Acknowledgements

This position statement embodies the collective voice and lived experiences of young African women and girls who participated in regional consultations across all five sub-regions of Africa. We acknowledge the leadership of FEMNET and partner organisations, technical support from UN Women, and contributions from feminist legal practitioners, youth activists, and civil society organisations who shaped this common position.

Preamble

We are 288 young African women and girls from 42 African member states, representing young women’s rights organisations, feminist legal practitioners, youth activists, civil society organisations, and development practitioners across all five sub-regions of Africa. We have collectively shaped this Africa Youth Position on access to justice ahead of the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70).

Applauding African governments for their commitments to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063: ľhe Africa We Want, including obligations to guarantee gender equality, eliminate discrimination and violence, and ensure young women and girls’ full and effective enjoyment of human rights.

Reaffirming that access to justice is a fundamental human right and an enabling condition for the exercise of all other rights, as underlined in CEDAW General Recommendation No. 33. ľhe six interrelated pillars justiciability, availability, accessibility, quality, provision of remedies and accountability must be fully realised for young women and girls in Africa to claim rights, seek redress and hold State authorities and institutions accountable without discrimination.

Acknowledging the transformative gains made over the past three decades by African women’s movements, grassroots organisations and feminist advocates, including through legal reforms, paralegal programmes, community-based legal support, mobile clinics, strategic litigation and sustained advocacy that has led to the institutionalisation of women’s rights norms and mechanisms across the continent.

Celebrating progressive regional frameworks such as the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), ratified by 46 of 55 African Union Member States; the SADC Model Įaw on Ending Gender-Based Violence; and the African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (2025), which reflects African leadership in advancing gender equality and access to justice, including in relation to contemporary forms of violence.