African Human Rights Yearbook Volume 7 (2023)

Editorial
As may be recalled, the African Human Rights Yearbook (AHRY) is a collaborative project by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission), the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (the Committee) and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Court). While the publication of the first volume of the AHRY, in 2017, may have been noticed by very few, from those very humble beginnings, the AHRY has gradually but firmly established itself as a conduit of quality commentary on topical human rights issues on the continent. Volume 7 of the AHRY continues the tradition of critical but high quality and incisive interrogation of key human rights issues facing Africa today.

Without a doubt, the Commission, the Committee and the Court remain the key human rights institutions of the African Union (AU). Given the AU’s commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, as most unequivocally expressed in its Constitutive Act, it behoves these three institutions to make a discernible, and enduring, contribution towards the promotion and protection of human rights. In so far as the place of human rights in the AU’s work is concerned, it is also important to note that Agenda 2063, Africa’s blueprint for comprehensive development, acknowledges the central role that the protection and promotion of human rights will play. Unsurprisingly, one of the key aspirations of Agenda 2063 is an Africa of good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law. The attainment of this aspiration will require that all human rights institutions within the AU, be appropriately capacitated to fulfil their statutory mandates.