Challenges To The Implementation Of The Maputo Protocol The Case Of Cameroon

This aim of this study is to explore the challenges faced by many African countries whichrnhave ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) on thernRights of Women in Africa, popularly known as the Maputo Protocol (MP). Its main focus is onrnCameroon, as this country is one of the last to have ratified the Protocol in May 2008, and also onernthat witnessed a massive and long lasting protest.rnThe main preoccupation throughout the research was to understand why Cameroonians are sornradically opposed to the MP, in other words, the challenges faced by the government of Cameroonrnin its attempt to the implement this instrument. The challenges are identified as being centeredrnaround abortion and to a large extent the idea that the Protocol may be aimed at shattering thernfoundation of the Cameroonian society by weakening the family which constitutes its centralrnpillar. Articles 5, 6, 7, 14, 17, 20 and 21of this instrument are at the center of controversy and tendrnto justify the protests which took place in Cameroon.rnTo investigate these challenges, the researcher used both quantitative and qualitative methods.rnAppropriate instruments of data collection were designed and suitable sampling techniques forrnboth methods were used in order to achieve the set objectives. The investigations conducted inrnCameroon reveal the existence of a great divergence between the MP’s approach to gender andrnthe feelings and perceptions of Cameroonians on the same issue. Africa’s culture in general andrnthat of Cameroon in particular, is built on a clear separation and specialization of roles in thernsociety for men and women. Africans in general still pay much attention to large families whichrnrepresent one of the most visible signs of social success and achievement. This can be seen throughrnthe importance attached to marriage and parenthood, which are sacred and highly valued statusesrnas indicated by almost all female and male research participants.rnThe provisions of the MP listed above seem to constitute in this regard, a threat to thesernAfrican values and explain the determination of Cameroonians to oppose it. Nevertheless, the study concludes that the MP should not be discarded, but should rather be amended or improved upon in the sense of adapting it to the African socio-historical context, (home-grown) as articulated by African theoreticians and intellectuals, so as to facilitate its acceptance and subsequent implementation by member States

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