The AU adopted the protocol in 2003. It guarantees comprehensive rights to women, including the right to take part in the political process, to social and political equality with men, to control of their reproductive health and an end to female genital mutilation.
"Without putting in place national laws, structures and processes that popularise, domesticate and implement the protocol, the protocol remains only a paper without power," Ndung'u said during a workshop on the matter in Nairobi yesterday.
Participants were drawn from Rwanda,Uganda,Kenya,Togo,Benin,Gambia,South Africa and Zambia. She said the challenge of the realising the rights and freedoms within the protocol arise from the inter-connectedness of women's right in real life. "Freedom from discrimination and violence is meaningless unless women have economic power to provide for themselves and their families," said Ndung'u. She said there is need for a multi-sectoral approach to ensure full implementation of what the protocol envisages.
Ndung'u, who is credited for having engineered the Sexual Offences Act, added that no one ministry can implement the AU protocol but instead combined effort of the social, economic and political Ministries.
Various representatives from various countries including Rwanda,Uganda,Kenya,Togo,Benin,Gambia,South Africa and Zambia were present in the workshop. She called on participants to hold the key to transforming the lives of nearly 70 million women and girls across the eight countries. "By planning and acting decisively, you could accelerate the realization of the rights and freedoms contained in the protocol.