Ghana to Ratify AU Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls, Mahama Announces

President John Dramani Mahama has announced that Ghana’s Parliament will this year ratify the African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls, describing the decision as a major step toward safeguarding the rights of women and girls and advancing gender equality in the country.

The convention, adopted in February 2025 during the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, establishes a comprehensive legal framework aimed at preventing and eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls across the continent.

Speaking at a High-Level Breakfast Meeting on Financing and Reaffirming Africa’s Gender Commitments, held on the sidelines of the 39th AU Summit in Addis Ababa on Friday, February 13, 2026, President Mahama expressed concern about the slow pace of ratification among member states.

He noted that although the convention marked a historic milestone when adopted last year, progress toward domestic ratification has been limited. Ghana, he said, has already signed the instrument and initiated the necessary processes for parliamentary approval.

“This session of our Parliament will ratify the Convention,” President Mahama stated, urging all AU member states to sign and ratify the agreement before the end of 2026.

The President emphasized that further delays would carry serious consequences, pointing to the significant economic and social toll of gender-based violence across Africa.

“Violence against women and girls is not only a moral outrage, it is an economic catastrophe,” he said, highlighting the billions of dollars lost annually through health care costs, reduced productivity, and justice-related expenditures, as well as the broader impact on families and communities.

President Mahama, who serves as the AU Champion on Gender and Development Issues, stressed that ratifying the convention would signal a firm commitment by Ghana and other African nations to eradicate violence against women. He underscored that AU gender instruments are not symbolic declarations but central components of the continent’s human rights and development framework.

“Frameworks matter, but political will matters more,” he said.

He also called on the nine AU member states yet to ratify the Maputo Protocol to do so without delay. The protocol, adopted in 2003, guarantees broad protections and rights for women across Africa and has so far been ratified by 46 member states.