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ABOUT THE PROJECT

275/275 One Africa, One Resolution

Project 275/275 – One Resolution, is a joint project focusing on advocacy for Resolution 275. This is a joint project led by Synergia Initiatives for Human Rights and the Center for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria. The project has four main components. These are:

1.

Developing a report accounting for the use of Resolution 275 by the African Commission in discharging its promotional and protective mandate;

2.

Translating Resolution 275 into as many African languages as possible with the purpose of ensuring community-based dissemination and ownership of the document;

3.

Tracking and assessing the policy impact of Resolution 275 at domestic and regional level;

4.

Documenting the use of Resolution 275 by lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer and allied (LGBTIQ+) communities and civil society

WHY THIS PROJECT?

Resolution 275 constitutes a watershed standard for the protection and promotion of the human rights of all individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression in Africa. Not only does it acknowledge the vast array of violations and abuses against LGBTIQ+ individuals and their defenders by state and non-state actors, but it clearly defines states’ obligations to ensure that all can enjoy the rights enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. While Resolution 275 has paved the way for a more robust attention by the Commission on human rights violations and abuses based on real or imputed sexual orientation and gender identity, it is fundamental for civil society to monitor how the Resolution continues to be implemented by the Commission as well as at domestic level. Moreover, even after years from its adoption, Resolution 275 is mostly known by relatively few insiders who engage with the regional system of protection of human rights. The Resolution will deploy its full potential only if closer to the communities it aims to protect: there is not a better way to do that than bringing it closer to those communities, ensuring it “speaks their languages,” the many African languages that contribute to the richness and diversity of the continent.

HOW 275/275 WAS BUILT?

OCTOBER

2019

Synergía and African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (AMSHeR) launched the project during a civil society event in Banjul, Gambia at a session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR). This launch marked five years from the adoption of the Resolution. The event was titled 275/275: One Resolution. One Africa. A collaborative project around promotion, accountability and domestication of Resolution 275.

SEPTEMBER

2020

Synergía and AMSHeR launched the report on “the Application of Resolution 275 by the African Commission: A six-year Assessment”, with the participation of Soyata Maiga, former Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Ayodele Sogunro, Center for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria. The report represents the implementation of this project’ first step.

2021

Synergía and the Center for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria agreed to jointly develop the next steps of the project, among others. The Resolution is currently translated in 13 languages.