AU to launch second edition of the African Human Rights Yearbook 

The second edition of the African Human Rights Yearbook will be launched on February 9, 2019 at the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the sidelines of the 34th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council and the 32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government.

The publication is within the framework of complementarity and the promotion and protection of human and peoples’ rights on the continent by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

The African Human Rights Yearbook initiation is to engage with African scholars and other professionals involved in the legal field on issues related to the adoption, application, interpretation and implementation of the law of the African Union (AU), pertaining to human rights, a statement signed by Dr Robert Eno, African Court Registrar and made available to the Ghana News Agency in Accra stated.

The second edition of the Yearbook is a firm step towards institutionalising the publication. It builds on and extends the scope of the inaugural 2017 edition.

The first edition consisted of 17 articles whereas in the 2018 Yearbook, the number of contributions has increased to 21. While the first issue only contained articles, the 2018 Yearbook consists of three distinct parts.

According to the statement, the first part contains academic articles that describe and analyse various aspects of the general human rights situation in Africa, with particular reference to the African human rights system, its norms and institutions.

It said the second part focuses on the theme of the 55-nation AU for 2018 – fighting corruption.

The AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government declared 2018 the ‘African Year of Anti-Corruption’ with the theme ‘Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation’, the statement said.

It said by providing a forum for academic reflection on the topic, this part of the Yearbook complements efforts within the AU, such as the establishment of the AU Advisory Board on Corruption and the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, adopted in 2003.

The third part provides a forum to dissect and draw attention to the ‘case law’ of the three AU human rights bodies: the African Court, the African Commission, and the African Children’s Rights Committee.

The contributions appearing have been solicited through a widely disseminated call for proposals. Selected proposals were subsequently worked into full articles, which were peer-reviewed, and approved articles were developed and edited to make up the second edition of the Yearbook.

Source: GNA

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