THE 4th PARLIAMENTARY ANTI-LGBTQI+ CONFERENCE IN ACCRA PRODUCED A DANGEROUS RESOLUTION

By Melanie Nathan, Aug 18, 2026

In June 2026, Ghana hosted the Fourth African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family, Sovereignty and Values in Accra, bringing together parliamentarians and conservative “pro-family” actors from across Africa to coordinate regional opposition to LGBTQI+ rights, abortion, gender-related rights and other policies characterized by participants as foreign interference in African cultural and religious values. The conference culminated in the adoption of the African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values, conceived not merely as a statement of principle but as a framework for coordinated parliamentary and legislative action across African states.

The Charter encourages governments to assert national sovereignty against international treaties, policies and funding conditions perceived to advance LGBTQI+ rights and related sexual and reproductive rights. The conference therefore represents an important development in the increasing regional coordination of anti-LGBTQI+ legislative initiatives across Africa.

Ghana’s own Parliament later published what appears to be the full roll call of participating countries at the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family, Sovereignty and Values. Interestingly, the official parliamentary statement actually reported 24 countries, though 23 were called - while contemporary reporting repeatedly described the meeting as having representatives from 20 countries.

Here are the 23: NOTE - South Africa and Mozambique declined to endorse the Charter - abstained.  Thus the frequent formulation by Reuters etc. reporting - that "18 of 20 countries adopted it ” should not automatically be treated as meaning that every country on Parliament’s later 23-country roll call endorsed it. I am going to assume only 18 endorsed the charter. The countries that we either know or likely did not endorse are: Unlikely to have endorsed will have *

Ghana

• Burkina Faso

• Guinea-Bissau*

• Liberia

• Nigeria

• Sierra Leone

• Morocco

• Cameroon

• Chad

• Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Equatorial Guinea*

• Burundi

• Kenya

• Tanzania

• Uganda

• Botswana*

• Eswatini

• Madagascar

• Malawi

• Mozambique*

• South Africa*

• Zambia

• Zimbabwe
  

THE STATUS OF THE ABOVE COUNTRIES LAW:

Country	Current LGBT legal position / recent development
Ghana	Criminalizes male same-sex conduct; Parliament passed the sweeping Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill on 29 May 2026, adding offences concerning LGBT “promotion,” funding and support; as of August it has not yet become law.
Burkina Faso	Newly criminalized homosexuality in September 2025—consensual same-sex relations now carry 2–5 years’ imprisonment, with additional restrictions on promoting homosexual practices; enforcement and convictions have already been reported.
Guinea-Bissau	Same-sex relations have been legal since 1993 following repeal of the colonial prohibition; no recent recriminalization identified, although there is little comprehensive LGBT legal protection.
Liberia	Same-sex activity remains criminalized for men and women, presently punishable by up to one year; significantly, an “Anti-Homosexuality Law of Liberia 2024” proposing much harsher penalties, including life imprisonment, was introduced in Parliament.
Nigeria	Severe criminalization: same-sex conduct is punishable by up to 14 years, the 2013 Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act also criminalizes unions and LGBT association/advocacy, while Sharia law in 12 northern states can provide a death penalty for same-sex conduct.
Sierra Leone	Male same-sex conduct remains criminalized, technically carrying a maximum life sentence under the inherited Offences Against the Person Act; recent prosecutions are rare, but arrests, violence and serious societal persecution continue to be reported.
Morocco	Same-sex relations remain illegal under Penal Code Article 489, carrying roughly 6 months–3 years’ imprisonment; proposed Penal Code reforms have so far not removed the homosexuality offence.
Cameroon	Same-sex conduct between men and women is criminalized, punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine, with Cameroon remaining one of the African states where arrests and prosecutions have occurred.
Chad	Criminalized homosexuality for the first time in 2017; consensual same-sex conduct is punishable by 3 months–2 years’ imprisonment and a fine, and no subsequent repeal has occurred.
Democratic Republic of Congo	Consensual same-sex activity is not expressly criminalized, but authorities have increasingly targeted LGBT people: in June 2024 the prosecutor-general instructed prosecutors to pursue “deviant…homosexual” practices, amid attempts by politicians to introduce explicit anti-LGBT legislation.
Equatorial Guinea	Consensual homosexuality is legal and has not been expressly criminalized; unusually for the region, the 2022 Penal Code provides some sexual-orientation employment protection, although state intimidation and severe societal stigma remain concerns.
Burundi	Same-sex relations between men and women are criminalized, punishable by up to two years; the political climate is exceptionally hostile, including President Ndayishimiye’s notorious statement that LGBT people should be taken to stadiums and stoned.
Kenya	Male same-sex activity remains criminalized, with penalties reaching 14 years’ imprisonment; despite significant constitutional litigation and an active LGBT civil society, the criminal provisions remain in force in 2026.
Tanzania	Extremely severe criminalization: consensual same-sex conduct between men and women remains illegal and certain offences carry life imprisonment; there has been no decriminalizing reform through 2026.
Uganda	One of the world's harshest regimes: the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 provides life imprisonment for homosexuality, the death penalty for specified “aggravated homosexuality,” and lengthy sentences for “promotion”; arrests and prosecutions continued into 2026.
Botswana	Decriminalized consensual same-sex relations in 2019, upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2021; constitutional protections have subsequently strengthened, although same-sex marriage is still not recognized and marriage litigation continues.
Eswatini	Male same-sex conduct technically remains criminalized under the common-law sodomy offence, although prosecutions are essentially unknown; female same-sex relations are not criminalized and there is still no general LGBT equality framework.
Madagascar	Adult same-sex relations are generally legal, but there is a discriminatory higher age threshold of 21 for same-sex conduct, with criminal penalties for conduct involving a same-sex partner below that age; no marriage equality or broad LGBT protections exist.
Malawi	Same-sex relations remain criminalized—up to 14 years for certain offences—and in June 2024 the Constitutional Court rejected a challenge seeking to overturn the criminal provisions, leaving them firmly in force.
Mozambique	Decriminalized consensual same-sex activity in 2015 and has some LGBT protections, including hate-crime/hate-speech provisions; however, its newer 2024 labour regime dropped the earlier explicit sexual-orientation employment protection.
South Africa	By far the most LGBT-protective state on the list: homosexuality is legal, same-sex marriage has been legal since 2006, constitutional equality protections cover sexual orientation, and the 2024 Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act expressly protects sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and sex characteristics.
Zambia	Same-sex activity between men and women remains criminalized, with some offences carrying up to life imprisonment; a constitutional challenge to the sodomy laws was dismissed in 2025, so the criminal framework remains intact.
Zimbabwe	Same-sex conduct remains criminalized under the Criminal Code, principally through sodomy/“indecent acts” provisions, and same-sex marriage is constitutionally prohibited; the current maximum for the principal offence is generally one year plus a fine.

The striking picture

Of these 23 countries, you essentially have three very different categories:

Recently worsening / aggressively anti-LGBT: Ghana, Burkina Faso and Uganda are especially important, with Burkina Faso newly criminalizing in 2025, Ghana attempting sweeping additional criminalization in 2026, and Uganda continuing enforcement of its 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act. Liberia also has a proposed escalation worth watching.

Longstanding criminalization still in force: Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Morocco, Cameroon, Chad, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Eswatini, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The severity ranges from comparatively shorter prison terms to life imprisonment or, in defined circumstances, death.

Same-sex conduct not criminalized: Guinea-Bissau, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Botswana, Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa. But that category is deceptive: DRC illustrates how a country can lack an explicit sodomy statute while state authorities nevertheless pursue LGBT people, whereas South Africa sits at the opposite end with substantial constitutional protection.

And this is exactly why the Accra Charter is significant: the conference did not simply gather 23 countries already possessing identical anti-LGBT laws. It brought together states ranging from South Africa and Botswana to Uganda and Nigeria around a transnational “family, sovereignty and values” political project. That makes the question of what parliamentarians from each country actually endorsed, and whether they subsequently seek domestic implementation, more important than merely noting attendance.

Also we must note that Activists in South Africa were disappointed in the meagre stand taken by the country to promote its fully inclusive Constitution- and to lead in pushing back on regional criminalization.

What is the Charter

The African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values adopted at the Accra conference is a 32-page political/legislative framework, not a treaty of the African Union. Its core premise is that African states should protect what it defines as the “natural family,” national sovereignty, religious belief and traditional cultural values against international norms or donor policies considered inconsistent with those values.

• It defines and protects family in heterosexual, male/female terms and rejects broader concepts of family grounded in sexual orientation or gender identity.

• It treats sex as binary and biological, opposing legal or policy recognition of gender concepts that depart from male/female biological sex.

• It calls on African governments to resist what the Charter describes as the “LGBT agenda,” including pressure originating from international institutions, foreign governments or donors. Reuters, which reviewed the document, reports that it specifically urges governments to reconsider or withdraw from treaties, agreements and funding arrangements perceived as promoting LGBT rights, abortion or non-abstinence-based sexuality education.

• It calls for domestic legislation safeguarding African culture and cultural values. This is particularly consequential because conference leaders explicitly told parliamentarians to take the resolutions home and translate them into legislation, budgets and parliamentary oversight.

• It opposes abortion and much of the modern sexual and reproductive health and rights framework, and critics identify tension with the Maputo Protocol, particularly protections relating to women’s reproductive autonomy.

• It rejects comprehensive sexuality education that departs from its preferred abstinence/family-centered approach and places strong emphasis on parental authority over education concerning sexuality and gender.

• It frames international human-rights pressure concerning sexuality, gender and reproduction as a question of sovereignty and ideological or cultural colonization, rather than principally as an individual-rights question.

  
  

The Charter itself does not automatically criminalize homosexuality in any country. 

What makes it especially significant is the implementation mechanism contemplated around it.

Ghanaian conference organizers were explicit that the Charter should not merely become a declaration sitting in an archive. Parliamentarian Emmanuel Bedzrah urged delegates to adopt it, create structures for implementation and build a permanent African inter-parliamentary network around family, sovereignty and values. Ghana's Second Deputy Speaker likewise urged delegates to incorporate the Charter into domestic law.

In Sum: The African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values seeks to establish a common political and legislative framework through which participating African parliamentarians may resist international norms concerning sexual orientation, gender identity, reproductive rights and sexuality education, while promoting domestic legislation grounded in an exclusively heterosexual and binary conception of family, sex and gender. Of particular concern for LGBTQI+ persons is the Charter's explicit encouragement of resistance to treaties, donor conditions and international policies perceived as advancing an “LGBT agenda,” coupled with calls for participating parliamentarians to translate the Charter's principles into national legislation.  Please see AHRC's comments on prior article here.