PREAMBLE
WE, THE HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE AFRICAN UNION:
RECALLING the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and its Protocols, including the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, and the OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa;
RECALLING FURTHER declarations, resolutions, and decisions of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, the Executive Council, the African Union Peace and Security Council, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and taking note of other African Union initiatives and commitments on gender equality and ending violence against women and girls;
RECALLING Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.865(XXXV), adopted by the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 18 to 19 February 2025, whereby the Assembly requested Member States, supported by the African Union Commission, to negotiate an African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls;
AFFIRMING FURTHER the African Union Agenda 2063, the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, and the African Union Strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (2018-2028);
