African Renaissance

“If you pick up one end of the stick, you also pick up the other.” Ethiopian proverb

During the 86th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Commissioners adopted Resolution 658, to develop Guidelines on the Right to Sanitation in Africa, with a specific focus on women and girls. This will be a joint initiative of the African Renaissance Trust, Working Group on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa.

Sanitation is a fundamental human right implicit in the African Charter. By developing guidelines on sanitation with a gender lens and the lived realities of African women and girls, we are ensuring that menstrual dignity is protected as a core component of the rights to health and non-discrimination for every woman and girl across the continent.

Resolution 658 addresses five specific failures for women and girls across the continent:

•Dignity denied: menstrual dignity must be protected as a core human right
•Education lost: girls forced out of school by inadequate sanitation every month
•Violence risked: women face heightened GBV when seeking private sanitation areas
•Poverty entrenched: poor sanitation deepens cycles of economic marginalisation
•No accountability: without enforceable standards, Member States carry no obligation to act

The pay-off: menstrual dignity as an enforceable right. Safe, private sanitation in every school, health facility, and public space. Girls staying in class. Women fully in the economy.

On 2026, African Renaissance Trust calls on every AU member state to deliver.