An essential component of the Moot week is the one-day human rights conference. Organised in partnership with the University of Mauritius in Mauritius on 21 September, the conference was themed: the Maputo Protocol and poverty alleviation: towards the realisation of women's rights in Africa.
The conference was opened by Judge Lucy Asuagbor, Commissioner and Special Rapporteur, on the rights of women in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Prof Frans Viljoen Director of the Centre for Human Rights.

There were two sessions which brought together academics, human rights experts and law students from across the African continent. The following papers were delivered at the conference:

Session 1

  • The Maputo Protocol and the realization of women’s rights in Mauritius by Roopanand Mahadew & Dr. Ashwanee Budoo
  • The non-domestication of the Maputo Protocol and it potential impact on marital rape as a human right violation in Mauritius by Vishni Nursimhulu
  • Poverty alleviation: The Mauritian experience by Rajen Narsinghen & Tania Diolle

Session 2

  • Realising the social economic rights of women through the Maputo Protocol by Henrietta Ekefre.
  • Indignity, poverty and dashed hopes: Zimbabwe’s legal duties and the plight of elderly women in rural areas byDr Thompson Chengeta.