27 November 2022, Banjul, The Gambia - The Secretariat of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Secretariat) wishes to inform the general public that, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) and the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), will be jointly organizing a Joint Workshop to Develop and Adopt a Collaboration Strategy between the two institutions from 28 November to 2 December 2022, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Joint Workshop, which is part of the promotion mandate of the Commission, is being organized within the framework of Article 45 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) and is jointly funded by the European Union (EU) under the EU/AGA Support Project 2021-2023 and the German Development Agency (GIZ).
The overall objective of the Joint Workshop is to strengthen collaboration between the Commission and PAP in the promotion and protection of human rights and other AU shared values in Africa.
The organization of the Workshop builds on an existing acknowledgment of the need to establish more systemic and effective synergies and coordination between the two institutions, with a quasi-legislative and a quasi-judicial mandates respectively. The existence of a framework instrument to guide collaboration and monitoring and evaluation, will assist in strengthening commitment and ownership at the secretariat and political levels. The engagement will also build on the similarities between the human rights mandates of the Commission and PAP and create opportunities for both institutions to mutually reinforce one another.
More specifically, the Joint Workshop will seek to achieve the following:
1/ Sensitize and deepen the understanding of the officials of the ACHPR and PAP on the mandates and operations of the two institutions in the field of human rights and other AU shared values;
2/ Identify areas of potential synergies between the ACHPR and the PAP, as well as the opportunities for collaboration in interventions to advance human rights and other AU shared values in Africa;
3/ Develop a joint strategy as a collaboration framework to guide institutionalized engagement and cooperation between the ACHPR and the PAP;
4/ Discuss and finalize a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be submitted to the political leadership of the two institutions for signature; and
5/ Devise a concrete roadmap for effective implementation of the collaboration framework to be developed and the MOU to be signed.
The Joint Workshop will be attended by Honorable members of the African Commission, the Secretary to the Commission and Secretariat staff, as well as Honorable Members of the Bureau of the Pan-African Parliament, the Clerk of the House and Parliamentary staff.
For further information, please contact:
Secretariat, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
31 Bijilo Annex Lay-out, Kombo North District Western Region.
PO Box 673
Banjul, The Gambia
Tel: 220 4410505/6
Fax: 220 4410504
E-mail: au-banjul@africa-union.org
