THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DIGITAL DIPLOMACY ADVANCING WOMEN'S RIGHTS UNDER CEDAW IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

This paper critically analyze how effective digital diplomacy is promoting the rights of women under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in Sub Saharan Africa. It examines the scope of digital diplomacy as a space for advocacy and participation and its potential role in supporting states to fulfil their obligations under international law. Despite the comprehensive nature of the CEDAW, the implementation is still inadequate in certain areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, preventing the achievement of substantive gender equality. In this context the study explores the potential of digital technologies and online diplomatic engagement to support norm diffusion, public accountability and institutional action on women's rights obligations. The study is conducted using a qualitative, interdisciplinary and socio-legal research approach, which includes doctrinal legal research and insights from feminist international relations theory, constructivism and digital governance research. The book assesses the impact of digital diplomacy on the promotion of women's rights and improving treaty implementation, using international legal instruments, reports of the CEDAW Committee, UN publications, academic literature, policy documents and comparative case studies of Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. With this, the paper proposes a Conditional Effectiveness Model of the way in which digital diplomacy promotes the implementation of CEDAW – a process of norm diffusion, public accountability, institutional response, and, eventually, increased compliance – depending on the presence of enabling conditions. It argues that these four mutually dependent factors—digital inclusion, institutional capacity, political will, and democratic openness—temper the impact of digital diplomacy. Digital diplomacy is therefore not seen as a standalone governance mechanism, but rather as a supplementary governance tool to complement existing legal and institutional frameworks. The results show that digital diplomacy has had a very positive impact on women's rights visibility, the role of transnational advocacy network, the extension of civil society, and the public oversight of the state's actions. Its ability to create substantive legal compliance, however, is still uneven due to structural challenges that have not been resolved, such as the digital gender gap, weak institutions, socio-cultural barriers, economic inequality, online gender-based violence, and limitations on civic space. It is found that the transformative capacity of digital diplomacy is conditional in nature, as it relies on three key elements: the development of strong local legal reforms, digital policies that are inclusive and have accountability mechanisms in place. This study is an original contribution to the study of human rights compliance and digital governance by combining international law, digital diplomacy, feminist theory and African governance. Suggests a new analytical approach to digital diplomacy and how it affects treaty implementation, and provides a set of evidence-based policy recommendations for governments, regional organisations, international organisations and civil society organisations to increase the protection and promotion of women's rights under CEDAW in the digital age.