At the opening of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York this past March,  UN Secretary-General António Guterres underscored the importance of stepping up national and global efforts to advance the rights of women. Guterres observed that “many women and girls are also facing a war on their fundamental rights at home and in their communities. Hard-fought progress is being reversed.”

My own research suggests that the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a mechanism with significant potential to advance women’s rights in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. The UPR is a UN Human Rights Council mechanism that brings together all UN member states for a review of their human rights record. Established in 2006, it became operational in 2008.

Three UPR cycles have since been completed and the fourth cycle is underway. Reviews take place every four and a half years, during which any member state can issue recommendations to a state under review. States are expected to take the steps to implement member-issued recommendations and report on their progress during the subsequent cycle. It is also worth noting that almost 19,000 out of the 98,000 recommendations from the first three cycles address women’s rights.

My recent study indicates that states in Sub-Saharan Africa have implemented most UPR recommendations addressing women’s rights—even in the midst of conflicts. And the promulgation of these recommendations has contributed to an increase in the number of women who have attained literacy in the region.

Progress Despite Conflict

The 48 Sub-Saharan African states have implemented the majority of the over 1,000 UPR recommendations concerning violence against women and women’s right to education that were issued during the first and second UPR cycles. My research not only assessed how this activity occurred, but also examined the relationship between the adoption of these recommendations and two measurable women’s rights outcomes: the prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) and literacy rates

States in the region appear to have taken UPR recommendations seriously; 733 out of 1,233 recommendations have been implemented to varying degrees. For instance, in response to a recommendation concerning the creation of preventive and assistance mechanisms for victims of sexual and domestic violence, Rwanda established Isange One Stop Centers to provide shelter, legal support, and medical and psychosocial support to those affected. Similarly, in response to recommendations to address illiteracy, Togo established 944 literacy centers in 2014—and saw 14,824 women enroll in programs.

Somewhat surprisingly, states experiencing conflicts—including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Somalia, Mali, South Sudan, and Chad—performed better than some conflict-free states in implementing UPR recommendations. Conflicts generally give rise to political instability and weakened state capacity, yet my findings suggest that even during conflicts, states are willing and able to implement UPR recommendations.

One case in point is the DRC’s implementation of recommendations it received which called for the prosecution of perpetrators of violence against women in 2014. Civil and military courts in the DRC subsequently sentenced 2,272 perpetrators for acts of sexual violence over the following year. The DRC’s third cycle national report observed that this measure among others has led to a 50% reduction in conflict-related sexual violence.

States have accorded legitimacy to the UPR by taking several steps to meet the demands of the recommendations. These include, but are not limited to, adopting laws; creating and implementing policies; embarking on awareness-raising initiatives; and setting up institutions. An important observation is that implementation is a multi-stakeholder endeavor. States, state agencies, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, and various community stakeholders–such as religious and traditional authorities–play vital roles.

Lessons for Improved Literacy

While my study did not find any significant association between the implemented UPR recommendations and the prevalence of FGM, the data does indicate that efforts concerning women’s education were associated with improvements in women’s literacy rates within some Sub-Saharan African states.

In states that had high levels of implementation, there was an increase in the number of women “who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.” For example, Comoros had a 10% increase among women in that country. States in the region with poor UPR implementation saw lower or declining literacy rate improvements. Chad saw a 4% decline, for instance.

If implemented and monitored with proper oversight, UPR recommendations could contribute to ongoing efforts to protect and promote women’s rights not only in the Sub-Saharan Africa region,  but possibly beyond. Yet they are in no way a magic bullet that can single-handedly address all women’s rights concerns.

What’s necessary for greater success? Both state and non-state actors ought to increase engagement with both the process and implementation efforts. Ultimately, multi-stakeholder engagement is necessary to maximize the UPR’s full potential. States can also learn best practices from other countries that have done well in their implementation efforts.

In a world where the rights of women are under attack, an all-hands-on-deck approach is needed to sustain progress. Four years ago, the UN Secretary-General told the Human Rights Council that “human rights will never be realized without the human rights of women.

The UPR is a useful tool in the global human rights advancement arsenal. It has a strong potential to dismantle barriers to women’s rights protection and promotion. It is about time we paid more attention to it.