Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Eighty-seventh session

Summary record of the 2047th meeting

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Friday, 9 February 2024, at 10 a.m.

Chair:Ms. Peláez Narváez

Contents

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention (continued)

Sixth periodic report of the Central African Republic

The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m.

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention (continued)

Sixth periodic report of the Central African Republic (CEDAW/C/CAF/6; CEDAW/C/CAF/Q/6; CEDAW/C/CAF/RQ/6)

At the invitation of the Chair, the delegation of the Central African Republic joined the meeting.

A representative of the Central African Republic, introducing the delegation, said that the presence of a female parliamentarian among the delegates demonstrated his Government’s inclusive approach to implementing the Convention.

Ms. Kirimat (Central African Republic), introducing her country’s sixth periodic report, said that the Government prioritized the rights of women and girls, who had suffered disproportionately during years of conflict and political, socioeconomic and cultural upheaval. The legal framework that protected women’s rights had been strengthened by a review of discriminatory legislation, and laws had been amended and new regulations drafted accordingly. Those amendments included changes to the Constitution, which now provided for gender equality and women’s involvement in decision-making forums, and to the Family Code, in which provisions on women’s and children’s rights had been strengthened.

Several institutions had been established to implement the new provisions, and such efforts were supported by civil society, international bodies and private companies, as well as the parliamentary commission responsible for population, gender and development, human rights and international humanitarian law. Mechanisms to monitor gender-based violence against women included the Strategic Committee in the Fight against Conflict-related Gender-based Violence under the supervision of the President. A number of policies, strategies and plans had been introduced, including the Family Policy, a strategy for women and girls’ socioeconomic empowerment, a strategy to involve men in combating gender-based violence, a programme that provided holistic care to victims of gender-based violence and a project to support persons displaced by the conflict.

The body responsible for women’s advancement and development was the Ministry for the Promotion of Gender and Protection of Women, Families and Children, which had adopted a national policy for the promotion of equality and equity. The Ministry’s capacity to mobilize and coordinate efforts was, however, limited. Women were affected by structural inequalities that were deeply rooted in patriarchal and discriminatory customs, with the country ranked almost last in the gender inequality index. Poverty affected women to a greater extent than men, particularly in rural areas, and the majority of women worked in the informal sector. Significantly fewer girls than boys were enrolled in school at all levels of education, and more than three quarters of women were illiterate, compared to just over half of men. Women represented around 20 per cent of deputies elected to the National Assembly, more than 20 per cent of women and girls aged between 15 and 29 had suffered female genital mutilation, and the majority of the population found domestic violence acceptable.

The Government’s efforts to improve the situation of women were hindered by structural constraints and security issues, a lack of operational resources for its institutions, and sociocultural barriers. Nevertheless, it planned to draft a national development plan for 2024–2028 and was working to finalize a sectoral policy document. The national human rights policy, which provided a strategic framework with a significant women’s rights component, was accompanied by a five-year action plan and budget for promoting the rights of women and girls. The continued support of the international community in upholding those rights was required.

Articles 1–6

Ms. Gbedemah said that the State party’s definition of discrimination needed clarification since neither sex nor gender was mentioned in its Constitution as protected characteristics. She wished to know when the State party would ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol); what progress had been made in reviewing existing legal instruments; when the review of the discriminatory provisions in the Family Code would be completed; what steps had been taken to abolish discriminatory practices involving, for example, polygamy, heads of households and levirate and sororate; and what in particular was being done to raise awareness among the judiciary, against the backdrop of the conflict. It would be useful to hear the delegation’s comments on gaps in the legal framework, particularly in relation to female genital mutilation and marital rape.

She would be interested to hear whether the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission received public funding that allowed it to execute its mandate effectively and independently and what international assistance had been leveraged in that regard. She would like to know what remained to be done to implement the National Recovery and Peacebuilding Plan, whether a review of the Plan had been carried out, what constraints hindered its implementation and, if those constraints were budgetary in nature, how they had been addressed. She also wished to know whether a replacement for the Plan had been drawn up. The Committee would like to know how many times the Convention had been invoked in the courts. She wondered which of the Convention’s provisions, in addition to those mentioned in the report, had been incorporated into domestic law, which laws were involved and what was hindering the incorporation of the remaining provisions. How would customary law be aligned with the Convention?

Ms. Kirimat (Central African Republic) said that the National Recovery and Peacebuilding Plan had concluded in 2022 and would be replaced by the national development plan for 2024–2028, which would address gender, women and the family. The National Recovery and Peacebuilding Plan had been hindered by significant financial difficulties and the security situation, both of which would be taken into account in the drafting of the new plan. The current review of the Family Code by the Economic, Social and Environmental Council would address all the provisions that discriminated against women before the new version was submitted to the National Assembly for adoption. Although rates of female genital mutilation remained relatively high, they had fallen significantly in recent decades. Work in that area included awareness-raising campaigns by government ministries and civil society organizations across the country.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that, in the country’s monist legal system, international instruments had the force of law immediately upon ratification, without the need for their incorporation into national legislation. Nevertheless, some provisions had indeed been incorporated into laws. Marital rape would be prosecuted and punished under the criminal legislation reform process currently under way. The Government had provided a headquarters and budget to the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission, which had drawn up an action plan and would soon commence its work. The Commission had received significant support from the international community, including United Nations agencies and the European Union. The national human rights policy provided a broad assessment of the human rights situation and highlighted the practices that discriminated against women. More than 250 actions, each with sufficient budget, would be carried out under the policy, with many involving training for human rights actors, including judges. The Government would contribute its own funds to the policy’s implementation, while also seeking assistance from international partners.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that female genital mutilation, which was not practised by all ethnic groups in the Central African Republic, had been prohibited in law since 1966. Although the Government had ratified the Maputo Protocol in 2012, there had been problems in depositing the instrument of ratification with the African Union; it had nevertheless taken action to implement its provisions throughout the country. The review of the Family Code had begun with an anthropological study and scrutiny by a group of experts, who had identified 67 discriminatory provisions, including in relation to inheritance and choice of place of residence. The new code would amend those provisions and also address gender-based violence, which had not been included in the original Family Code.

Ms. Gbedemah said that she wondered whether the State party’s legal system was indeed monist; the report referred to efforts to incorporate provisions of the Convention into national law. Her research had indicated that the State party had signed the Maputo Protocol, rather than ratifying it.

Ms. Eghobamien-Mshelia said that she wished to know whether the national gender machinery had cabinet status and sufficient human, technical and financial resources, what percentage of the national budget was allocated to it and whether specific strategies had been adopted to facilitate the effective delivery of gender policy and meet the State party’s obligations under the Convention. It would be interesting to hear what the impact of the national gender machinery had been to date; whether there were plans to grant increased and sustainable funding to the Ministry for the Promotion of Gender and Protection of Women, Families and Children and how women’s views were incorporated into the national security agenda and architecture. She would welcome information on the systems in place to facilitate the policy coordination and monitoring role of the national gender machinery and ensure that gender equality was incorporated comprehensively into plans and policies, particularly in relation to development. She would also like to know how the national gender machinery interacted with the gender focal points and whether the focal points had sufficient geographical reach.

The Committee wished to know what the implementation status of the national action plan for Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) was, whether there was specific engagement with the Ministry of Defence and Reconstruction of the Army, the police, security agencies and the legislature in implementing the plan and to what extent women were involved in peacebuilding. It would also welcome details of any women and peace and security networks and how they involved women in addressing conflict-related sexual gender-based violence, including forced displacement. She would like to know when the bill establishing a national human rights commission that complied with the Paris Principles would be finalized and how the national gender machinery was involved in those efforts. Lastly, she wished to know how the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission operated in relation to the local mixed-gender peace, truth and reconciliation commissions and whether the local commissions were independent and decentralized.

Ms. Kirimat (Central African Republic) said that the Government had established a committee to coordinate efforts on gender, gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices. A national observatory for parity was being established.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that gender-responsive budgeting would be introduced to the programme budgets to be developed for all relevant sectoral policies. A third action plan on women and peace and security was being drafted, drawing on evaluations of the previous two plans. The national coordination committee for gender held quarterly meetings, and meetings were also held regularly with the gender focal points, who provided information on gender-related matters in their respective departments to be incorporated into programmes of the Ministry for the Promotion of Gender and Protection of Women, Families and Children as well as high-level decision-making within the Cabinet. The coordination committee, along with decentralized working groups, also worked closely with international partners to implement programmes and projects, such as a gender equality programme funded by the European Union. The Government also entered into annual work plans with United Nations agencies that included action for the benefit of women.

Ms. Kirimat (Central African Republic) said that the coordination committee’s operating budget was supported by the State and, in turn, its partners.

Ms. Eghobamien-Mshelia said that she wished to know whether the third action plan on women and peace and security would be linked to the State party’s broader national security plans and priorities. It would be useful to have more details on the coordination of gender-related work and to know what the core function was of the Ministry for the Promotion of Gender and Protection of Women, Families and Children; how accountability among the gender focal points was ensured; and whether the Government was in a position to mobilize resources with counterpart funding or resources other than those provided by donors.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that the national human rights institution had been established in 2022. It had since undergone a restructuring exercise, and its operational budget had been increased in line with the Government’s resources. One of its objectives was to be accredited with category A status. The Commission was actively involved in the Government’s work with the United Nations human rights treaty bodies.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that the third action plan on women and peace and security would address all aspects of national security. Gender units had been established in the police force, the gendarmerie and the defence forces to identify, for example, obstacles to women’s representation; such information was then reported to the coordinating committee. A programme budget had been set aside for the women and peace and security programme, the women’s empowerment programme and others. Some of the funding was provided by the Government’s partners. Although he could not say precisely what share of the public budget went towards financing the gender programmes, the introduction of programme budgets should help shed light on the Government’s expenditures on the promotion of gender equality and on peace and security.

Ms. Gbedemah said that she would like to know when the national human rights institution would become fully compliant with the Paris Principles and whether its mandate included gender equality and non-discrimination. She asked how many women judges sat on the High Court of Justice. She wished to know whether the State party would consider introducing temporary special measures to increase the representation of women, minorities and disadvantaged groups, particularly in judicial and administrative bodies and peacebuilding institutions. The Committee would welcome examples of the achievements of the national observatory for parity and information on how it monitored the Gender Parity Act, how political parties were made to comply with the Act, whether temporary special measures were understood by the general public, whether such measures had been used to promote disadvantaged categories of men and whether those measures had been evaluated. How many women were involved in monitoring the national action plan for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000)?

Ms. Kirimat (Central African Republic) said that the legislation establishing the national observatory for parity was not yet in force.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that the Gender Parity Act required political parties to adhere to a 35 per cent quota among their candidates for a transitional period of 10 years, after which they would be required to respect true parity. That quota had not had a significant impact on women’s political representation, however, and the law provided for exceptions in the case of insufficient women candidates; work was under way to encourage women to stand for election. At the 2024 municipal elections, political parties would be required to respect the 35 per cent quota and to present lists that alternated between female and male candidates. Two of the twelve judges on the High Court of Justice were women.

Ms. Tisheva said that it would be helpful to hear about the targeted and regular awareness-raising efforts undertaken to combat the entrenched patriarchal attitudes and gender stereotypes that contributed to harmful practices and gender-based violence. She wished to know how many convictions for female genital mutilation had been secured in urban and rural areas in the previous two years, what measures had been adopted to counter the practice in the areas in which it was most prevalent, what budget had been set aside for that purpose and what efforts had been made to stop medicalized female genital mutilation. She wondered when the State party intended to amend the Penal Code to explicitly criminalize accusations of witchcraft and abolish the informal courts that heard such cases, and whether women accused of witchcraft had access to protection services, including measures to prevent stigmatization and tailored health and psychosocial rehabilitation services.

She would like to know whether the national strategy introduced to combat gender‑based violence, child marriage and female genital mutilation had been assessed and what the findings had been, including how many prosecutions and convictions there had been for different forms of gender-based violence. She would also like to know the timeline for the criminalization of marital rape. The Committee would like to know whether a national strategy had been adopted to combat impunity and ensure that the perpetrators of sexual violence during the conflict were brought to justice and how the inclusion of women, girls and young persons in peacebuilding and demilitarization processes, and in efforts to combat gender-based violence, would be increased. What were the main outcomes of the Bangui Forum on National Reconciliation for women and girls?

Ms. Kirimat (Central African Republic) said that perpetrators of female genital mutilation were subject to a fine of between 5 and 20 million CFA francs.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that the national strategy to prevent harmful traditional practices already encompassed gender-based violence and early marriage and a new strategy was being drafted to combat female genital mutilation. The rate of female genital mutilation had fallen thanks to awareness-raising campaigns, but the fight must continue until that practice was eliminated. A law to combat sexual harassment had been submitted to the National Assembly. The authorities cooperated with civil society to implement measures to counter gender-based violence.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that criminal courts were competent to hear and try cases concerning gender-based violence and, in addition, the Special Criminal Court could hear and try cases of violence against women related to the armed conflict. The minimum sentence for such crimes was 10 years’ imprisonment. Most cases concerning violence against women that had been considered by the appeal courts had led to convictions. Cases concerning acts of violence against women that had been committed by the defence and security forces had been tried by military courts, which had handed down heavy sentences to the perpetrators. Although 90 per cent of the country was at peace, pockets of violence still persisted, which was why the authorities were conducting training courses for the security forces to make them aware that gender-based violence was a serious crime. As a result, many women who were being held by armed groups had been released. Legal aid was available for women who could not afford a lawyer’s services.

Ms. Kirimat (Central African Republic) said that the main challenge lay in persuading women to make use of the existing laws.

The Chair said that she wished to know what role women’s organizations played in the process of contending with all the challenges faced by the country.

Ms. Kirimat (Central African Republic) said that women’s organizations were stakeholders in all those processes and played an important role in lawmaking.

Ms. Gbedemah said that the Committee wished to know whether women had been involved in drafting the anti-trafficking laws and whether national women’s machinery was represented on the committee to combat trafficking in persons. She would like to know whether the prevalence of forced prostitution due to trafficking had been studied and whether there was a strategy to combat such sexual exploitation. She would appreciate information on implementation of the rehabilitation and social reintegration measures recommended in paragraph 30 of the Committee’s concluding observations on the State party’s combined initial and second to fifth periodic reports (CEDAW/C/CAF/CO/1-5). She wondered whether a timeline had been set for the ratification of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto, in particular the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. The Committee further wished to know what was being done to investigate trafficking crimes and impose deterrent sentences on offenders, including complicit officials, to appoint special prosecutors, to identify potential trafficking victims in refugee camps, to work with civil society to increase public awareness and to fund a greater number of court hearings.

More information on steps to document the phenomenon of prostitution would be appreciated. Did the country have child-friendly integration programmes? The Committee would like to know whether trafficking was criminalized in the State party’s law, what measures were taken to address harassment by the police of women who had or might be trying to bring a case, what training was provided for medical, legal and educational staff to deal with the issue and whether there were any reception centres or psychosocial counselling, legal support or health-care programmes for those who wanted to leave prostitution.

Ms. Kirimat (Central African Republic) said that poverty and cultural pressures were the main obstacles to the authorities’ efforts to stem trafficking.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that the highest authorities in the country were committed to combating trafficking. High-level and decentralized mechanisms had been set up to that end. The strategy to combat trafficking employed numerous indicators, including of the exploitation of children. Focal points had been appointed in ministries to address the issue. The Joint Rapid Intervention and Repression Unit for Sexual Violence against Women and Children saw to it that speedy action to help trafficking victims to obtain redress. A standard protocol for assisting and caring for victims was being put in place. The authorities were looking at ways of preventing the exploitation of prostitutes.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that, after the adoption of Act No. 22.015 of 20 September 2022, a special prosecutor’s office and special judges had been appointed to combat trafficking in persons. The committee to combat trafficking in persons was carrying out an action plan.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that, as there were different definitions of trafficking, it was difficult to provide exact figures. However, a mechanism was being set up to collect information on trafficking. Facilities, such as the Maison de l’Espoir shelters, had been opened to care for victims.

Ms. Kirimat (Central African Republic) said that sociocultural pressures often prevented victims from reporting cases of trafficking. Substantive work was therefore needed to encourage their relatives to come forward so that the requisite steps could be taken to end that scourge.

Ms. Gbedemah said that the collection of data on trafficking cases was of the utmost importance. More resources should therefore be given to the Joint Rapid Intervention and Repression Unit for Sexual Violence against Women and Children.

Articles 7–9

Ms. de Silva de Alwis said that she wished to know whether the State party would consider establishing a 50 per cent mandatory quota for women’s participation at all levels of economic and social life. Would the State party consider passing a specific law on violence against women politicians or establishing a register of persons who had been found guilty of violence against women in politics? She wished to know whether the State party was prepared to adopt guidelines on cancelling the candidacy of such persons. It would be useful to know whether the State party would consider maintaining the 24-hour hotline after elections.

She asked whether new local elections were scheduled and whether campaign finance would be provided for women who hoped to run for office. She would appreciate information on support for collaboration between peacekeeping missions and local women leaders. What support was given to the five women on the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission? She wished to know how many women were members of the Special Criminal Court. Similarly, she would appreciate data on the number of women heading criminal investigations into cases concerning sexual violence during the conflict. She would like to know whether the directory of women who would be eligible for leadership positions in various sectors really was used to appoint women to decision-making posts and whether any temporary special measures existed to ensure that women were appointed to high-level positions in multilateral institutions, the diplomatic service and peacekeeping operations.

Ms. Kirimat (Central African Republic) said that the Central African Republic had once been in the vanguard of women’s political participation. However armed conflict had frustrated all the strategies that had been put in place to promote the advancement of women.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that a 10-year transition period had been proposed for the implementation of the Gender Parity Act. Numerous social and cultural barriers would have to be overcome to achieve complete parity.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that the 2020 elections had taken place against a background of insecurity. A gender election strategy sought to identify obstacles to women’s political participation and to suggest ways of overcoming them. The Electoral Code provided for safety measures for all candidates. The hotline to report cases of violence against women was still in existence. The draft act on the financing of political parties provided that a party must allocate a quota of women candidates in order to receive public funds. The Government did not directly finance women candidates. However, some international partners had paid women candidates’ election deposits in the previous elections. Some provisions of the old electoral code which had hampered women’s participation had been abolished. All the members of the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission had received support from the government and international partners. There were four women judges on the bench of the Special Criminal Court.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that one of the obstacles to women’s political participation was their lack of resources. The law protected all women against violence. It would be necessary to examine whether it was advisable to introduce a law specifically aimed at protecting women against electoral violence.

Ms. Eghobamien-Mshelia said that she would appreciate information on progress with the birth registration of all children, including girls, born within the territory of the State party, measures taken to facilitate the registration of internally displaced girls and boys, the registration at birth of refugee children born in foreign countries of parents from the Central African Republic and the issue of valid travel documents to women and their children by its consulates working in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It would be helpful if that data were disaggregated by sex, location at birth and the type of travel documents. She would welcome clarification of whether the Nationality Code had been amended and the new provisions on the granting of nationality to spouses had been promulgated. If that were the case, she would like to know how many foreign husbands had taken advantage of those provisions. If that were not the case, information on the timeline for the introduction of the amendment to the Code and the details of implementation would be appreciated.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that birth registration was a real challenge as civil registration records had been destroyed during the armed conflict. Work was under way to remedy that situation. The Family Code provided that a birth must be registered within six months. Once that deadline had passed, a late registration certificate had to be obtained from a court. The United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Population Fund had helped to finance mobile courts to facilitate the issue of such certificates. He would supply disaggregated data in writing. He was unable to supply any data on acquisition of nationality of husbands of nationals of the Central African Republic through marriage.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that another long-standing problem had been the failure of minority groups to register births. The Government had been conducting awareness-raising campaigns to ensure that those groups registered the birth of their children.

Ms. Eghobamien-Mshelia said that she wished to know whether the Nationality Code had already been amended to allow a wife who was a national of the Central African Republic to transfer her nationality to her foreign husband and, if so, when the process was likely to be completed.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that a working party was examining the issue of the granting of nationality through marriage.

Articles 10–14

Ms. Gbedemah said that she wished to know whether there were any new policies to address disparities in school attendance between girls and boys and what constitutional and other legal measures were being taken to enshrine a universal right to 13 years of free, compulsory preschool, primary and secondary education throughout the country and to improve the functioning of the education system for disadvantaged groups of girls and girls in areas affected by conflict. She wished to learn how the State party would mobilize resources to rehabilitate or rebuild schools with sanitary facilities to encourage girls to attend school. Were schools protected from military use? She would like to hear about any measures to remove obstacles to girls’ education that had resulted from hostilities. She wondered whether the reconstruction process offered any opportunities to make school buildings barrier-free and to equip them for children with disabilities. Were there any plans to train counsellors to help traumatized children? She wished to know what plans were in place to combat early marriage and other inimical cultural practices to prevent schoolgirls dropping out of school. Lastly, she wished to know how the twin challenges of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and conflict were being handled in the education sector.

Ms. Kirimat (Central African Republic) said that a scheme to recruit 1,500 teachers was being finalized. Preschool education was free of charge. The Government had taken over all the schools in areas that were free of conflict.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that much had changed in the education sector since the State party had submitted its report in 2018. Schools had been rehabilitated. The education authorities, with the support of the European Union, was examining ways of mainstreaming a gender perspective in the school curricula from an early age. Social assistance was provided to enable children attend kindergarten. The new school policy was predicated on the principle of free schooling for all children, but the necessary machinery had to be established. Committees were being set up to prevent school dropout by combating violence against children.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that, by law, schooling was free and compulsory. Measures to facilitate access to education and to prevent dropout included the serving of meals in 1,355 schools, remedial education and scholarships for girls. There were plans to rebuild schools that had been vandalized and to train or retrain teachers. He would supply figures in writing.

Ms. Bonifaz Alfonso said that she wished to know whether corporal punishment was still permitted in schools and whether the Family Code had been amended to prohibit physical punishment at home.

Ms. Gbedemah said that she wished to know if there was any law to prevent schools from being occupied by parties to the conflict. She wondered if education really was free. If that was the case, would digital technology be used throughout the country to promote education for children who were unable to attend school in person?

Ms. Kirimat (Central African Republic) said that access to digital technology depended on having an electricity supply and solar power was expensive. Although the country was facing severe budget constraints, it looked forward to a time when digital technology would find its way into classrooms everywhere. In three towns, solar panels currently enabled children in their final year of upper secondary school to follow mathematics lessons through digital technology.

A representative of the Central African Republic said that corporal punishment at school had been prohibited by law since 1997. The Minister of Education encouraged schools to establish rules to ban physical punishment.

Mr. Safarov said that he wished to know how many violations of overtime policy had been reported and investigated. It would be useful to have data on the employment of ethnic and religious minorities in the civil service and formal employment sector and on measures to narrow the pay gap between men and women workers. Were women in the formal and informal sector and in rural areas covered by social protection? Could they draw social security benefits? The Committee would appreciate a description of measures to address sexual harassment in the workplace. He wished to know what the State was doing to protect women and ensure safe working conditions for them in the mining and industrial sectors. He would be grateful for an indication of the timeline for incorporating the terms of International Labour Organization Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190), into national law and of how the State party intended to implement it. Lastly, he wished to know how the State party would ensure women’s equal participation in the labour market once the Gender Parity Act was no longer in effect.

The meeting rose at 1 p.m.