Between Feminism and Pan-Africanism: The Conflict in the African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values
Africa Is a Country
- The draft African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values presents a false binary by pitting Pan-African economic goals against women's and LGBTQ+ rights.
- While the charter correctly advocates for seed sovereignty, control over natural resources, and fair trade, it simultaneously demands the repeal of reproductive rights and protections for queer individuals.
- The document is linked to external, conservative influence, contradicting its own premise of sovereign independence.
Economic and Sovereignty Provisions
- Article 8: Proposes protecting indigenous seeds, restricting GMOs, and dedicating 10% of agricultural spending to farmer-managed systems.
- Article 9: Addresses the "debt trap" and reliance on exporting raw commodities, advocating for the removal of trade barriers to foster intra-African economic growth.
- Criticizes international treaty-making processes for their lack of transparency and exploitative timelines.
Restrictions on Human Rights
- Article 4: Mandates governments to repeal laws that "undermine the family," specifically targeting abortion rights, prostitution, sexual rights for minors, and LGBTQ+ rights.
- Article 7: Explicitly rejects "international rights to abortion," threatening to undermine the Maputo Protocol, which allows for legal abortion in cases of rape, incest, or health risks.
- Enforces rigid definitions of gender and marriage, viewing them as essential to the "African family."
Origins and External Influence
- Drafted with involvement from Family Watch International—an Arizona-based group designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
- Heavily inspired by the US-backed Geneva Consensus Declaration from the Trump/Pompeo era, which serves to import, rather than resist, external ideological agendas.
- The charter was adopted by 20 governments in Accra, though South Africa and several other nations abstained, citing conflicts with their own constitutional human rights protections.