Twenty African governments have formally endorsed a new African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values that defines marriage as between a man and a woman and rejects claims of an international right to abortion, positioning the document as a defence of national and cultural autonomy in social policy.
The charter was adopted at the Fourth African Inter-Parliamentary Conference held in Accra, Ghana, where legislators from across the continent gathered to debate family policy, resource governance and Africa’s role in global agreements, according to an outcome document circulated after the meeting. AllAfrica’s report on the conference notes that 20 countries endorsed the charter, while at least two — South Africa and Mozambique — declined to adopt it, highlighting the divisions among African states over its approach to marriage and reproductive rights.
A summary of the charter published by Christian Council International, a faith-based advocacy organisation involved in promoting the text, states that “at the heart of the Charter is the recognition of the family (specifically marriage between a man and a woman) as the natural and fundamental unit of society.” The document commits endorsing governments to “protect the family, strengthen sovereignty, and preserve cultural diversity,” and urges policymakers to ensure that every law, treaty and agreement “supports families rather than undermines them.” An official English version of the charter’s outcome from the inter-parliamentary meeting further emphasises that member states should retain “full sovereignty over their health policies (including on abortion matters) per UN Member State consensus.”
On abortion, the Christian Council International summary says the charter “rejects any ‘right to abortion,’ calls for strengthening traditional medicine, and defends parents’ authority in healthcare decisions for their children,” placing reproductive health firmly under national legislative control rather than international norms. The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, a UK-based pro-life group that has tracked the charter’s progress, similarly describes Article 7 as challenging attempts to frame abortion as a human right within global “sexual and reproductive health” commitments. Supporters argue that these provisions give African governments clearer grounds to resist external pressure from Western governments and multilateral agencies on abortion access and sexual ethics.
The charter also addresses broader issues of sovereignty and development, including clauses on national control of natural resources, agricultural policy and trade, according to the Accra conference outcome document and advocacy materials summarising the text. Christian Council International presents the charter as part of a wider effort to build a “family-friendly” legal framework across Africa, encouraging parliaments to review existing laws and international commitments that might be “detrimental to the family.” Organisers of the inter-parliamentary conference frame this agenda as a response to what they see as aggressive promotion of liberal social norms by some donor countries and international organisations.
The initiative comes against the backdrop of the Maputo Protocol, a women’s rights charter adopted by the African Union and ratified by most African states, which commits governments to eliminate “all forms of discrimination against women,” including “harmful cultural and traditional practices,” and includes provisions on access to abortion in specific circumstances. Health Policy Watch reports that conservative networks have increasingly criticised aspects of the Maputo framework, arguing that it has been interpreted by some actors to justify broader abortion access and policies they see as eroding traditional family structures. The new African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values is presented by its backers as a corrective to what they regard as overreach in regional human rights instruments on sexual and reproductive issues.
Critics, however, warn that the charter could undermine hard-won protections for women and sexual minorities in several African countries. A commentary on the left-leaning platform Left Renewal describes the draft African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values as “presented as cultural protection,” but argues that it “functions as a coordinated anti rights legal instrument,” suggesting it may be used to justify restrictions on reproductive health services and equality measures. Writing on the site Africa Is A Country, another commentator notes that South Africa declined to adopt the charter on the grounds that its text could not be reconciled with the country’s Bill of Rights or its recognition of equal marriage rights, underscoring the tension between the charter’s provisions and constitutional frameworks that protect non-discrimination.
For now, the charter is a political and moral declaration rather than a binding treaty, but the Accra outcome document indicates that its supporters hope national parliaments will use it as a reference point in future legislation on family, health and education. Advocacy organisations on both sides of the debate — from Christian Council International and pro-life networks to feminist and human rights groups critical of the text — have signalled that they will continue pressing governments either to align national laws with the charter or to reaffirm commitments under instruments like the Maputo Protocol, suggesting that the contest over Africa’s social policy direction will intensify in the coming years.