African leaders have backed a charter seeking to protect family life from the undue influence of a ‘progressive’ agenda promoted by Western donor countries and the UN.
At a conference in Ghana, twenty nations signed up to The African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values, which — among other things — promotes one man, one woman marriage and parental rights, while opposing abortion, the sexualisation of children and transgender ideology
The draft document is expected to be endorsed at the 2027 African Union General Assembly.
Cornerstone of society
The charter expresses alarm at the “infiltration” of transgender ideology and abortion ‘rights’ into African nations though sex education programmes established by international groups.
It warns that “adherence to gender ideology can lead to gender confusion and harmful medical interventions that can render children infertile for life. Such interventions include the administration of dangerous puberty blockers, toxic cross-sex hormones, breast removal, and genital-mutilating surgeries.”
Signatories pledge to protect the unborn from abortion, and determine “how best to protect both the mother and her child when life-threatening pregnancy emergencies arise and promote adoption in situations where the mother is unable or unwilling to care for her newborn baby long-term”.
They also commit to “protect and preserve the institution of the African family (based on marriage between a man and a woman) as the natural and fundamental group unit of society in national laws, policies, and programs”, and reaffirm “that ‘gender’ in the African context is defined as solely male and female”.
Moral fibre
Kenyan lawyer Gilbert Mitullah, a board member at the Queer African Network, complained that the charter was a “licence” for African nations to oppose ‘sexual and reproductive health’ and LGBTQ ‘rights’.
But campaign group Family Watch International welcomed the readiness of African leaders to “use a family lens when developing and implementing laws”.
Chief Executive of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, John Deighan, praised the charter, calling the countries backing it “nations with a good moral fibre”.
He added: “Development will never be analogous with abortion liberalisation and the dismantling of traditional family structures”.
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