Preamble
We, the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the African Union:
Consideringthat Article 66 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rightsof 27 June1981provides that special protocols or agreements, if necessary, may supplement the provisions of the African Charter;
Further consideringthat Article 18 (4) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights of 27 June1981provides that persons withdisabilities shall have the right to special measures of protection in keeping with their physical or moral needs;
Notingthat t the Constitutive Act of the African Union of 11 July 2000identifies respect for democraticprinciples, human rights, the rule of law and good governance as essential principles for the proper functioning of the African Union;
Recognisingthat the African Union and its agencies as well as States Parties to the AfricanCharter have made various efforts towards ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities;
Notingthat Articles 60 and 61 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights of 27 June1981recognise regional and internationalhuman rights instruments and African practices consistent with international norms on human and peoples' rights as important reference points for the application and interpretation of the African Charter;
Further notingthat human rights and fundamental freedoms are universal, indivisible,interdependent and interrelated, and that the rights of every individual are recognised in international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsof 10 December 1948, the InternationalCovenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights16 December 1966and the InternationalCovenant on Civil and Political Rights16 December 1966;
Recallingthat the rights of persons with disabilities are affirmed in the Conventionon the Rights of Persons with Disabilities13 December 2006;
Further recallingthat various African Unionhuman rights instruments, including the AfricanCharter on the Rights andWelfare of the Childof 11 July 1990, the Protocolto the AfricanCharter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africaof 11July 2003, the AfricanYouth Charterof 2 July 2006, the AfricanCharter on Democracy, Elections and Governance of 30 January 2007, and the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa 23 October 2009make provisions for the rights of persons with disabilities;
Considering furtherparagraph 20 of the Kigali Declaration on Human Rights of 8 May 2003, which “calls upon States Parties to develop a Protocol on the protection of the rights of the elderlyand persons with disabilities”;
