Source: Directorate of Civil and Criminal Affairs, Ministry of Justice.

III.National machinery for the advancement of women

5.Please explain the steps taken to render fully operational the national policy on the equality of opportunities, equity and gender adopted in 2009 and to update the action plans on the implementation of the Convention for the period 2012–2017 and on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) for the period 2008–2012. Please indicate which institutions are in charge of gender equality at the regional, municipal and community levels and how coordination is ensured between those institutions and the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and the Family and the Protection of Children and between those institutions and the different gender directorates, units and focal points, as well as animatrices rurales (rural organizers) (paras. 62 and 79, and CEDAW/C/CIV/1-3, para. 126). Please also provide a time frame for the audit exercises planned by the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and the Family and the Protection of Children, the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Trade with the aim of assessing gender mainstreaming in the ministerial structure (para. 75). https://undocs.org/S/RES/1325(2000)

Response 5

16.Several measures have been taken to implement the national policy on the equality of opportunities, equity and gender. These include:

•The establishment of gender focal points in all ministerial bodies and departments;

•The establishment of the National Committee to Combat Violence against Women and Children, pursuant to Decree No. 2000-133 of 23 February 2000, with a budget of 14 million CFA francs;

•The 16-day activism campaign to address violence against women;

•The establishment of 55 hubs to address gender-based violence;

•Technical and financial support to civil society organizations working to address genital mutilation;

•Provision of legal, psychological and social assistance for victims;

•Provision of support to NGOs to assist victims of sexual violence;

•Monitoring of cases of sexual violence against women;

•Amendment of the Criminal Code to define rape and establish punishments for domestic violence;

•Circular No. 015-MJ/CAB of 13 July 2016 concerning the punishment of rape;

•The establishment of gender desks in 32 police stations with the support of the United Nations Development Programme and the Embassy of the United States of America;

•The establishment of the Equity and Gender Observatory;

•The creation of the National Women’s Council in March 2015;

•The establishment of the Côte d’Ivoire chapter of the African Women Leaders Network, 2018;

•Development of the Compendium of Women’s Expertise;

•The Women’s Fund, with a budget of 500 million;

•The Support Fund for the Women of Côte d’Ivoire, with a budget in excess of 10 billion CFA francs;

•The continued operation of 119 training and education institutes for women;

•The ongoing overhaul of the training and education institutes for women in order to take account of needs in the job market and digital literacy techniques;

•The incubation centres for women entrepreneurs, including the Attécoubé centre inaugurated in November 2017;

•The elaboration of structural programmes regarding the development of shea, cashew and manioc food value chains;

•The pledge made by the Head of State in November 2017 regarding the HeForShe campaign.

17.Projects and programmes implemented under the National Employment Policy 2016–2020 include activities benefiting women. One such project, on the social integration of vulnerable groups, supports the development of income-generating activities, in partnership with UNACOOPEC-CI.

18.A growing number of groups are being established to increase women’s participation in decision-making processes. These include the Réseau Ivoirien des Organisations Féminines [Ivorian Network of Women’s Organizations] (RIOF), the Network on Peace and Security for Women in the ECOWAS Region and the Groupe des organisations féminines pour l’égalité hommes–femmes [Consortium of women’s organizations for equality between men and women] (GOFEHF) in Côte d’Ivoire.

19.The Ministry of Women, Family and Children has a directorate dedicated to gender and equity, two central directorates, one responsible for women’s empowerment and the other for entrepreneurship, as well as regional departments dedicated to these issues.

20.The gender audit has been completed and the report is available.

6.It is noted in the report that the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and the Family and the Protection of Children has begun the process of formalizing gender-responsive budgeting, and that the budgetary allocation to the Support Fund for the Women of Côte d’Ivoire was increased from 1 billion CFA francs in 2012 to 8 billion CFA francs in 2016 (paras. 63–64). Please provide updated information on the human, technical and financial resources allocated to the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and the Family and the Protection of Children, as well as other structures of the Government and whether those resources are adequate for the implementation of their respective mandates. Please also inform the Committee on progress made in strengthening the National Human Rights Commission, including the status of the draft law adopted by the Commission on General and Institutional Affairs of the National Assembly on 8 November 2018 that aims to replace the National Human Rights Commission with a national council on human rights and to ensure the full compliance of the council with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles). Please describe any steps taken to establish an independent follow-up mechanism to implement Act No. 2014-388 of 20 June 2014 on the protection of human rights defenders, in particular the rights and protection needs of women human rights defenders set out in article 9 of the law

Response 6

21.While the Finance Act allocates resources to the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and the Family and the Protection of Children and other public entities, in practice, those resources are insufficient.

22.The National Human Rights Council was established by Act No. 2018-900 of 30 November 2018 on the establishment, powers, organization and functioning of the National Human Rights Council, which is based on the Constitution and the Paris Principles. The National Human Rights Council is now an independent administrative authority endowed with a legal personality and financial autonomy.

23.Decree No. 2017-121 of 22 February 2017 on the implementation of Act No. 2014-388 of 20 June 2014 on the protection of human rights defenders and the protection needs of women human rights defenders was adopted.

24.Article 18 of that decree delegates the protection of human rights defenders to the State with the assistance of the National Human Rights Council of Cote d’Ivoire.

IV.Temporary special measures

7.Please explain why no steps, other than the draft law establishing a quota for the representation of women among electoral candidates (para. 90), have been taken to adopt temporary special measures, in line with article 4 (1) of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation No. 25 (2004) on temporary special measures and as recommended in the Committee’s previous concluding observations (CEDAW/C/CIV/CO/1-3, para. 25 (a)–(c)), to accelerate the achievement of the substantive equality of women and men in areas under the Convention where women are underrepresented or disadvantaged

Response 7

25.The Government reiterated its commitment to promote women’s rights and ensure their representation in elected bodies by adopting a draft law on this issue in March 2019. However, the adoption of such a legal instrument by Parliament requires the support of political parties and groups. Discussions are ongoing to achieve this objective.

V.Discriminatory gender stereotypes and harmful practices

8.The report refers to several strategies, plans and activities aimed at modifying or eliminating discriminatory gender stereotypes and harmful practices, such as child marriage, adolescent pregnancy and female genital mutilation (paras. 92–93). In the light of the Committee’s previous recommendation (CEDAW/C/CIV/CO/1-3, para. 27 (c)), please describe the impact of those strategies, plans and activities and provide information on the progress made in establishing a systematic monitoring and evaluation framework on the basis of the ongoing assessment efforts (paras. 95–96). Please specify whether the State party is conducting any campaigns, including in cooperation with civil society, to raise awareness of the above-mentioned strategies, plans and activities and enhance the positive and non-stereotypical portrayal of women and girls. Please also provide information on the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and acquittals, and on the sentences imposed, under Act No. 98-757 of 23 December 1998 penalizing female genital mutilation (para. 93) and whether medical, psychosocial and rehabilitation support is provided to women and girls who are victims of female genital mutilation

Response 8

26.The various planning instruments relating to early marriage and pregnancy and female genital mutilation are subject to periodic reporting and review.

27.Several outreach and awareness-raising campaigns are conducted on an ongoing basis in collaboration with civil society organizations. These include:

The HeForShe campaign; and

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign, which is carried out annually in November.

28.With regard to convictions, the following should be noted:

•The conviction on 16 July 2017 of five practitioners of female circumcision in Danané;

•The conviction in Man of five practitioners of female circumcision, three on 27 July 2017 and two on 1 February 2018;

•In a statement, the Ivorian Government, which was alert to the issue, denounced the acts of genital mutilation committed against 14 young girls in Adiaké on 31 August 2018;

•With respect to the psychosocial support and rehabilitation assistance provided to women and girls who are victims of female genital mutilation, the Ministry of Women, Family and Children has established and coordinates several structures to provide survivors the support they need. These include a national committee to combat gender-based violence, 61 hubs to address gender-based violence, social centres, monitoring committees, the Support Centre for Victims of Sexual Violence and the Legal and Judicial Assistance Unit of the Office of the Minister for Women, Family and Children.

VI.Gender-based violence against women

9.In the light of the Committee’s general recommendation No. 35 (2017) on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19, and target 5.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals, to eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, please provide updated information on progress made in revising article 354 of the Criminal Code to define rape and to explicitly criminalize marital rape, and to accelerate the revision process of the Criminal Code. Please indicate any steps taken to revise legislation, including the Minority Act (1970), to explicitly prohibit the corporal punishment of children in all settings, in particular at home. Please also provide information on plans to adopt a comprehensive law on gender-based violence against women, as recommended in the national strategy to combat gender-based violence adopted in 2014, including the criminalization of domestic violence, marital rape and sexual harassment

Response 9

29.All of these questions are addressed in the various amendments advanced by the Government of Côte d’Ivoire (the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure have already been adopted).

10.In its report, the State party refers to a small number of cases reported and tried with respect to gender-based violence against women, including only 1 case each, between January 2014 and October 2015, of rape, forced marriage and the abduction of minors and 19 cases of public indecency (para. 118 and table 3). Please provide updated information on the number of cases, explain their low numbers and provide a timeline for removing any financial charges for medical certificates required by women and girls who are victims of gender-based violence to obtain legal redress (para. 103). Please explain any steps taken to review the funding arrangements for the national strategy to combat gender-based violence and its operational action plan to ensure its full implementation. Please provide information on the types and availability of support services for women who are victims of gender-based violence (para. 98). Please indicate what steps have been taken to conduct awareness-raising campaigns, in particular for girls, parents and caregivers, in order to prevent persistent violence against women and girls and the stigmatization of victims of sexual violence and abuse

Response 10

30.According to data from the National Committee to Combat Gender-Based Violence, in 2014, 582 cases of gender-based violence were identified, 90 per cent of which were incidents of sexual violence. In 2015, 867 cases of gender-based violence were documented, of which 26.41 per cent involved sexual violence.

31.Regarding the issue of medical certificates, although they still charge fees, all entities involved in combating gender-based violence have doctors appointed by the Ministry of Health to serve as gender-based violence focal points who issue medical certificates free of charge in cases of rape and female genital mutilation. For example, Dr. Raphael Nguessan, the gender-based violence focal point and trainer in skills to address gender-based violence at the Tonkpi Regional Directorate and a member of the Man hub, always issues a medical certificate free of charge in all cases of rape and female genital mutilation. In order to ensure that medical certificates are completely free of charge, the Ministry of Women, Family and Children intends to advance, with the help of technical and financial partners, a draft law in 2019 aimed at providing comprehensive care for survivors of gender-based violence.

32.The National Strategy to Combat Gender-Based Violence receives financial support from the Government through the budget line of the Ministry of Women, Family and Children. In order to strengthen this support, the Ministry intends to formalize the hubs to address gender-based violence and thus obtain a budget allocation from the State for their operation. To this end, draft decrees establishing hubs to address gender-based violence have been drafted by the Regulatory Directorate of the Ministry of Women, Family and Children.

33.Awareness-raising campaigns targeting girls, parents and caregivers with the aim of preventing persistent acts of violence against women and girls and the stigmatization of victims of violence and sexual abuse include the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign and the awareness-raising activities carried out by the National Committee to Address Gender-Based Violence in Communities. In addition, with the support of technical and financial partners, the Ministry of Women, Family and Children plays a major role in the implementation of the Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend project and conducts a number of awareness-raising campaigns.

VII.Violence against women in conflict and peacebuilding situations

11.The Committee notes the establishment of a national commission to combat sexual violence by presidential decree in June 2016, mandated to coordinate the programmatic work of the Government on gender-based violence during the post-election crisis. Please specify the human and financial resources allocated by the State party to the commission for the implementation of its action plan and explain the activities that were undertaken as components of the action plan. Please provide information on the progress of investigating and trying cases of sexual violence related to the post-election crisis. Please also explain the safeguards put in place by the State party to ensure that perpetrators of acts of sexual violence do not benefit from the amnesty provided for under article 1 of Ordinance No. 2018-669 of 6 August 2018

34.Since 2017, Côte d’Ivoire has been the only State to be removed from the list of countries whose defence and security forces are accused of systematically engaging in sexual exploitation and other forms of sexual violence. To date, 59 officers (police and gendarmes) and at least 150 military personnel from Côte d’Ivoire are part of United Nations peacekeeping operations.

35.Judicial action to address sexual and gender-based violence was strengthened through an instruction from the Director of Civil and Criminal Affairs establishing units to monitor all related procedures.

36.In addition, several actions have been carried out or are in progress, including:

•The adoption on 5 September 2014 of the National Strategy to Combat Gender-Based Violence;

•The establishment in 2015 of a joint mechanism for the Ivorian armed forces and the UNOCI human rights division to monitor human rights violations;

•The creation of a national committee to address conflict-related sexual violence and the establishment of a mechanism to address rape;

•The implementation of the action plan against sexual violence of the Ivorian armed forces;

•The pledge made by 35 commanders of armed forces and gendarmerie units in 2015 and 47 in 2016 to train their staff on the issue of sexual violence;

•The establishment of specialized police units to strengthen efforts on the issue;

•As a result, compared to 2011, when 478 cases of sexual violence were recorded in the wake of the post-election crisis and charges were brought against Ivorian armed forces and non-State actors, in 2016 there was one case of attempted rape. The perpetrator was brought before the military tribunal.

VIII.Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution

12.Please specify the timeline, following the adoption of Act No. 2016-1111 of 8December 2016 on combating trafficking in persons, for the full implementation of the national strategy to combat trafficking in persons and its five-year action plan and for the drafting of a national action plan on sexual exploitation (paras. 158–159). Please also explain the measures taken with regard to legislation, institutions and policies to protect women in prostitution from violence, as the measures cited in the report of the State party focus only on the protection of children (paras. 158–161, 168 and 170). Please provide information on the impact of regional and international cooperation agreements on trafficking signed by the State party in recent years and on the planned follow-up to the studies on the root causes of prostitution, especially of girls in prostitution, undertaken in 2012 and 2015 (paras. 155–156, 163 and165)

Response 12

37.See the timetables provided in the action plan annexed to the strategy.

38.The 2016 Act contains provisions for the protection of victims, including prostitutes and witnesses of sexual exploitation. However, the operational mechanisms are not yet in effect.

39.Regional and international cooperation agreements are periodically evaluated at the meetings of the monitoring committees. The effective implementation of these agreements promotes adequate care for victims from the time they are identified until their return to their country of origin. Cooperation between the various police services of the States parties to these agreements facilitates the prevention and response to trafficking (e.g. Operation Bia I and Operation Bia II carried out jointly by Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana in 2009 and 2011 and Operation Nawa in 2014).

IX.Participation in political and public life

13.Please provide information on measures taken to expedite the adoption of the draft law on a quota of 30 per cent for women in Parliament and explain other steps planned by the State party to increase the representation of women in decision-making positions, in line with article 36 of the State party’s Constitution and the Committee’s general recommendation No. 23 (1997) on women in political and public life. Please specify the steps taken to ensure the participation of women in local decision-making characterized by patriarchal and matriarchal structures (CEDAW/C/CIV/1-3, paras. 608–610)

Response 13

40.Article 36 of the new October 2016 Constitution stipulates that the State shall take action to promote the political rights of women by providing them with greater opportunities for representation in electoral assemblies. The procedures to implement article 36 must be prescribed by law. In this regard, in March 2018 the Government Council adopted a draft law on the participation of women in elected assemblies. The enactment process is under way.

41.In addition, at the opening ceremony of the HeForShe campaign, the Head of State pledged to consolidate the principle of parity by 2020.

42.Furthermore, awareness-raising campaigns on women’s participation in local decision-making bodies are carried out by external entities (the regional directorates of the Ministry of Women) and the Directorate for the Promotion of the Family.

X.Nationality

14.The Committee notes the adoption of Act No. 2013-654 of 13 September 2013 that amends articles 12, 13, 14 and 16 of Act No. 61-415 of 14 December 1961 on the Nationality Code (as modified by Act No. 72-852 of 21 December 1972 and No. 2004-662 of 17 December 2004 and Decisions No. 2005-03/PR of 15 July 2005 and No. 2005-09/PR of 29 August 2005) and increases the degree of gender parity in the Nationality Code. Please provide information on any measures taken to amend or repeal the remaining provisions of the Nationality Code that are discriminatory on the basis of sex, including articles 28 (3) and 45 (1), and to harmonize article 99 with the amendments made to articles 12, 13, 14 and 16. Please also explain any steps taken to extend the positive amendments to article 12 of the Nationality Code to traditional and non-civil marriages and ease the formal requirements of article 11 of Act No. 64-378 (1964) on the acquisition of nationality by adoption (modified by Law No. 83-802 (1983)) to cover non‑formal adoptions. Please also provide information on the measures taken to ensure that birth registration is accessible and available in all parts of the territory of the State party, in line with article 1 of Act No. 64-373 of 7 October 1964, as amended by Act No. 83-799 of 2 August 1983, that establishes the right of every person to a name, and article 82 of Law No. 99‑691 of 14 December 1999, that stipulates the application process for children whose birth has not been declared within the regulated time frame

Response 14

43.Consideration is being given to harmonizing the provisions of the Nationality Code with the Convention through the National Action Plan to Address Statelessness, which devotes a section to this issue.

44.In order to enter into force, the 1964 Marriage Act had to provide a transitional period for the legalization of non-formal unions. As a result, since then, only marriages conducted by the civil registrar have been recognized in Côte d’Ivoire. The same applies to adoption.

45.The new civil status act adopted in December 2018 created new mechanisms for birth registration.

46.In addition, the draft law to modernize the civil registry, adopted on 29 October 2018, aims to strengthen the system for collecting and keeping civil status records (birth, marriage, death, etc.).

XI.Education

15.With reference to the Committee’s general recommendation No. 36 (2017) on the right of girls and women to education, please describe the impact of the measures taken by the State party under article 2 (1) of Act No. 2015-635 of 17September 2015 on compulsory schooling, amending Act No. 95-696 of 7September 1995 on education, and its strategic plan to accelerate access to education for girls for the period 2016–2018 on access for women and girls to universal and high-quality education, in particular with regard to the attendance of girls in secondary school and literacy rates among women and girls, including in rural areas (paras. 187–190 and 202–203). In the light of the Committee’s previous recommendations (CEDAW/C/CIV/CO/1-3, para. 37 (b)), please provide information on measures taken to prevent, investigate and adequately punish the sexual abuse and harassment of female students by teachers. Please describe any measures taken to eliminate discriminatory gender stereotypes and other barriers to access for girls to education by raising awareness, in particular among parents, of the importance of education for women, including for adolescent mothers

Response 15

47.The Strategic Plan to Accelerate the Education of Girls 2016–2018, which is subtitled “The challenge of compulsory education: making girls the central focus”, aims to strengthen all actions carried out since 2007 to keep girls in school. Six secondary schools for girls have been built (in Man, Bondoukou, Abobo, Odienné, San Pedro and Dimbokro) to complement the already functioning schools (two in Bouaké, one in Yopougon, one in Bingerville, one in Man and one in Yamoussoukro). It should be noted that the secondary schools being established will all have boarding facilities.

48.Since the launch of the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI 2005), the Ministry of National Education and Technical Learning has carried out awareness-raising activities to promote girls’ access to education and their retention in school, including organizing school monitoring committees, mainstreaming gender in the curricula for the 2009–2012 period and promoting the concept of child-friendly and girl-friendly schools.

49.The project launched in 2009 to mobilize authorities at the local level and women to support girls’ education is still under way. Twenty communities have developed plans to promote girls’ education. Clubs for mothers of girl students have been established in more than 15 regional directorates.

Table 3 School attendance at the beginning of the 2015–2016 school year, girls and boys

	Number of schools	Number of classrooms		Number of students		Number of teachers
Instruction level	Girls	Boys	Female	Male
Preschool	2 223	5 668	80 885 (50%)	85 811 (50%)	6 524 (93%)	521 (7%)
Primary	15 547	84 730	1 705 016 (47%)	1 912 203 (53%)	23 851 (28%)	61 258 (72%)
General secondary	1 479	28 357	672 145 (41%)	949 729 (59%)	7 645 (14%)	45 892 (86%)
Teacher training centres	16	170	2 822 (48%)	3 064 (52%)

50.In the area of professional training, various measures have been taken: (i) a gender service with a budget and a permanent staff was established in 2012; (ii) a technical adviser for gender was appointed in 2016; (iii) a sectoral gender policy document for the Ministry was drafted in 2016; (iv) the Day to Promote Gender Equality was introduced in 2015; (v) the annual scholarship for girls studying industrial subjects was increased from 36,000 CFA francs to 180,000 CFA francs; (vi) a monitoring system and a support centre for girls studying industrial subjects continued to operate.

51.The Government of Côte d’Ivoire incorporated in the code of ethics of the teaching profession the prohibition of any sexual contact between teachers and students.

52.Many teachers have been punished for rape or indecent assault of underage students from primary and secondary schools in various locations.

53.A gender perspective was mainstreamed into the curricula during the period from 2009 to 2012, and textbooks were revised. Awareness-raising campaigns targeting parents are carried out to promote young girls’ school enrolment.

XII.Employment

16.Please provide information on progress made to enforce article 5 of Act No. 2015-532 of 20 July 2015 on the Labour Code, that prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace, article 31.2 of the Labour Code, that guarantees the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value, and articles 23.6 and 23.11 of the Labour Code and the General Civil Service Regulations on maternity and paternity leave, including in rural areas. Please also indicate the number of inspections carried out under those provisions or other laws in relation to discrimination against women, the nature of the violations recorded and the penalties imposed. Please also provide information on legislative and other measures, including temporary special measures, taken or planned to address occupational segregation, both horizontal and vertical, between women and men

Response 16

17.Please provide information on measures taken to enhance opportunities for women to enter into the formal employment sector and to ensure that the planned pension scheme also covers the informal sector (para. 222). Please describe the impact of the adoption of Act No. 2010-272 on the prohibition of trafficking in children and the worst forms of child labour and of the national action plan against child labour and trafficking in persons, for the period 2012–2014 (paras.205–206). Please indicate any steps taken to ratify the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) of the International Labour Organization

Response 17

54.The 2012–2014 action plan was evaluated in 2014. Following this evaluation, which had satisfactory results, a new action plan was developed and is being implemented for the period 2016–2020.

55.The ratification of the 2011 Domestic Workers Convention is under way.

XIII.Health

18.The State party indicated that expenditures on health increased from $190 billion in 2013 to $596 billion in 2016 (para. 224). Please describe how the impact of that increase affected access for women and girls to health-care services, in particular in rural areas. Please provide information on the impact of the policies and programmes aimed at decreasing maternal mortality, malnutrition and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS (paras. 226, 231 and 238–240).

Response 18

56.With regard to the accessibility of health care, 300 new health centres have been built, thereby strengthening efforts to combat maternal and child mortality.

57.Mention should also be made of several new facilities, including Bingerville Mother and Child Hospital, Angré University Hospital, Gagnoa General Hospital, Saint Jean-Baptiste Hospital in Tiassalé, Adjamé General Hospital, Saint Joseph Moscati Catholic Hospital in Yamoussoukro, the Cocody Radiotherapy Centre and the Nuclear Medicine Centre.

58.Since 2014, the Government has carried out awareness-raising activities and provided health services in about 100 departments every year. These services are offered to adolescents and young people aged 10 to 24 and include sex education, condom distribution and HIV testing. In 2014, awareness-raising activities reached 207,235 young people, including 84,557 girls.

59.On the legal front, Act No. 2014-430 of 14 July 2014 on the programme to prevent, protect against and eradicate HIV/AIDS was adopted.

60.At the institutional level, the National Strategic Plan to Combat HIV/AIDS and STIs, whose implementation period ended in 2015, was assessed, and the Directorate for the Coordination of the National AIDS Programme was created in 2014.

61.Care services focus on palliative and physical care and nutritional, spiritual and psychosocial support for all patients, regardless of sex. Antiretroviral drugs in Côte d’Ivoire are available free of charge to eligible persons, both men and women. An initial intake assessment of pregnant women is systematically conducted, and the number of sites offering services for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission has increased.

19.Please indicate whether the State party has taken any steps to amend articles 366 and 367 of the Criminal Code (Act No. 1981-640 of 31 July 1981, amended by Act No. 1995-522 of 6 July 1995), that allow for abortion only in situations that present a grave threat to the life and health of the mother, in order to legalize abortion, at least in cases of rape, incest or severe fetal impairment, and to decriminalize abortion in all other cases. Please provide updated information on the progress in the implementation of the strategy to provide post-abortion care (para. 234). Please indicate whether, in addition to the awareness-raising campaigns conducted by the Ministry of Education (para. 236), mandatory, age-appropriate education on sexual and reproductive health, including on responsible sexual behaviour, family planning and modern forms of contraception, is offered as part of the regular school curriculum and taught by qualified teachers according to the same standards in all parts of the State party

Response 19

62.Ivorian positive law in this area has remained unchanged. Basic training curricula include age-appropriate courses on sexual and reproductive health.

XIV.Rural women

20.In its report, the State party refers to development and poverty-reduction plans and strategies, including the national agricultural investment plan for the period 2012–2015 and the national social protection strategy for the period 2013–2016, as well as to relevant institutions and bodies, such as the Gender Directorate of the National Rural Development Support Agency, the Gender Technical Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Coordination Unit of the water, women, sustainable development and peace programme (paras. 79, 208 and 211, CEDAW/C/CIV/1-3, para. 145). Please indicate what is being done to ensure that a gender perspective is taken into consideration in the implementation of those plans and strategies and to what extent rural women have been involved in the development of those policies and are represented in the above-mentioned institutions and bodies. The Committee notes the issuance of land certificates to 277 women and the allocation of 30 per cent of developed land for use by women (paras. 14 and 212). Please specify further measures in place to eliminate all customs that impede equal access to land, including customs related to inheritance, in particular for agricultural use, and to ensure that the equal rights of women and men to own, acquire and inherit property, including land, under article 1123 of the Civil Code and article 1 of the Rural Land Act of 23 December 1998 (No. 98-750) are enforced. Please also provide information on the steps taken to expand access for rural women to microfinance and microcredit at low interest rates in all parts of the territory of the State party to enable them to engage in income-generating activities and start their own businesses (CEDAW/C/CIV/1-3, paras. 121–122 and 668)

Response 20

63.A gender-sensitive approach was applied during the development of these plans and strategies and is integrated into every project. In addition, gender experts are involved in the implementation of these projects.

64.With regard to measures established to put an end to all customs that prevent equal access to land, in addition to the dissemination of the Rural Land Act, awareness-raising activities are carried out in rural areas by the regional directorates of the Ministry of Women, Family and Children.

65.With regard to measures taken to improve rural women’s access to microfinance and low-interest microcredit:

•The directorate in charge of managing the Women and Development Fund was changed into an Innovative Management Project of the National Fund on Women and Development;

•There was an increase in the number of women’s training and education institutions, from 58 in 2011 to 115 in 2016 to 122 in 2019;

•The Support Fund for the Women of Côte d’Ivoire was established in 2012. The Support Fund for the Women of Côte d’Ivoire gradually grew from an initial grant of one billion CFA francs to a total of 8 billion CFA francs in 2016. In addition, the conditions to access these funds have been made more flexible, as have the terms of repayment.

XV.Marriage and family relations

21.Under article 22 of Act No. 64-375 of 7 October 1964 on marriage, adolescent girls are permitted to marry, on an exceptional basis, at 16 years of age. Please provide information on any efforts made to amend that article and to bring it into line with international standards, including article 16 (2) of the Convention. Please also specify measures that have been taken to enforce the prohibition of customary and religious child marriage enshrined in article 378 of Act No. 98-756 of 23 December 1998, which amended and complemented Act No. 81-640 of 31 July 1981. Please provide information on steps taken to accelerate the revision of the Criminal Code to prohibit levirate and sororate marriages and discriminatory practices with respect to women’s inheritance, as well as ensure that all marriages are registered in line with articles 18, 19, 20 and 28 of Act No. 64-375, as amended by Act No. 83-800 of 2 August 1983

Response 21

66.The consent of the young girl is reinforced by safeguards (the authorization of the guardianship judge and the consent of the Family Council). Offenders are liable to prosecution. The revision of the Criminal Code, which takes into account all of these issues, is in progress.

XVI.Data collection

22.As recommended in the Committee’s previous concluding observations (CEDAW/C/CIV/CO/1-3, para. 23 (e)), please inform the Committee whether a comprehensive gender indicator system to improve the collection of data disaggregated by sex has been established based on the existing data collection measures and policies described in the report of the State party (paras. 81–82 and 113), including the Gender-based Violence Information Management System and Act No. 2013-537 of 30 July 2013 on statistics. Please also provide comprehensive and updated statistical data on all areas of the Convention in the next period report, with a view to providing a full understanding of the impact of legal and policy measures aimed at addressing discrimination on the basis of gender in the State party

Response 22

67.An information systems directorate was established within the Ministry of Women, Family and Children by Decree No. 2018-950 with the objective of addressing these issues. The data, which are currently being collected and consolidated, will be available in the fifth report.

XVII.Amendment to article 20 (1) of the Convention

68.Please indicate any progress made towards the acceptance of the amendment to article 20 (1) of the Convention concerning the meeting time of the Committee.