The 'Africa we want' in the African Union's Agenda 2063 on the realisation of women's human rights to access justice

Abstract

SUMMARY This article examines the envisioned design of the 'Africa we want' through the lens and intersection of the principles of the rule of law and access to justice in the elimination of the barriers that compromise the promotion of the rights of women in contemporary Africa as envisaged in Agenda 2063. The objective is to affirm the language of rights as an enabling environment that will advance the promotion of the rights of women in the regulation of state authority. The purpose of the article is grounded by many of the challenges faced by women of Africa in the enjoyment and fulfilment of their rights. The article raises questions on the improvement of access to justice by women, capacitation of the enforcement agencies and their contribution to socio-legal change. These questions are limited to the rights of women within the interrelationship that exists between the rule of law and access to justice. The article starts by setting the tone on the intersection of the two principles and their potential to advance the rights of women in Africa. It then focuses on the significance of the people-centred approach within the framework of the two principles in the advancement of the rights of women of Africa as envisaged in Agenda 2063. Key words: rule of law; justice; women; contemporary Africa; human rights; Agenda 2063; social change