recommendations on how to enhance the complementarity & collaboration over the next decade as the continent marches towards the 50th Anniversary. The theme of the Joint Commemorative African Commission-NHRIs Forum was ‘40 years of implementing the African Charter on human and people’s rights: harnessing our collective experiences towards the Africa we want.’ In addition to the welcoming and concluding remarks, the agenda was split into seven main sessions focusing on the following: i. The situation of Human Rights in Africa ii. Reflections on the Complementary Relationship between NHRIs and the African Commission over the past 40 years of the African Charter iii. Complementarity in the Promotion Mandate of the African Commission: A Focus on the Implementation of Resolution 275 iv. Complementarity in enhancing the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of business activities: Presentation of an Overview of the NANHRI Business and Human Rights and Sustainable Oceans Survey v. Joint Commemorative Webinar: The Gains and Gaps in the Complementary Relationship between NHRIs and the African Commission over the Past 40 years of the Charter: A Focus on Affiliate Status vi. Complementarity in the Protection Mandate: A Focus on NHRIs Follow-Up on Implementation of African Commission Decisions Relating to Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights vii. Presentation and adoption of the declaration and action plan on enhancing the Complementary Relationship between the African Commission and NHRIs Below is a summary of the discussions around these topics, key challenges, experiences and recommendations, if any. Opening ceremony This session traced the roots of the NANHRI Forum preceding the Ordinary Sessions of the African Commission to the 12th Biennial Conference of NANHRI held on 5th and 6th November 2019 in Cairo, where one of the resolutions was for the African Commission and NHRIs to exchange views on human rights in Africa. Following this, the 1st and 2nd editions of the NHRIs Forum were held on the margins of the 67th & 68th ordinary sessions of the African Commission. The 3rd NHRIs forum that was the subject of discourse was thus being held on the margins of the 69th ordinary session. The session emphasized that since the establishment of the African human rights system, NHRIs have been working in collaboration with the African Commission, which gave rise to affiliate status that the African Commission grants to NHRIs. Such affiliate status was first established by the 1998 African Commission Resolution on Granting Affiliate Status to National Human Rights Institutions in Africa, which was later replaced by the African Commission Resolution 370 on Granting of Affiliate Status to National Human Rights Institutions and specialized human rights institutions in Africa - ACHPR/Res.370(LX) in 5