The Socialization of Human Rights and The African Human Rights Action Plan: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities

This article critically analyzes human rights socialization in Africa through the lens of the draft African Human Rights Action Plan (AHRAP). It argues that the AHRAP presents a framework for human rights socialization, and it speaks to human rights socialization in distinctive ways. The article demonstrates that the AHRAP relies on African and international influences and seeks to propagate norms inspired by these influences. It analyzes three key issues from the AHRAP and discusses how those issues shape understanding of continental human rights socialization in Africa. These issues are the multiple roles and positions of the African Union, the identity of actors to whom socialization processes apply or ought to apply, and the nature of norms which are the focus of socialization efforts. The article’s analysis of these issues along with the AHRAP’s reliance on African and other influences reveal a path for human rights socialization in Africa that is both challenging and promising.