The Africa Governance Report A recent evaluation of the MDG’s implementation shows that some countries are still struggling with gender equality. It has also concluded that ending the gender gap may take up to 100 years in some countries in Africa.57 However, it is rather deceptive to address gender equality in Africa at a continental level without considering the sub-regional and national efforts to empower women, particularly at the sectoral level. African countries are making steady progress towards gender equality and gender mainstreaming in NDPs. Forty-nine countries have signed and 40 have ratified the protocol. Sub-Saharan Africa made the most progress in Women’s access to paid employment in the nonAgriculture sector, moving from 24 to 34 per cent between 1994 and 2015.58 Instruments such as the African Women Decade (AWD) (2010-2020) adopted in 2009, with the theme Grassroots Approach to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE), the Maputo Protocol, the African Youth Charter, and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA) defined the baseline for governmental obligations on women’s rights and, most importantly, reporting on progress towards the implementation of these instruments. Figure 7: Status of Ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa Source: African Union, 2018, List of countries which have signed and ratified/acceded to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (https://au.int/sites/default/files/ treaties/7783-sl-protocol_to_the_african_charter_on_human_and_peoples_rights_on_the_rights_of_women_in_ africa_7.pdf 57 58 WEF, 2017. UNDP, 2016. Page 76 of 96