PAP adopts Morocco-tabled model law on equality, equity

The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) has adopted a model law on equality and equity presented by Morocco, to serve as a common reference framework, adaptable and aligned with international standards and rooted in African values and cultures.

The text, adopted in plenary during the 6th ordinary session of the 6th PAP legislature (November 1-14), aims to provide legislators with a model for promoting gender equality in areas such as education, nutrition, and political participation, in line with the continental objectives of Agenda 2063.

Presenting this model law, Khadija Arouhal, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Gender Equality, Family, Youth and People with Disabilities, said that this law, the result of collective and consultative work, broadens the scope of the Maputo Protocol by incorporating the contemporary challenges facing Africa.

These challenges, she explained, include climate change, the digital divide, rapid population growth, humanitarian crises, and relentless economic and political inequalities.

As a result, “the model law will provide member states with a framework for action adapted to current realities, which require a renewed and inclusive approach to promoting the rights of women and girls in Africa.”

It is through this legal framework, she continued, that Africa can turn its promises into tangible realities in favor of equality and equity between women and men.

Khadija Arouhal specified that, in addition to a preamble, the text includes 16 thematic chapters divided into 75 articles that describe the principles, Rights, and obligations aimed at promoting equality and equity between women and men across the continent.

She stated that the articles of this text emphasize, in particular, equality and non-discrimination, equitable access to justice, measures to promote and advance equal opportunities, political and economic empowerment, equal pay, the eradication of violence and harassment in the workplace, and the elimination of gender-based violence and harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation.

They also focus, she added, on equal rights in marriage, the protection of women, children, and people with disabilities in conflict situations, access to adequate healthcare to address obstetric violence, combat forced sterilization and degrading treatment -some of the causes of maternal and neonatal mortality- and equal access to and use of new technologies.

During this session, the Pan-African Parliament also adopted a model law on labor migration in Africa to serve as a legal and policy framework guiding AU member states in adopting national legislation, secondary regulations, and international agreements governing labor migration in an effective, harmonized, and coordinated manner.

The two new laws add to the PAP’s growing rounds of legislative frameworks, complementing previously adopted laws on food security, disability, factoring, and policing in Africa. Other model laws are currently being developed and will be presented for adoption during the current session.

The Pan-African Parliament is hosting the sixth legislative period of the sixth ordinary and social session under the African Union’s theme for 2025: “Justice for Africans and people of African descent through reparations.”