AfCFTA: UNECA raises alert on human rights abuses in free movement of persons under trade pact
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), has raised awareness on the need to pay attention and address human rights abuses in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
In a report titled “Human Rights and the African Continental Free Trade Area – Taking Stock and Navigating the Way Forward” published by UNECA, the Commission states that policies regarding human rights in the implementation of the AfCFTA needs to be urgently addressed.
According to UNECA, there has been less political attention and perhaps less appetite for the enforcement of the Protocol of Free Movement of persons under the trade pact.
The assertion by UNECA is evidenced by the recent allegations of harassment, corruption and difficulties in movement of persons and goods across the borders of the West African sub-region.
These issues are despite the existence of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) which is meant to facilitate and enhance cross-border trade among member states.
Free movement of people is the fourth flagship project included in the African Union Agenda 2063, after the establishment of the AfCFTA. The fourth preambular paragraph of the AfCFTA Agreement explicitly recognises the “aspirations” for the free movement of persons, in addition to capital, goods and services, in Africa.
In practice, free movement within the continent is currently led by Africa’s multiple and overlapping Regional Economic Communities, as well as by unilateral efforts at the country level. Sub-regional free movement initiatives are underway, to various degrees, in the EAC, COMESA, ECOWAS, SADC, ECCAS and AMU.
While meritorious, these regional organisations create arbitrary barriers between countries in different regional groups.
UNECA, in the report, recommends that African countries that are signatories to the AfCFTA should build on regional successes to promote the adoption of the Protocol on Free Movement at the continental level, while also learning from the challenges encountered with free movement at that level.
“Continue, and ideally increase, advocacy for the Protocol on Free Movement to be ratified by more than the 15 countries required for its entry into force. In the meantime, encourage unilateral visa-easing efforts. Ensure that the negotiations for specific commitments regarding trade in services are designed to facilitate small-scale cross-border service providers,” states UNECA.
According to UNECA, Human Rights Impact Assessments are a critical tool for the advancement of people-centred and human rights-based development, including through trade agreements.
UNECA asserts that, Human Rights Impact Assessment can help ensure that the rights of people whose needs may otherwise be overlooked or poorly addressed are protected in trade negotiations.
“If human rights obligations are respected and protected in trade policy measures, people will equitably benefit from trade. In the context of the AfCFTA, human rights have the potential to ensure that the ambition to “promote and attain sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development, gender equality and structural transformation of the State Parties” (AfCFTA: Art 3) will be achieved for all,” notes UNECA.
Background
In 2017, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung office in Geneva developed an ex ante human rights impact assessment (HRIA) of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Prepared at the outset of the negotiation process for the AfCFTA Agreement, this HRIA sought to provide an evidence base and policy recommendations to ensure the design and implementation of the AfCFTA align with human rights and development commitments and priorities.
The present report evaluates the extent to which the 2017 HRIA recommendations are reflected in the legal text of the Agreement, in the AfCFTA negotiations, and in the broader policy ecosystem of activities, institutions and initiatives. The result is a series of scorecards that provide interpretable high-level performance markers describing the progress being made against these recommendations.
Though each point is necessarily far more complex than can be expressed by a traffic-light score, the intention here is to raise red flags where human rights may be being overlooked, while celebrating areas where they are being considered and respected. Finally, the report extends the perspective of human-rights analysis to new an emerging issues, including trade developments at the global and regional levels, as well as the upcoming Phase II of the AfCFTA protocols.
The summary scorecards cover recommendations from each area addressed in the 2017 HRIA. In total, 36 issues were reviewed: 7 have been accorded a green flag (recognising commendable achievements); 16 have received an amber flag (recognising progress but requiring further efforts); and 8 have been given a red flag (drawing attention to the risk of human rights being overlooked). Lastly, 5 have been scored grey, meaning insufficient information is available or evaluation was not possible.
