2. Engaging with the African Commission from home

Time to complete chapter 2 ~75 min

Chapter 2 will tell you how to engage with the African Commission from home, without having to travel to Banjul or elsewhere. It offers information on opportunities and some tools for you to engage effectively and strategically. Listen to what Caroline Lagat from Equality Now has to say about some of the African Commission’s tools and how they can be used - can you name one that was mentioned? Write your answers here!

_{Caroline Lagat’s short testimony on some useful African Commission tools (ACHPR)}

We heard that Caroline engaged in many different ways, including the State Periodic Review, the Communication procedures, as well as thematic reports, that proved useful for her advocacy. Indeed, civil society can engage with the African Commission through the following ways:

• Special mechanisms - You can convince Special mechanisms to make public statements to mark an event or highlight a particular or case to suit your advocacy needs.
  • 2.3 Special mechanisms - Why are they useful?
  • 2.4 Collaborating with Special mechanisms from home
• State Periodic Review - You can be a formal stakeholder in the review of your State by the African Commission.
  • 2.5 State Periodic Review - Why is it useful?
  • 2.6 Writing a shadow report
• Communications Procedure - You can submit a complaint through the communications procedure to get the African Commission to investigate a particular case you are working on.
  • 2.7 Communications procedure - Why is it useful?
  • 2.8 Submitting a communication and an amicus curiae
• Country visits - You can try to get Commissioners to visit your country and make recommendations relevant to the issues you work on.
  • 2.9 Country visits - Why are they useful?
  • 2.10 Organising a country visit from home
• Following-up on the work of the Commission - From home you can monitor the implementation of the outcomes of the African Commission.
  • 2.11 Following up on your engagement at the African Commission
• Also, as civil society, you can be part of many networks and engage in coalitions. And if you don’t know where to start, some NGOs might be allies and support your advocacy!
  • 2.12 Staying connected with the work of the African Commission
  • 2.13 NGO support and coalitions

In the next sections, you'll find information on why these opportunities might be useful to you, as well as tips on how to take advantage of them most effectively.