The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights will bring together governments, civil society and regional institutions in Dakar to assess four decades of progress and agree on priorities for human rights protection through 2036.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) is convening a two-day forum in Dakar, Senegal, to mark 40 years since the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights came into force and develop a roadmap for strengthening human rights protection across the continent over the next decade.
The Third Joint Special Mechanisms Forum, scheduled for October 20–21, 2026, will bring together representatives of African Union member states, national human rights institutions, civil society organisations, academia and development partners to assess progress, identify gaps in implementation and agree on practical measures to advance human rights.
Held under the theme, “Adoption and Implementation of the African Charter: A Journey Towards the Africa We Want,” the forum will examine the achievements and continuing challenges in translating Africa’s human rights commitments into action.
The African Charter was adopted in June 1981 and entered into force in October 1986. It provides the continent’s principal regional framework for protecting civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the collective rights of peoples.
Over the past four decades, the ACHPR has established Special Mechanisms, including special rapporteurs, committees and working groups, to address specific human rights concerns.
These bodies develop standards and guidance, promote rights protection and support legislative, judicial and policy reforms in African Union member states.
The commission currently has 16 Special Mechanisms covering areas such as human rights defenders, freedom of expression, women’s rights, the rights of refugees and migrants, indigenous populations, older persons and persons with disabilities, environmental justice, the prevention of torture, prisons and policing, and the death penalty and extrajudicial killings.
The Dakar meeting builds on the first Joint Special Mechanisms Forum, held in Dakar in 2024, and the second, held in Banjul, The Gambia, in 2025. The earlier forums sought to improve coordination among the mechanisms and encourage collective responses to human rights challenges affecting different countries and communities.
This year’s meeting will focus on strengthening collaboration among the commission’s Special Mechanisms and other stakeholders, while addressing both longstanding concerns and emerging issues.
Discussions will include climate justice, digital rights, artificial intelligence, shrinking civic space, economic governance and the right to development, within the framework of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which sets out the continent’s long-term development aspirations.
A key objective is to develop a 2026–2036 roadmap setting out practical actions, benchmarks and resource requirements to improve the effectiveness of the Special Mechanisms over the next decade.
The forum also aims to assess progress made under the African Charter, identify gaps between states’ human rights commitments and their implementation, and strengthen cooperation between governments, national human rights institutions, civil society and African Union bodies.
Expected outcomes include renewed commitments by states to work with the ACHPR’s Special Mechanisms, stronger partnerships among regional and national institutions, and increased public awareness of the African Charter’s achievements and continuing relevance.
The two-day programme will feature keynote addresses, high-level panel discussions and interactive sessions designed to allow participants to exchange experiences and identify practical solutions.
Proceedings will be conducted in English, French, Arabic and Portuguese.
As the continent marks the Charter’s 40th anniversary, the forum is intended to build on four decades of human rights work and establish priorities for the next decade, with an emphasis on justice, equality, good governance and peaceful societies.