Committee on the Elimination of

Discrimination against Women

Fiftieth session

3 – 21 October 2011

List of issues and questions with regard to the consideration of periodic reports

Additional issues

Chad

The pre-session working group considered the combined initial to fourth periodic reports of Chad (CEDAW/C/TCD/1-4) and the responses to the list of issues and questions in the absence of an initial report and periodic reports (CEDAW/C/TCD/Q/4/Add.1).

General

1.The replies to the list of issues and questions in the absence of an initial report and periodic reports (hereinafter “replies to the list of issues”) mentions that UNFPA provided technical assistance to the State party in the process of preparing the combined initial, second, third and fourth reports (CEDAW/C/TCD/1-4). Please provide further information on the process of preparing the report. The information should indicate which Government departments and institutions were involved and the nature and extent of their participation, whether consultations were held with non-governmental organizations, particularly women’s organizations, in this process.

2.The response to question 3 of the list of issues mentions that the participation of women in the process of peace building, reconciliation, reconstruction, rebuilding and development of the country is a major preoccupation of the State party. Please provide detailed information on steps taken by the State party to ensure that women are full and equal participants in decision-making, at all levels, in the above-mentioned process in accordance with Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security. Please clarify the role of the Ministers and the Parliamentarian Women’s Network in this process.

Visibility of the Convention

3.Given that the Constitution provides traditional leaders the power to regulate issues where women are commonly discriminated against by men, such as family relations, please provide information on efforts taken to raise awareness on women’s rights under the Convention amongst traditional leaders and the population in general with a view to eliminating discrimination against women and the achievement of gender equality in the State party.

Constitutional and legislative framework, definition of discrimination

4.The replies to the list of issues mention that article 14 of the Constitution incorporates the principles of non-discrimination and equality between women and men. It further mentions in paragraph 14 that the 1996 proposal for an “Act Prohibiting Discriminatory Practices in the Republic of Chad” has not yet been reviewed. Please provide information on the reasons that have impeded its reviewal and whether the State party envisages incorporating into this Act the principles of non-discrimination and equality between women and men in line with articles 1 and 2 (a) of the Convention.

5.The replies to the list of issues mention that a revision of different national laws that discriminate against women is taking place in the State party (CEDAW/C/TCD/Q/4/Add.1, para. 18). Please provide detailed information on which domestic laws have been identified as containing provisions that discriminate against women and provide updated information on their process of review and amendment. Please indicate whether a revision of the Penal Code is envisaged, in order to impose sanctions for acts of discrimination against women.

Programmes and action plans

6.The report indicates in paragraph 170 that Bill No. 19/PR/95 (1995) includes the Policy Declaration for the Integration of Women into Development (IFD). It further indicates that the State party has adopted an action plan that obliges various Ministries to mainstream gender issues in development strategies. Please provide information on specific projects carried out to incorporate a gender approach in the development process.

7.According to the replies to the list of issues, the members of the Multisectoral Committee have taken the lead in the elaboration of the National Gender Policy (CEDAW/C/TCD/Q/4/Add.1, para. 34). Please provide updated information on progress made towards the completion of the elaboration of this policy and indicate whether it is in line with the provisions of the Convention.

8.Please provide information on measures taken to empower women in the framework of the 2008 revised Poverty Reduction Strategy, which, according to the replies to the list of issues (CEDAW/C/TCD/Q/4/Add.1, para.33) would design and implement “complementary interventions” with a view to reducing the existent inequality between women and men in the State party.

Temporary special measures

9.The report mentions in paragraph 175 that the draft Law on Quotas for Women (1999) aimed at redressing the inequalities between women and men in decision-making positions at the political and administrative level has not yet been adopted. Please provide information on efforts undertaken towards the adoption of the Law on Quotas for Women (1999).

10.The replies to the list of issues indicate in paragraph 37 that women represent 21 per cent of public officers and that the State party is committed to increase this percentage. Please indicate whether the State party has adopted temporary special measures in accordance with article 4, paragraph 1 of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation No. 25 (2004) to achieve equality between women and men at all levels and in all public institutions.

Stereotypes and harmful practices

11.The replies to the list of issues mention that women who had been subjected to FGM are considered to be superior to those women who have not gone through this “ritual” (CEDAW/C/TCD/Q/4/Add.1, para. 40). Furthermore, the report mentions in paragraph 281 that almost all the customs in the State party reinforce the idea of the inferiority of women. Please provide information on actions taken to change social and cultural patterns that lead to gender stereotypes. Please also provide information on actions taken to disseminate the Law on Reproductive Health (06/PR/2002), which in its article 9 prohibits FGM, amongst traditional leaders and the population in general and indicate steps taken to ensure the applicability of this law in the State party.

12.Please provide information on awareness-raising campaigns and other actions aimed at the elimination of other prevailing harmful practices in the State party, such as sororate (a widower marries the sister of his deceased spouse), levirate (“wife inheritance” in which a man takes on in marriage the widow of his deceased brother), early marriages, food taboos and dowry.

Violence against women

13.The report and the replies to the list of issues acknowledge that violence against women, remains a widespread problem across the State party and that perpetrators are “severely reprimanded” whenever a case is reported to the judicial authorities (see CEDAW/C/TCD/1-4; CEDAW/C/TCD/Q/4/Add.1, para. 54). Please clarify what does the term “severely reprimanded” means and elaborate on measures taken to prosecute and punish perpetrators of violence against women, including members of armed groups and the Chadian army. Please provide information on measures taken with a view to eliminating the practice of the State party’s agents of inflicting cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and torture the general population, including women, as mentioned in paragraph 247 of the report. Please indicate whether measures have been taken to amend the Penal Code to explicitly criminalize violence against women. Please also indicate steps taken to issue the implementation order of the Law on Reproductive Health (06/PR/2002) which prohibits domestic and sexual violence and harmful practices, such as FGM and early marriages in the State party. Also indicate whether the State party envisages adopting a specific law on violence against women.

14.According to the replies to the list of issues the State party launched in October 2009 a three-year awareness-raising campaign on violence again women (CEDAW/C/TCD/Q/4/Add.1, para. 47). Please provide information on the goals and objectives of the campaign, on the targeted audience and on any impact/results achieved so far. Please also provide detailed information on the project “Human right/assistance for women and girls victims of sexual abuse, rape and armed conflict”, launched in 2007 in the State party.

15.The replies to the list of issues mention that as part of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry –created to investigate the human rights violations committed in February 2008, a Follow-up Committee has been set up (CEDAW/C/TCD/Q/4/Add.1, para. 50). Please clarify whether this Committee is the sole complaints instance for victims of sexual violence and also provide information on how this Committee functions. Please provide further information about the implementation of other sexual violence related recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry.

Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution

16.The replies to the list of issues mention that trafficking in persons takes place mainly within the territory of the State party (CEDAW/C/TCD/Q/4/Add.1, para.61). It is also mentioned that the State party is preparing a national plan to combat trafficking in persons of women and children. Please provide updated information on this plan and on other measures taken to protect women and girls from trafficking and economic exploitation, particularly in rural areas and refugee camps.

Political and public life participation

17.Please provide information on concrete measures envisaged to increase women’s full and equal participation and representation at all levels of government, the legislative and the judiciary, as well as at the international level, taking into consideration the Committee’s general recommendation No. 25.

Education

18.The report acknowledges in paragraph 343 that women’s illiteracy is an important concern in the State party, in particular in rural zones. Please provide information on measures taken or envisaged to decrease women’s illiteracy and to overcome the obstacles mentioned in the report to effectively implement the literacy programmes currently running in the State party. Please also provide information on measures taken to eliminate practices that impede girls from continuing their education, such as prioritizing boys’ education at all levels and putting teenage pregnant girls under pressure to leave school.

Employment

19.Please indicate whether the Labour Code (Act No. 038/PR/96), which forbids employers to discriminate against women, has provisions related to sexual harassment and violence against women in the workplace. Please also provide information on measures taken to eliminate the socio-cultural constraints that discriminate against women in the labour market and to enhance the economic status of women in the State party. Please provide recent data, disaggregated by sex and by sector, on the number of women participating in the labour market.

20.Please provide information on measures taken to combat child labour in the informal sector, which severely affects children aged 5 to 15 in the State party, particularly girls living in rural areas.

Health

21.Please provide information on achievements of the National Health Policy’s (2007-2015), in particular those related to lowering the maternal mortality rate (1099 / 100,000, EDST 2004) and to improve women’s access to health services, including rural women and displaced women. Please provide updated information on the adoption of the National Policy on Reproduction Health and indicate measures taken to increase the percentage of women using a contraceptive method, which according to the report varies from 7 per cent to 18.6 per cent depending on women’s education level.

22.The report mentions in paragraph 421 that only 40 per cent of the State party’s population has access to potable water. Please provide information on measures taken to ensure women and girls access to safe drinking water. Please also indicate actions taken to prevent epidemics such as typhoid and cholera in the State party, in particular in rural areas.

23.According to paragraph 428 of the report sex workers in urban areas represent the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infected population in the State party. It also indicates that out of five individuals infected with HIV/AIDS, three are women. Please provide detailed information on efforts taken to increase public awareness-raising on HIV/AIDS. Please also provide information on measures taken to provide PMTCT (prevention of mother-to-child transmission) treatment to pregnant women and antiretroviral treatment for other infected women, including sex workers. Please also provide information about efforts to disseminate the 2007 law for fighting HIV/AIDS and protecting persons living with HIV/AIDS and measures taken to ensure its implementation in the State party.

Rural women

24.The State party’s replies to the list of issues indicate that rural women are massively affected by poverty thus the vast majority of them are illiterate and they do lack access to health-care services. Please provide information on specific efforts aimed at improving their access to health, education, and employment opportunities. Please provide information on the Empowerment of Rural Women Project mentioned in paragraph 102 of the State party’s replies to the list of issues.

Internally displaced and refugee women

25.Please explain what has been the role and impact of the National Committee responsible for providing assistance to internally displaced persons, particularly women and girls, in the promotion and protection of their rights, including their right to be free of violence an to education and health. Please also provide detailed information on measures taken to combat the recruitment of displaced and refugee young girls by armed groups. Please also indicate whether the National Assembly has already ratified the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), which contains a number of important protection provisions for women and girls and also provisions outlawing sexual slavery and trafficking of women and children by armed groups.

26.Please provide information on steps taken by the State party to be able to attain independently the benchmarks established by the Security Council for the protection of civilians, especially internally displaced persons and refugees in Eastern Chad, given that MINURCAT operations in the country are winding down. Please also provide detailed information on the gender units of the Détachment Intégré de Sécurité (DIS) and whether its officers receive trainings on women’s rights in accordance with the Convention.

Marriage and family relations

27.The report mentions that the adoption of the Persons and Family Code by the National Assembly has been put on hold since February 2010. Please provide updated information on the adoption status of the Persons and Family Code, which according to the report is inspired by the Convention. Please also explain whether the Persons and Family Code, enshrines the principle of equality between women and men and whether it contains provisions aimed at eliminating discriminatory practices against women in relation to marriage, divorce, property and inheritance. Please also explain if efforts have been taken towards the prohibition of polygamy, which is allowed under Order No. 03/INT/SUR/1961 of the State party.

Ratification of the Optional Protocol of the Convention

28. Please indicate if efforts towards the ratification of the Optional Protocol of the Convention have been reinitiated in the State party.