'2015 marks the 20th anniversary of the agreement signed by 189 countries that attended the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. Over the last two decades, Africa has made significant strides in developing progressive frameworks to advance the rights of women.This report is structured around four main sections: the first section offers an overview of the evolution of the socio-economic and political terrain within which women’s rights work has occurred. The second substantive sections summarises the key findings from the 51 state reports and the trends noted across all 51 state reports that were submitted to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The third substantive section looks at the 12 critical areas, assessing gaps in state reporting and highlighting illustrative examples where innovation and/or where progress has occurred in specific states. These illustrations are not designed to highlight what all 51 reporting states have done in the 12 areas. The final section concludes with a set of recommendations.'