I. Introduction
1. The Republic of Malawi (Malawi) is a State Party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Charter or the Charter), having ratified the same on 17 November 1989.
2. Malawi also ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights relating to the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), on 20 May 2005.
3. Malawi submitted its Initial and Combined Periodic Report (the Report) in accordance with Article 62 of the African Charter to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the Commission) and Article 26 of the Maputo Protocol, on 19 July 2013.
4. The present Report, which covers the period from 1992 to 2013, combines the initial and all outstanding Periodic Reports (Second to Eleventh)1.
5. The African Commission considered the Report during its 56 th Ordinary Session, held from 21 April – 7 May 2015 in Banjul, The Gambia.
