African Court commemorates 2023 international women’s day 

By Angela Ayimbire  

Tema, March 13, GNA- Judges and Staff of the African Court on Human and People Rights, have commemorated the 2023 International Women’s Day at the Faraja Centre for young single mothers and girls below the age of 20 years in Arusha, Tanzania.  

The African Court as part of the celebration donated various items including mattresses, food supplies, an automatic sewing machine, cookers and gas cylinders, bought from an amount raised by the Judges and staff themselves.   

A statement issued and signed by Lady Justice Imani Daud Aboud, the President of the African Court, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the Faraja Centre sheltered young girls who were victims of teenage pregnancies, forced marriages, human trafficking, poverty, abuse, and lack of education.  

 The statement explained that after a year of vocational training, the girls were deployed to different fields, to enable them to earn a decent living and be independent.  

Lady Justice Aboud reiterated that a lot must be done if Africa, particularly, Member States were to benefit from the rich jurisprudence of international and regional human rights bodies, including the African Court.  

She outlined some of the things which needed to be done by the Member States, such as recognising the important role of the African Court in the realisation of the objectives of the African Union and Agenda 2063.  

She also tasked Member States to put in place concrete measures at the supra and national levels to monitor the implementation of decisions from international bodies.   

“These measures may include but not limited to the appointment of focal points, making such decisions directly implementable at the domestic level,” she said.  

Lady Justice Aboud also called for wider dissemination of judgments of international human rights bodies and training for lawyers, magistrates and judges on the possibility of incorporating such judgments into domestic systems.  

“There is the need to provide technical assistance to Member States that may be willing, but not able to undertake the necessary reforms to be able to implement or incorporate Court decisions.   

To this end, the African Court called on the African Union, especially the Specialised Technical Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, to finalise consideration of the Framework Document on Compliance and Monitoring of Court Judgments, which provided for the establishment of a Human Rights Fund to facilitate technical assistance, she said. 

GNA