 For details, see AU, The African Model Anti-Terrorism Law, 8 December 2015, available at: www.peaceau.org/en/article/the-african-model-anti-terrorism-law-1.

111 AU, Model Law for the Implementation of the African Union Convention for the Protection of and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, April 2018, adopted by the Assembly of the African Union at its 30th Ordinary Session, 22–29 January 2018, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, available at: www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?docid=5aeb398e4.

112 See, for example, Centre for Human Rights, #RatifyADRP: Call on African Leaders to Ratify the African Disability Rights Protocol, available at: www.chr.up.ac.za/ratifyadrp-about; Centre for Human Rights, Webinar Invitation: Ratification of the African Disability Rights Protocol, 7 July 2022, available at: www.chr.up.ac.za/latest-news/3095-webinar-invitation-ratification-of-the-african-disability-rights-protocol.

113 See the Centre's tweet of 5 July 2022, available at: https://twitter.com/CHR_HumanRights/status/1544275455758503937.

114 See A. Priddy, above note 60.

115 Ibid., p. 6.

116 AU, Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa, above note 1, Art. 34.

117 Ibid., Art. 34, paras 3 and 4.

118 Ibid.

119 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Art. 43.

120 This applies in particular to Uganda and Sudan. See Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development of Uganda, Implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in Uganda, 2007, Initial Report Submitted by Uganda to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, November 2007; The National Council for Child Welfare of The Republic of the Sudan, Sudan's Initial Report on the Implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, 2010, Initial Report Submitted by Sudan to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, November 2010.

121 See the reports in above note 120. See also, respectively, the concluding observations of the Committee on these reports: ACRWC, Recommendations and Observations sent to the Government of the Republic of Uganda by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child on the Initial Implementation Report of the African Charter of the Rights and Welfare of the Child, 2010; ACRWC, Recommendations of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child to the Government of the Republic of the Sudan on the Initial Report on Implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, 2013.