Twenty years ago, the African Union adopted a landmark, broad-sweeping treaty that serves as a road map for advancing gender equality across the continent known as the Maputo Protocol.
The legally binding agreement covers a wide range of issues such as reproductive health, inheritance for widows, political participation, and gender-based violence.
But its most polarized element is on abortion access — a provision that those pushing for the legalization of abortion say shouldn’t be controversial because it relates so directly to saving lives. Unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.
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About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.