Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women considers report of the Republic of the Congo

Committee on Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women

14 February 2012

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today considered the sixth periodic report of the Republic of the Congo on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Introducing the report, Luc-Joseph Okio, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Congo to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that progress had been made in the area of primary education, maternal and child health and institutional mechanisms, as well as in the areas of non-formal employment, sexual violence and representation of women in decision-making bodies, politics and other aspects of public life. A law on political parties and electoral law had been adopted to increase the representation of women in decision-making bodies, but despite those legal provisions, women remained under-represented and the number of Members of Parliament had actually dropped since 2007. The education budget and literacy-building activities for adults had been increased, but school drop-out rates remained high, particularly for girls. Maternal and child health programmes were in place, particularly targeting the high maternal mortality rate and sexual exploitation of women and children, in particular indigenous women and children. The primary challenges for the Congo were mobilisation of resources to finance activities of women, transformation of relationships between man and women and strengthening of partnerships with bilateral and multilateral partners.

During the discussion Committee Experts asked questions about legislative reform to protect women from sexual and gender-based violence and discriminatory customary laws, particularly for widows. Experts were concerned about the Amnesty Law and its impact on impunity for acts of rape and sexual violence committed during the war. The delegation was asked about refugee protection mechanisms, measures to combat stereotypes and harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, human trafficking and governmental activities to address silence of victims of sexual violence and provide them with adequate legal and medical support. Experts also raised the protection of women in camps for internally displaced persons and concrete steps and measures to prevent transmission of HIV/AIDS in women. Abortion, contraception and sex education with the aim of preventing early age pregnancies among young girls, polygamy in the Congolese society and the activities of the Government to bring reproductive health services closer to indigenous women, were also discussed.

In concluding remarks, Luc-Joseph Okio said that the Government was aware of the need to provide more statistics with its next report and emphasized the need to balance its international commitments and obligations with the situation on the ground. The Government was fully aware that the Family Code was lacking, that widowhood and succession practices needed to be improved and that it could benefit from the international technical assistance from and through the Committee.

The delegation of the Republic of the Congo consisted of the representatives of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Congo to the United Nations Office at Geneva, the Ministry for the Promotion of Women and Integration of Women in Development and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation

The next public meeting of the Committee will be at 10 a.m. on Wednesday 15 February, when it will continue the consideration of the combined initial to fifth periodic reports (CEDAW/C/GRD/1-5).

Report

The sixth periodic report of the Republic of the Congo can be read here: (CEDAW/C/COG/6).

Presentation of the Report

LUC-JOSEPH OKIO, Head of the Delegation and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Congo to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that progress had been made in the area of primary education, maternal and child health and institutional mechanisms, as well as in the areas of non-formal employment, sexual violence and representation of women in decision-making bodies. Several measures had been taken to protect human rights of women and children on the national level, including the accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 2007, the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Children and a series of actions to protect the rights of the indigenous people, including creation of the Ministry of Indigenous People. Efforts had been made to improve the inclusion of women in development, politics, legal issues and other aspects of public life. A law on political parties and electoral proceedings had been adopted with the view of increasing the representation of women in decision-making bodies. In 2010 the Congo launched an initiative to train male leaders to increase awareness of the rights of women and had also adopted a law on political parties and electoral law in order to increase representation of women in decision-making bodies. Despite those legal provisions, women remained under-represented and their number in the Parliament had dropped from 9.6% in 207 to 8.6% in 2011. Partnerships with non-governmental organisations and multilateral organisations led to the increased understanding among women themselves of the need to improve their participation in social, economical, political and cultural spheres.

The Government had increased the education budget and literacy-building activities for adults, but levels of school drop-outs remained high, particularly for girls. School attendance by girls still met a number of obstacles, including lack of single-sex boarding schools, awareness among parents and the difficulties in payment of school fees. Several maternal and child health programmes were underway, including measures to reduce the high maternal mortality. Challenges facing such programmes were the need for further strengthening of reproductive health institutions and legislation, capacity building of health workers and inadequate data collection and analysis on maternal, neonatal and infant mortality. In efforts to combat violence against women, the Government was supporting non-governmental organisation-run programmes against gender-based violence, while a number of legislative measures had been undertaken to fight sexual exploitation of women and children, and in particular indigenous women and children. The following challenges remained for the Government of the Congo: mobilisation of resources to finance activities of women, transformation of relationships between man and women, strengthening of partnerships with bilateral and multilateral partners, capacity building at all levels.

Questions by Experts

Legislative reform was particularly important for the rule of law and the protection of women from discriminatory customary laws, and an expert wished to hear more about the training of judges and on consolidating judicial system and mechanisms. There was a lack of information on measures undertaken to address the problem of sexual violence during the war and the delegation was asked to provide more information about the fight against impunity and compensation to victims. An expert expressed concern about the Amnesty Law adopted after the conflict and asked whether it covered areas of rape and sexual violence. An expert asked about the mechanisms to protect refugee women. Another asked what the role of the Parliament was in the legislative matters and in their initiatives and structures.

Response by the Delegation

On questions concerning the legal reform, the delegation said that a Commission had been established to amend various texts that were deemed to be discriminatory; it had already addressed the Family Code and the Penal Code. The work of the Commission was held up due to lack of resources and the Government was working now with their partners to address that issue. With the support of the African Development Bank, a number of training and awareness raising activities were held for judges and public on the provision of Convention. The general text that stat5ed married women should be treated as minors was revised, but further measures still needed to be taken to ensure equal treatment of women.

The problem of sexual violence was that it was a taboo question and very difficult for women to identify perpetrators, which created obstacles for the justice system. The problem was even more pronounced for sexual violence that had occurred during the war and armed conflict. On institutional frameworks and mechanisms, the delegation said that there was a gender focal point in both the Senate and the Lower House, and the national policy on gender based poverty reduction strategy was in place. The Amnesty Law focused on war crimes and did not protect perpetrators of reported acts of sexual violence that occurred during the war. It was difficult for victims of sexual violence in all societies to report and identify the perpetrators. All those identified as perpetrators of sexual violence and gender-based violence were prosecuted.

Questions from Experts

An expert asked what priorities were accorded to the provision of financial resources to implement policies for the improvement of the status of women. It was important that women’s issues were led by both men and women and an expert wished to hear more about the support to the fight negative traditional practices, customary law and tackling stereotypes, particularly female genital mutilation.

Human trafficking was a crime no country was innocent of, an expert said and added that the Congo needed to expand their approach to trafficking from its focus on children to consider other forms and victims of trafficking.

Response from the Delegation

The Congo had begun updating its laws, which was a Herculean task requiring significant resources. Stereotypes were obstacles to realising the full potential of women, the delegation said and despite the existence of laws protecting and promoting women, implementation was a problem, as was changing the attitudes and mentality of the population, particularly among men and leaders. The Convention was the basis for programmes promoting equality among women and men, and those programmes would be expanded as soon as further resources were provided.

An in-depth study on female genital mutilation needed to be implemented in order to understand how widespread the practice was. Female genital mutilation was also included in the draft law on violence against women and discussions were held to increase public awareness of the phenomenon. To accelerate the legislative agenda the Congo had set up Commissions charged with revision of key legal texts. In addition to that work the Ministry had included in its 2012 budget an audit of legislative framework to create a coherent national action plan to address the gaps and identify provisions that needed to be strengthened.

On human trafficking, the delegation said that the next periodic report would address this issue in depth as suggested by the Committee experts. A delegate said that widows were subject to custom and tradition, and women would often resign themselves in order to protect their children, including from black magic practised by in-laws. The Ministry had put in place information to change mindsets leading to gender inequality but that was long-term work requiring resources which the Government was trying to increase.

Questions from Experts

Were Pigmies and other minorities in the Congo fully aware of their rights, an expert asked. Another referred to women who remained silent about sexual violence and asked what the Government was doing to lift this silence and ensure safe homes for women reporting the violence. What type of refugee determination process existed in the country? The delegation had already informed the Committee that female genital mutilation was included in the draft law on violence against women, but would it criminalize female genital mutilation as well? What measures were taken to provide victims of violence with legal and medical support?

The decrease in the number of women sitting in Parliament and in decision-making bodies was a concern, said an expert, who asked whether the law on exceptions to equality would cover all levels and sectors, and whether the Government would include requirements for equality in the private sector as well.

Response from the Delegation

The procedure for granting refugee status in the Congo was based on the assessment of all cases by the Eligibility Committee. Refugees had the rights to work, live in communities and to education. In some cases there was a prohibition on exercising political life for refugees coming from neighbouring countries. It took time to combat stereotypes, because the attitudes and mentality of the people needed to be changed. Children must be targeted by educational campaigns in order to teach them about prejudice while they were young, and the Government intended to change attitudes through such education reform. The Ministry of Social and Humanitarian Affairs, in partnership with non-governmental organisations and United Nations bodies and agencies was undertaking measures to protect people living in refugee camps against violence, particularly sexual violence. The fact that victims of violence often remained silent was an obstacle to effective protection.

The Government was doing its best to educate indigenous women about their rights, particularly reproductive rights and the benefits of using reproductive health services in hospitals. Indigenous women were not usually targeted specifically by awareness raising programmes, but were included in all standard programmes implemented by the Government. There were provisions in the draft laws to prohibit sexual harassment and the Government intended to conduct a study to sexual harassment in the workplace.

A draft law was currently being perfected, the delegation replied, although it was not currently possible to say if it would cover all the areas of activities the expert referred to. There was a will to move from words to action in addressing inequalities and a clear list of priorities had been set by the Government in that regard.

Questions from Experts

An expert asked whether the Government had a time-frame to tackle sexual harassment in schools and what measures were in place to ensure greater access for girls to higher education. The gender pay gap was an indicator of gender inequality in the country and the expert wished to hear about measures taken to address that. Another expert addressed the issue of high maternal mortality rates in the Congo and asked what the current maternal mortality rates were and whether there were any studies in causes.

What services were available for pregnant women? An expert asked for more information on women and HIV/AIDS, how women contracted the virus and what services and support were available to them. An Expert addressed the issue of access of women to land and credit, and asked the delegation to provide more information about land ownership by women and number of women benefitting from credit schemes.

Response from the Delegation

Regarding illiteracy rates, the delegation said that the rates were indeed high and that there was a political will within the country to address the problem and find a remedy. Measures had been taken to tackle sexual harassment in schools as well.

The Government was aware of the problem of high school drop-out rates and was taking actions to address it. On the equality of pay, the delegation said that women had a legal right to receive equal pay and maternity leave. There was a law on restructuring of civil services which added further protection for pregnant and breastfeeding women employed by the public sector. There was no wage discrimination in the Congo and women were in fact receiving more money as they were primary recipients of child benefits. Turning to maternal mortality rates, the delegation said that some pregnant women did not attend prenatal consultations, which was a risk factor in maternal mortality. Health care was free of charge and universal, including caesarean sections and other surgeries related to birth. Rural women had more difficulty in accessing those services due to their distance from hospitals and health centres. The Government was trying to address that problem through an integrated health services approach.

Poverty was a risk factor which increased the vulnerability of women to HIV/AIDS; and the majority of people living in poverty in the Congo were women. Antiretroviral medications were provided free of charge, as well as screening and HIV testing and prevention of mother to child transmission. The Government was also trying to improve the economic status of the women affected by this disease. Other measures to reduce female poverty focused on strengthening the capacity of women, followed by support measures to enable them to carry out income generating activities, including access to loans and credit.

Questions from Experts

In a further series of questions and comments, an expert said that she wished that all women could take part in development and relevant decision-making processes and asked how the process of women participation could be accelerated and how the poverty reduction strategy was linked to that objective. How did the Government support the women still living in camps for internally displaced persons?

Another expert asked about concrete steps to prevent transmission of HIV, both in mother to child and men to women transmission, and whether funding policies for HIV/AIDS activities were gender sensitive. Furthermore, the expert wished to hear more about abortion, contraception and sex education with the aim of prevention of early age pregnancies among young girls.

The delegation had previously said one of the reasons behind high maternal mortality rates in the country was the failure of women to seek prenatal care; an expert asked for further explanations of causes of high maternal mortality, and about what the Government was doing to make health services more accessible for women in need.

Response from the Delegation

There were no constitutional restrictions for women to access credit, the head of the delegation said, but it was likely that some provisions were created by banks. He also said that a number of HIV/AIDS programmes in the Congo benefitted from support of multilateral organisations, particularly in the area of prevention of transmission from mother to child. Speaking about health care for indigenous women, the delegation emphasised once again the difficulty in accessing and reaching women who lived nomadic and semi-nomadic lives. There were awareness raising activities on contraception, including television campaigns, and those issues were discussed in schools, families and communities.

The Government decided to provide resources for training women, and there were four training centres in the Congo that trained girls in a number of sectors traditionally seen as male jobs, such as construction. On protection of women living in the camps for internally displaced persons, the delegation said that a number of those persons had fled the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They were not considered refugees and were put in camps in the north of the country. Their status was being examined at the moment and if they received refugee status they would enjoy same rights as other refugees in the Congo.

Questions from Experts

In additional questions and comments, an Expert regretted the lack of information from Congo on the incompatibility of national laws with the provisions of the Convention. The Family Law contained deep rooted discrimination against women. That discrimination was visible in the choice of place to live, polygamy, financial decision-making, dowry system, adultery, marital rape and a number of other practices. Did the State party need technical support to remove those discriminatory provisions from the law?

An expert asked whether inheritance rights and custody issues were covered by the Committee set up under the Family Code. Another expert asked further questions on polygamy among the Congolese population and, while noting that a number of countries and societies took measures against this practice, asked how the Government was addressing the issue.

Response from the Delegation

The Congo was in the process of reviewing its legislation, particularly its Family Code, and it was a hard battle the Government was dedicated to seeing to the end, a delegate said. The new Family Code would be promulgated in a few years from now, and would contain all the comments and remarks made by the Committee Experts. On the issue of dowry, the delegation said that it was not universally applied and headway was being made: the mentality of the people of the Congo was changing. The political will was there to tackle and end restrictions and traditional practices and to ensure that the Congo was compliant with its international obligations. Polygamy did exist, particularly in rural areas and in some communities it was a way to ensure that the land was cultivated. The delegation needed to obtain exact figures for the number of polygamous marriages in the country.

There were women who voluntarily renounced their succession rights, the delegation said and added that indeed there was still an active influence of traditions on the treatment of widows. Because of awareness campaigns widows knew more about their rights and were also able to turn to centers that had been set up to provide them with legal help. Widowhood, widow rituals and rights were strongly influenced by traditions and customs and those could not be changed by a decree but only by a dialogue with societies and communities on the need and rationale for change.

Turning to polygamy, the delegation said that a dual system existed in the Congo, the legal one and customary one. Even though the Government wanted to modernize the society, adopting texts was not enough if the practice among the people would not change.

Concluding remarks

LUC-JOSEPH OKIO, Head of the Delegation and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Congo to the United Nations Office at Geneva, thanked the Committee Experts for their efforts, questions and comments and said their comments would be used to improve the situation of women in the Republic of the Congo. The Government was aware of the need to provide more statistics with its next report and emphasized the need to balance its international commitments and obligations with the situation on the ground. The Government was fully aware that the Family Code was lacking, that widowhood and succession practices needed to be improved and knew that even if the law that protected the people was in place, the influence of traditional practices was still strong. The Government knew it could benefit from the international technical assistance from this Committee.

SILVIA PIMENTEL, Chairperson of the Committee, said that the dialogue with the delegation was indeed a constructive one. The Committee commended the State Party for their efforts and encouraged them to take measures for more comprehensive implement of the Convention on the Elimination on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women for the benefit of all women and girls in the country.

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