54 Chekera-Radu/Women’s land and property rights On the basis of this assertion he argues that the wording of article 18(3) makes it possible to allow interpretation of equality as substantive as has been done by other treaty bodies. The African Women’s Rights Protocol ‘completes, develops and specifies the gender equality and non-discrimination contained in the African Charter.’61 It contains several provisions guaranteeing the formal equality by requiring laws and practices that guarantee equal treatment between women and men. Article 8 of the African Women’s Rights Protocol guarantees women and men equality before the law and equal protection of the law. The African Women’s Rights Protocol, like its counterpart CEDAW, is also more expansive in the adoption of substantive equality in its provisions. The provision on elimination of discrimination in article 2 by requiring from states the effective application of the principle of equality, obliging states to ‘take corrective and positive action in those areas where discrimination against women in law and in fact continues to exist’, and requiring modification of social and cultural patterns of conduct of women and men accord with the conception of substantive equality. In this way the African Women’s Rights Protocol acknowledges that women and men are not starting at the same point and the effect of other factors in the realisation of women’s equality. Further, the text in the provisions of the African Women’s Rights Protocol have been very specific in calling on states to address imbalances fostering inequality that exist within the home and family setting. In particular article 16 addresses a number of factors that are causes of power imbalances within the family. The provisions such as article 5 calling for the elimination of cultural practises and stereotypes based on the superiority or inferiority of the different sexes, article 5(1) calling for the family education on maternity as a social function, attest to the recognition of factors that infringe on equality. In addition, other provisions such as article 9 providing for participative governance and women’s governance in national politics, article 12 and article 13 obliging states to guarantee equal opportunities in education and employment resonate with the objectives of substantive equality. Similarly, there are two bodies that have the mandate to interpret provisions of African Charter and the African Women’s Rights Protocol. The African Charter makes provision for the establishment of the African Commission as a quasi-judicial body tasked with monitoring implementation of the African Charter’s provisions and in article 45(3), and mandates the body with the interpretation of the Charter’s provisions. On the other hand, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court Protocol) establishes the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court) to strengthen the protective mandate of the African Commission. The jurisdiction of this court includes the interpretation and application of 61 Buckley et al (n 53 above) 203.