Registration and hotel bookings have officially opened for the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary ‘Anti-Rights and Anti-LGBTQ’ Conference on Family, Sovereignty and Values, now scheduled for June 3–6, 2026 at the Four Points by Sheraton Accra Airport in Accra, Ghana.
The Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Accra has been confirmed as the official venue for the upcoming 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Anti-LGBTQ Conference on Family, Sovereignty and Values, as organisers formally open registration and accommodation bookings for the continental gathering increasingly viewed by observers as part of a coordinated anti-rights movement across Africa.
See an official logo of the conference below.
According to information published on the conference’s official website—hosted on 4thfamilyvalues.parliament.gh, a subdomain of the official Parliament of Ghana website – the conference will take place from June 3–6, 2026 at the Four Points by Sheraton Accra Airport in the Airport Residential Area near the Accra International Airport, formerly Kotoka International Airport.
The website describes the event as the “4th African Regional Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty” and notes that participation will be both physical and virtual, suggesting expectations of broad continental and international participation.
Registration and Delegate Logistics Begin
Organisers have now activated online registration for participants and opened hotel reservation processes for delegates expected to attend from across Africa and beyond.
Published conference timelines include:
- Registration Period: May 8–25, 2026
- Accommodation Reservation: May 8–25, 2026
- Submission of Travel Itineraries: May 8–30, 2026
- Official Arrival: June 2, 2026
- Conference Dates: June 3–6, 2026
- Official Departure: June 6, 2026
Designated accommodation facilities include:
- Four Points by Sheraton Accra Airport
- Lancaster Accra Hotel
- The Palms by Eagles
- Ibis Styles Accra Airport
- Best Western Premier Accra Airport Hotel
- Accra Marriott Hotel
- Tang Palace Hotel
- Airport View Hotel
The release of logistical details marks a significant escalation in preparations and confirms that the conference has moved into full operational implementation.
Uganda–Ghana Coordination Deepens Ahead of Conference
Preparations for the conference have involved sustained engagement between Ghanaian and Ugandan officials over several months.
On April 16, 2026, a Ugandan parliamentary delegation led by Sarah Opendi visited Ghana and held separate meetings with the Parliament of Ghana and the Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations.
At Parliament, the delegation met with Second Deputy Speaker Andrew Asiamah Amoako, Members of Parliament including anti-LGBTQ bill sponsor John Ntim Fordjour, and Clerk to Parliament Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror.
The delegation also held bilateral talks with Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George. According to an official statement, discussions focused on strengthening coordination, ensuring broad African participation, and developing mechanisms to elevate conference outcomes to the African Union through a formal communiqué process.
These meetings followed earlier engagements, including Uganda’s October 2025 lobbying mission to Ghana and a February 2026 benchmarking visit by Ghanaian MPs to Uganda shortly before Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ bill received its First Reading.
Organisers and the Push for a Continental “Family Values” Charter
The conference is being coordinated by a coalition that includes the Inter-parliamentary Network on Family Values, Family Watch Africa, African Bar Association, and the Foundation for African Heritage, alongside networks linked to Family Watch International, which has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Central to the conference agenda is the proposed Draft African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values (FSV)—a 2023–2025 initiative promoted by parliamentarians and conservative advocacy actors seeking to institutionalise a continent-wide framework centred on heterosexual family structures, parental authority, and state sovereignty over social policy.
The Charter is framed by supporters as a defence against what they describe as foreign ideological influence relating to LGBTQ+ rights, abortion access, and comprehensive sexuality education. Critics, however, view it as a coordinated anti-rights framework that could undermine established African human rights protections on equality, non-discrimination, bodily autonomy, and reproductive freedom.
Participants at previous conferences have openly called for the Charter and related conference outcomes to be mainstreamed through:
- African legislatures
- The African Union
- The Organization of African First Ladies
Observers say this reflects a deliberate strategy to move beyond isolated national legislation toward formal continental policy integration.
African Bar Association Conference Elevated the Charter Debate
Concerns surrounding the proposed Charter intensified further in 2025 during the Annual Conference of the African Bar Association held in Accra.
At the conference, Session 12 focused specifically on “Towards an African Charter of Family Sovereignty and Values,” significantly elevating the profile of the initiative within African legal and policy circles. The session was chaired by Augustine Richard Kakeeto and featured Amb. Omer Dahab F. Mohamed, Hon. Ashems Christopher Songwe, Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, PhD, and Charles Kanjama SC as panelists.
Human rights advocates expressed alarm at the inclusion of the proposed Charter within a major continental legal forum, warning that growing institutional support from legal, parliamentary, and advocacy bodies could accelerate attempts to formalise a framework critics say threatens existing human rights protections.
It was during the same conference that speakers and participants reportedly criticised Ghana’s Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024, a landmark law passed in July 2024 and operational since September 11, 2024. The legislation mandates gender-responsive policies across public and private institutions and seeks to advance gender equality in political, economic, educational, and social sectors. The Act establishes a target of 30% female representation in decision-making positions by 2026, increasing progressively to 50% by 2034.
Critics of the anti-rights movement argue that opposition to the Affirmative Action Act demonstrates that the agenda extends beyond LGBTQ+ issues into broader resistance to gender equality frameworks and progressive human rights protections.
Historical Continuity: Accra’s Role in Transnational Anti-LGBTQ Organising
The upcoming conference reflects a broader pattern of transnational anti-LGBTQ mobilisation in Ghana.
In 2019, the World Congress of Families hosted a regional conference in Accra bringing together political, religious, and advocacy actors opposed to LGBTQ rights and comprehensive sexuality education.
That same year, coordinated campaigns led to the withdrawal of Ghana’s proposed Comprehensive Sexuality Education policy following intense backlash from conservative coalitions. Observers note that networks strengthened during that period later contributed to the drafting and introduction of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill in 2021.
Analysts therefore view the 2026 conference not as an isolated event, but as part of a longer trajectory of organised transnational mobilisation with direct legislative and policy consequences.
Concerns Over the Maputo Protocol and Regional Human Rights Standards
Human rights advocates warn that the Draft Family Sovereignty and Values Charter could conflict with existing African human rights instruments, particularly the Maputo Protocol, which guarantees women’s rights, including reproductive health protections.
Critics argue that the broader agenda linked to the conference could:
- Expand criminalisation of LGBTQI+ persons
- Restrict reproductive health access
- Undermine sexuality education policies
- Weaken protections under regional treaties
- Shrink civic and advocacy space across Africa
Some observers specifically fear that the Charter’s adoption could be used to weaken or dismantle protections embedded within the Maputo Protocol itself.
Rescheduling and Timing
The conference was originally expected to take place in late May 2026 before being moved to June 3–6.
While organisers provided no formal explanation, Rightify Ghana believes the change may be linked to the timing of Eid al-Adha, expected between May 26 and May 30, 2026, with the principal celebration anticipated on May 27. The earlier dates would have directly overlapped with the religious observance.
The revised schedule also comes shortly after the Parliament of Ghana reconvenes from recess on May 21, suggesting additional parliamentary scheduling considerations.
A Strategic Moment for West Africa
With registration and hotel bookings now officially underway, the Accra conference has moved decisively from planning to implementation.
Observers say the event marks a significant expansion of a transnational anti-rights network into West Africa, with ambitions extending beyond conference declarations toward long-term continental legal and policy influence.
The convergence of parliamentary actors, legal institutions, advocacy organisations, and African Union engagement strategies indicates that the conference is intended not merely as a symbolic gathering, but as a strategic consolidation point for a broader movement seeking to reshape governance, family policy, gender rights, and human rights frameworks across Africa.
Rightify Ghana 