Amanitare was a pan-African partnership of women’s organisations launched in 2000 to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights, with a founding meeting in Johannesburg and a secretariat that for several years was hosted by Rainbo, the African-led organisation working against female genital mutilation. The name comes from Amanitore, a first-century queen of Kush who ruled from Meroë in what is now Sudan.
What it worked on
The partnership took up the agenda of the 1994 Cairo population conference and the 1995 Beijing women’s conference and translated it into African campaigns: ending female genital mutilation, reducing maternal deaths, access to contraception and safe abortion, action on HIV among women, and the right of women to decide about their own bodies. It published a newsletter and position papers, trained member organisations in advocacy and lobbied the African Union and regional bodies.
The Maputo Protocol
The clearest result of that lobbying, by Amanitare members among many others, is the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, adopted in Maputo in 2003 and in force since 2005. It is the first international treaty to explicitly prohibit female genital mutilation and to recognise a right to medical abortion in defined circumstances. More than forty African states have ratified it, though implementation varies widely.
Where the agenda stands
Maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa has fallen by roughly a third since 2000 but remains the highest of any region. The prevalence of FGM has declined in most countries where it was practised, fastest among young women, while population growth means the absolute number of girls at risk is still rising. Contraceptive use has grown substantially in East and Southern Africa. Organisations that continue the work include the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), Ipas Africa Alliance, the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights coalition that monitors the Maputo Protocol, and hundreds of national groups.
This site is an independent reference on women’s rights. It is not the former Rainbo organisation or the Amanitare partnership and holds none of their publications.
