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20 June 2000
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CEDAW
23rd Session
477th Meeting
20 June 2000 (PM)
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women met this afternoon to continue its article-by-article consideration of Cameroon’s compliance with the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The Convention, which as of 1 May had been ratified or acceded to by 165 countries, requires States parties to eliminate discrimination against women in the enjoyment of all civil, political, economic and cultural rights. Cameroon became a States party to the Convention in 1994 when it ratified it without reservations and this is its first report to the Committee.
After hearing the introduction of Cameroon’s initial report in its morning session, the Committee opened its afternoon discussion with consideration of article 12 of the Convention, on health care. The experts commented on the detailed, objective and transparent account of Cameroon’s compliance with the provisions of the Convention.
One expert said, however, that Cameroon’s report did not include statistics on abortion. She was concerned at the lack of information in that area, because she had noticed that Cameroon had very strict abortion laws, as well as very high maternal morality rates. Were the two related in some way? Had any research been done in that area?
Turning to Cameroon’s measures to address the situation of rural women (article 14) an expert said the statistics included in the report had made the "invisible" rural woman visible. The report failed to include information on rural women’s access to credit, however. That was important because such access was often the road to freedom for rural women.
On the issue of rural women’s health, the expert wondered if Cameroon could provide the Committee with more information on maternal health care facilities. Several experts also expressed concern about rural women’s access to clean drinking water. According to the report, that seemed to be a very serious problem that could be detrimental to the health of women and their families. Had the Government envisaged any clean water programmes that could help in that area?
Another expert expressed concern that social security reform had not reached rural areas.
It was disturbing, an expert said, that the coexistence of customary laws and written laws had resulted in two separate court systems. That would, at the very least, be confusing for women as well as men. In many cases, neither might know what laws to use. How could illiterate women, for example, express their rights within such a confusing system? Had there been any consideration made to harmonizing the two systems?
Addressing article 16 (family law), an expert said civil and commercial courts placed narrow restraints on women’s marital capacity. Could legislation be enacted to remove those constraints? She also expressed concern about Cameroon’s cohabitation law and its iteration that children born to unmarried parents were considered illegitimate. Restraints on the right of widows to remarry were also disturbing. Those and other laws appeared to be obviously patriarchal in nature. In today’s world, was there any reason to enforce such laws? The age of marriage for girls - 15 years old - was also of concern. Had the delegation considered changing that policy? Had there been any studies to see if the law interfered with attending school?
Several experts commended Cameroon on the imminent revision of its family law code. But complete change took time, one expert said. Why not work towards a complete revision of the code while changing simple things incrementally? She also wondered if customary laws would be nullified once the new family code was enacted? It had been the experience of the Committee that the negative aspects of customary laws often lingered, even in the face of new written laws. She particularly urged Cameroon to introduce stronger measures in the area of polygamy, including making the practice illegal and perhaps even placing sanctions on men that commit that crime.
Generally more statistics and quantitative data should be presented, another expert said. There was a need to know what the situation was in Cameroon at the moment. What were the current statistics on polygamy? Was there up-to-date information on dowry practices? The report noted that, to some degree, women themselves were often considered "inheritable goods". As that was an obvious violation of human rights, it would have been helpful to know to what extent it was practised.
In a brief statement following comments by the experts, Cameroon's Minister for Women’s Affairs, Julienne Ngo Som, applauded the Committee for its insightful and relevant consideration of Cameroon’s initial periodic report. She stressed, however, that the report was a preliminary one and that while data was lacking in some areas, many of the Committee's questions would be answered when the delegation presented its 2000-2003 national plan of action.
Cameroon was willing to change things, she said. There was a general awareness that the promotion of women went beyond general equality and included promoting health, especially HIV/AIDS prevention programmes, strengthening their technical capabilities and even financing income-producing activities at the rural level. The methods for producing change were important and rights-based dialogues must be started at all levels.
The Committee is expected to hear a more in-depth reply from Cameroon’s delegation to its comments and queries at 10 a.m. on Monday, 26 June.
Also this afternoon, the Committee considered the Report of its pre-session working group (document CEADW/C/2000/II/CRP.1). That group had convened for five days in February to prepare lists of country-specific issues and questions relating to the periodic reports which were currently under review. When the report was introduced, several experts stressed the importance of including the participation of non-governmental organizations in the pre-session process.
At 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, 21 June, the Committee will commence consideration of the initial periodic report of Moldova.
* *** *
23rd Session
477th Meeting
20 June 2000 (PM)
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women met this afternoon to continue its article-by-article consideration of Cameroon’s compliance with the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The Convention, which as of 1 May had been ratified or acceded to by 165 countries, requires States parties to eliminate discrimination against women in the enjoyment of all civil, political, economic and cultural rights. Cameroon became a States party to the Convention in 1994 when it ratified it without reservations and this is its first report to the Committee.
After hearing the introduction of Cameroon’s initial report in its morning session, the Committee opened its afternoon discussion with consideration of article 12 of the Convention, on health care. The experts commented on the detailed, objective and transparent account of Cameroon’s compliance with the provisions of the Convention.
One expert said, however, that Cameroon’s report did not include statistics on abortion. She was concerned at the lack of information in that area, because she had noticed that Cameroon had very strict abortion laws, as well as very high maternal morality rates. Were the two related in some way? Had any research been done in that area?
Turning to Cameroon’s measures to address the situation of rural women (article 14) an expert said the statistics included in the report had made the "invisible" rural woman visible. The report failed to include information on rural women’s access to credit, however. That was important because such access was often the road to freedom for rural women.
On the issue of rural women’s health, the expert wondered if Cameroon could provide the Committee with more information on maternal health care facilities. Several experts also expressed concern about rural women’s access to clean drinking water. According to the report, that seemed to be a very serious problem that could be detrimental to the health of women and their families. Had the Government envisaged any clean water programmes that could help in that area?
Another expert expressed concern that social security reform had not reached rural areas.
It was disturbing, an expert said, that the coexistence of customary laws and written laws had resulted in two separate court systems. That would, at the very least, be confusing for women as well as men. In many cases, neither might know what laws to use. How could illiterate women, for example, express their rights within such a confusing system? Had there been any consideration made to harmonizing the two systems?
Addressing article 16 (family law), an expert said civil and commercial courts placed narrow restraints on women’s marital capacity. Could legislation be enacted to remove those constraints? She also expressed concern about Cameroon’s cohabitation law and its iteration that children born to unmarried parents were considered illegitimate. Restraints on the right of widows to remarry were also disturbing. Those and other laws appeared to be obviously patriarchal in nature. In today’s world, was there any reason to enforce such laws? The age of marriage for girls - 15 years old - was also of concern. Had the delegation considered changing that policy? Had there been any studies to see if the law interfered with attending school?
Several experts commended Cameroon on the imminent revision of its family law code. But complete change took time, one expert said. Why not work towards a complete revision of the code while changing simple things incrementally? She also wondered if customary laws would be nullified once the new family code was enacted? It had been the experience of the Committee that the negative aspects of customary laws often lingered, even in the face of new written laws. She particularly urged Cameroon to introduce stronger measures in the area of polygamy, including making the practice illegal and perhaps even placing sanctions on men that commit that crime.
Generally more statistics and quantitative data should be presented, another expert said. There was a need to know what the situation was in Cameroon at the moment. What were the current statistics on polygamy? Was there up-to-date information on dowry practices? The report noted that, to some degree, women themselves were often considered "inheritable goods". As that was an obvious violation of human rights, it would have been helpful to know to what extent it was practised.
In a brief statement following comments by the experts, Cameroon's Minister for Women’s Affairs, Julienne Ngo Som, applauded the Committee for its insightful and relevant consideration of Cameroon’s initial periodic report. She stressed, however, that the report was a preliminary one and that while data was lacking in some areas, many of the Committee's questions would be answered when the delegation presented its 2000-2003 national plan of action.
Cameroon was willing to change things, she said. There was a general awareness that the promotion of women went beyond general equality and included promoting health, especially HIV/AIDS prevention programmes, strengthening their technical capabilities and even financing income-producing activities at the rural level. The methods for producing change were important and rights-based dialogues must be started at all levels.
The Committee is expected to hear a more in-depth reply from Cameroon’s delegation to its comments and queries at 10 a.m. on Monday, 26 June.
Also this afternoon, the Committee considered the Report of its pre-session working group (document CEADW/C/2000/II/CRP.1). That group had convened for five days in February to prepare lists of country-specific issues and questions relating to the periodic reports which were currently under review. When the report was introduced, several experts stressed the importance of including the participation of non-governmental organizations in the pre-session process.
At 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, 21 June, the Committee will commence consideration of the initial periodic report of Moldova.
* *** *