经济、社会和文化权利委员会在冈比亚缺席的情况下审议该缔约国的报告（部分翻译）

2015年2月25日

经济、社会和文化权利委员会今天在冈比亚缺席的情况下审议了关于该缔约国落实《经济、社会及文化权利国际公约》条款情况的首份报告。

委员会专家兼国别报告员钱德拉谢卡尔•达斯古普塔（Chandashekhar Dasgupta）积极地谈到了冈比亚取得的进展，例如其颁布了立法、加入多项国际文书并通过了一些政策，不过他提到，在法律和政策的落实以及履行国际责任方面仍存有疑问。令人担忧的主要问题包括腐败、男女平等权利问题、未能通过关于暴力侵害妇女的法律、家庭暴力、极高的产妇和儿童死亡率、切割女性生殖器官和切伤身体等有害传统做法。

委员会专家们谈到了冈比亚严重的不平等现象，其中近半人口生活在贫困线以下。他们还谈及健康和教育领域可能需要令人警惕的现状。一名专家对以下问题表示关切：该国未能对社会福利和健康系统进行投入，通过个人身份法而对女童和妇女在立法上进行公然的歧视，残疾儿童的待遇如何落后于时代——依然遵循着医疗模式而非《残疾人权利公约》支持的社会模式。报告声明，健康、孕产妇和老年人的社会保障福利并未扩大至非正规部门，这是令人关心的，因为96%的劳动力在非正规部门就业。

一名委员会专家对综合的儿童法表示欢迎，该法律列出了消除性别暴力和将肇事者绳之以法的措施；不过，该法律在许多领域十分薄弱，例如童婚、切割女性生殖器官和童工，并且甚至连负责法律落实的警方对其也并不了解。冈比亚的2010-2014年优先就业方案是该国主要的发展方案，它立足于第二号减贫战略文件，不过并未纳入所吸取的教训。至少11%的人口处于饥饿中，另外，考虑到冈比亚60%的粮食为进口，这一比例甚至要高于危机时期；专家们担心，政府选择提高本地粮食生产的方式尚未影响到偏远地区的小农。

委员会将在2015年3月6日结束为期两周的会议时发布其对冈比亚报告的正式结论性意见和建议。

委员会将于3月6日（周五）下午3点举行下一次公开会议，通过其关于巴拉圭、塔吉克斯坦和冈比亚报告的结论性意见和建议，随后结束第五十四届会议。

报告

冈比亚的首份报告请见：E/C.12/GMB/1

Questions from Country Rapporteur

CHANDASHEKHAR DASGUPTA, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur on the Gambia, said that the initial report of the Gambia had been received 22 years late, and that the State Party had failed to respond to the List of Issues in preparation for the consideration of the said report. Mr. Dasgupta confirmed that, in accordance with Rule 62(3) of the Rules of Procedure, the Committee should consider the report of the Gambia in the absence of the delegation. The positive developments in the country were the enactment of legislation, accession to international instrument and the adoption of some policies. However, the implementation of those policies and the discharge of international responsibilities and obligations of the Gambia were questionable.

Among chief concerns were the corruption and the question of equal rights between women and men, notably the denial of Covenant rights to women in matters of marriage, inheritance and divorce through personal laws. A huge gap also existed in women’s rights to employment. Clarity was needed on the fate of the law on violence against women, protection of the family, measures to address domestic violence, the right to an adequate standard of living and housing and what was being done to reduce poverty levels. Among other concerns that needed further information from the State Party were the very high maternity and child mortality rates, harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation and cutting, and the alarming school drop-out rates.

Questions from Committee Experts

Committee Experts spoke about the glaring inequality in the Gambia, where nearly half of the population lived below the poverty line. It was not very clear what the state of affairs was in the health and education sector, but given the levels of poverty in the country, it was probably quite alarming; such was also the state of civil and political rights, as attested by the recent coup d’état. Gender-based discrimination seemed deep seated, which was illustrated by the data on poverty contained in the report, showing disproportionate rates of female poverty. The examination of national legislation suggested that economic, social and cultural rights lacked force in the domestic legal order and the failure of the Gambia to translate into laws its international obligations. It was not clear how effective the national human rights institution functioned and whether it could contribute to the enjoyment of human rights. Homosexual relations were punishable by law.

Another Expert said that principal points to raise with the Gambia were a failure to invest in social welfare and in health systems, explicit discrimination against girls and women in the legislation through personal status laws, and that the treatment of children with disabilities lagged behind times and still followed the medical model and not the social model favoured by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Other issues raised included the absence of a comprehensive anti-discrimination law, social spending since 2010, existence of religious legislation side by side with the state legislation and the impact of Sharia law on the implementation of the Covenant, and that as long as socio-economic conditions remained precarious, polygamy would persist.

In a further series of comments, the Committee Experts said that the very high rate of unemployment, and particularly youth unemployment, was an issue of concern, and wondered whether a follow-up to the Gambia Priority Employment Programme to 2014 had been adopted. The report stated that the social security benefits for health, maternity and old age did not extend to the informal sector, which was of concern given that 96 per cent of the workforce was employed in the informal sector. The question of technical assistance to the Gambia was also raised.

Poverty was an issue of great concern, and Experts said more clarity was needed on the prevailing rate of poverty in the country, and which groups were most vulnerable, marginalized and affected by poverty. Experts wondered about poverty reduction programmes in the Gambia, access to adequate housing, including social housing for the poor, and the situation in informal settlements and slums. The Committee welcomed the comprehensive Children Act which set out measures to eliminate gender-based violence and bring perpetrators to justice; however, the Act was weak in many areas such as child marriages, female genital mutilation and child labour, and was not known even among the police which was in charge of its implementation.

The Gambia Priority Employment Programme 2010-2014 was the main development programme which had built on the Second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, but did not incorporate lessons learned. At least 11 per cent of the population was hungry, and, considering that the Gambia imported 60 per cent of its food, this rate was even higher in times of crises. Experts were concerned that the means chosen by the Government to improve the local food production did not reach the small-holder farmers in remote areas.

Progress in the area of education had undeniably been achieved, and the Gambia had allocated a significant budget to the education sector; issues of concern were continuity in resource allocation and the high drop-out rates for girls, especially in rural areas; 65 per cent of girls were enrolled in primary schools, but only about 15 per cent completed primary levels, mainly because of religious reasons, early marriages and associated costs.

Concluding Remarks

CHANDASHEKHAR DASGUPTA, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur on the Gambia, said that a large number of interventions and comments pointed to the absence of data and lack of clarity on the performance of the Gambia, and said that in order to prepare the concluding observations, the Committee would consult other sources of information, such as other human rights treaty bodies or the Universal Periodic Review.
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