UNCT - CHAD
Confidential Reports to CEDAW
Prepared by the UN Gender Thematic Group
February 2011

UNCT Reports to CEDAW

The following guidelines are for the use of UN Country Offices

Countries that have ratified CEDAW are bound to submit initial reports and subsequent periodic reports each four years to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women . The reports must provide details on the compliance with and progress in the implementation of the Convention, particularly on the legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures that they have adopted. The reports form the basis for the CEDAW Committee’s review of the country’s successes and challenges in eliminating discrimination and advancing gender equality.

The UN system also provides country-specific information to the CEDAW Committee regarding reporting countries. When a country has been scheduled to report to CEDAW, the UNCTs, through their thematic gender or human rights groupmay wish to elaborate a report that will be submitted and presented by either the Resident Coordinator, a UNCT representative or a UN Agency representative at the Headquarters level to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. It should also be noted that, in previous sessions, some UNCTs have chosen to share their reports with Government partners.

The reports are considered by the Committee in its closed “pre-sessional” meetings, and the reports are not made public on the OHCHR CEDAW website.The Committee uses the information it receives when formulating questions for theGovernment regarding its report, and again when it prepares recommendations in its “concluding observations” to the Government.

The UN system – by virtue of the CCA/UNDAF process, and also through each individual agency’s work – is in possession of a great deal of information that can assist the Committee to assess the State’s progress in implementing the Convention. The guidelines provided below are intended to highlight the specific types of information that would be of most useful, and would be most important to supply to the Committee, where it is already available.

Where a country’s periodic report is being reviewed, the CEDAW Committee places a special emphasis on the adequacy of the measures that have been taken since the previous reporting session, to implement the Committee’s concluding observations. Copies of these concluding observations will be provided separately to the UNCTs by email.

In addition to information relating to the concluding observations, information that is available in the areas noted below would also be important to include in the UNCT report:

  1. Discrimination

Articles 2, 3 and 4 of CEDAW require States to undertake a range of legal and other measures to prevent and protect women from discrimination. Please provide the information that is available regarding progress and obstacles in this area, including, in particular, regarding:

  • Administrative measures to protect women victims of discrimination in all settings
  • Laws, including Constitutional provisions, that prohibit discrimination against women and abolish discriminatory customs and practices and measures for their enforcement
  • Mechanisms in place, including judicial mechanisms and sanctions prohibiting discrimination and ensuring that public authorities, organizations or enterprises refrain from discrimination against women
  • Temporary special measures in place to accelerate de facto[1] equality between men and women
  • Existence of any discriminatory practice in the public and private sectors, including HIV-related discrimination against positive women
  • Policies in place to prevent discrimination against women such as policies on work place, sexual harassment, etc
  • Access to legal aid and other forms of advocacy and assistance
  • Any barriers to advancing work in this area

To be checked by Education , Health and HIV / AIDS

The principle of non-discrimination is enshrined inarticles 13 and 14 of the Chadian Constitution. Article 13 establishes the principle of equality of men and women before the law, and Article 14 goes further, holding that the state shall ensure the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and ensure the protection of their rights in both private and public life.

CEDAW-consistent measures are in place in both national legislation as well as the Constitution, but such measures are not fully put into practice or enforced. Access to national structures and services, including the judiciary system, is very limited for women and girls due to prevalence of strong customs and traditional practices that tend to discriminate against women.

There is a strong duality between the modern and traditional systems of justice. For more than 10 years, a revised family code more consistent with CEDAW’s rights and principles has not yet been approved. The penal code from 1967 remains in force, and has not been revised to include measures protecting women and children from violence.

HIV

Socio-cultural norms and beliefs in Chad tend to stigmatise certain groups and deprive them of autonomy, and also form an obstacle to the diffusion of key messages on HIV prevention and reproductive health. Stigmatisation and discrimination of HIV positive persons are prevalent throughout Chad, but especially in the East and North.

  1. Public and Political life

Article 7 of CEDAW requires States to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country. Please provide the information that is available regarding progress and obstacles encountered, in particular in relation to:

  • Ability to vote, eligibility to run for elections
  • Affiliation and effective participation in political parties
  • Number (and percentage vis-à-vis men) of women members of Parliament, number (and percentage vis-à-vis men)
  • Level of women holding public and independent functions such as ombuds persons
  • Mechanisms to ensure women’s participation in the design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of social, political and economic policies as well as budgetary allocations all at the national and the decentralized level
  • Participation of women in civil society organizations, including NGOs, private

Article 3 of the Electoral Code of 2000 guarantees the rights of each Chadian – man and woman – to elect and be elected.

Ten out 155 members of Parliament, or 6.45%, are women. The Bureau of the Parliament comprises 10 members, two of whom are women (20%) – vice president and parliamentary administrator.

The Chadian government comprises 41 ministers, out of whom 8 – 19.5% – are women, including the following positions:

  • Minister of Social Action, National Solidarity and Family;
  • Minister of Public Health
  • Minister of Micro-finance and in charge of poverty alleviation
  • Secretary of State, Ministry of Agriculture in Charge of Security;
  • Secretary of State, Ministry of Health, in charge of health facilities
  • Secretary of State, Ministry of National Education, in charge of Basic Literacy.
  • Secretary of State, Ministry of National Education, in charge of High Education
  • Secretary of State, Ministry of Action SocialNational Solidarity and Family

Women are members of several organizations that defend their rights and implement programmes and projects which advancing their rights in Chad. The most important of these organisations are: the Reseau National des Femmes Ministres et Parlementaires du Tchad supported by UNFPA, Cellule de Liaison et d’Information des Associations Féminines (CELIAF) more than « 300 groupements féminins», Union des femmes arabofones du Tchad (UAFAT), Réseau des parlementaires en populations et développement, and recently, the UNCT supported a male engagement network for gender and sexual and reproductive health composed by members of parliament, youth, university students…

Gender budgeting doesn’t exist but the UNCT will start this year sensitizing the government on the issue of integrating gender in the budget.

  1. Nationality

Article 9 of CEDAW sets clear requirements for nationality laws, which every State must meet. Please provide any information available regarding the following:

  • Are women granted the same rights as men to acquire, change or retain their nationality?
  • Does marriage to an alien, or the change of nationality by a husband, automatically change the nationality of the wife, render her stateless, or force the husband’s nationality upon her?
  • Do legislative provisions relating to the nationality of children extend the same rights to both men and women?
  • Do legislative provisions relating to the nationality guarantee “double nationality” when possible?

The Code of Nationality stipulates, in article 17, the equality of woman and man with regard to nationality. The acquisition of nationality by marriage takes place in the same conditions for man and woman.

Article 9 of the Code corresponds to arts. 11, 12, 24, and 25, which all extend the same rights for both men and women.

Moreover, the Constitution of Chad enshrines in article 13 the principle of equality of both men and women – “Chadians of both sex have the same duties and responsibilities. They are equal before the law.”

Discrimination on the basis of gender in the practice of birth registration has resulted in some women and girls, including refugees and IDPs, lacking equal identity documents. This can impact their access to fundamental rights and services throughout their lives, such as freedom of movement.

  1. Education

Article 10 of CEDAW requires States to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in education. Please provide information available regarding progress and obstacles, particularly in relation to:

  • Access to educational, vocational, technical and professional training, and percentage of girls completing education or training and acquiring diplomas
  • Compulsory and free primary school
  • Literacy programmes (formal and informal education/urban/rural)
  • Family preference of sending boys over girls to school
  • Drop out of girls (Percentage vis-à-vis boys) and causes. Differences in rural and urban settings
  • Access to comprehensive and age-appropriate HIV information, education and life-skills training for children and young people inside and outside schools
  • Girls’ enrollment in secondary school vis-à-vis boys and retention percentage. Differences in rural and urban settings
  • Access of girls to the quality of curricula, staff, premises, equipment, examination. Differences in rural and urban settings
  • Teaching material, including books, video, that contain discriminatory/stereotype messages
  • Teaching practices and any other school practice that promote discrimination or stereotypes
  • Existing programmes for girls and women who have left school prematurely
  • Equal opportunities for equal participation in sports and physical education and cultural activities. Differences in rural and urban settings
  • Provision of information to adolescents on sex education and on family planning
  • Access to programmes to continuing education, adult and literacy programmes
  • Sexual abuse and harassment
  • Discontinuation of school because of early marriage or pregnancy (including the practice of expelling girls from school because of pregnancy)
  • Specific measures to ensure girls attend school during menstrual periods

Despite its commitment to Education for All in 2015, which guarantees free and mandatory education for all up to the age of 16, Chad has low literacy and primary education enrolment rates. The country adult literacy rate is of 22%[2] of women Parity index for sexes is in primary school: 0,87% and Secondary school is 0,58%. (Source: MICS-2010).

Girls are also likely less to go to school, and to remain in school, than boys, as indicates the following gender profile of primary schooling[3]:

Pupils / Grade 1 / Grade 2 / Grade 3 / Grade 4 / Grade 5 / Grade 6
Boys / 121,1% / 91.5% / 85.5% / 69.9% / 59% / 50.3%
Girls / 90.9% / 64.5% / 55.8% / 44% / 33% / 25.7%
Total / 107.1% / 78% / 70.7% / 57% / 46.4% / 38%

This situation places women and girls in a position that limits their potential to better living conditions for themselves and for their children. The situation also obstructs the potential of women and girls to participate in their development and in that of their country.

There are a host of factors that bar girls from getting into and finishing school, many of which are related to customs and practices which discriminate against women in public life. There is a tendency of families to give priority to the education of boys rather than girls, since it is perceived that girls should stay home to help with domestic chores and raising their younger siblings. Girls who do have the chance to enroll often cannot finish the school cycle due to child marriage, which is permitted under the penal code and under customary tenets. Even in those schools where married girls are permitted to attend school, they often feel cultural barriers to their participation or pressure from their parents or husbands to leave school. Unwanted pregnancies of minor girls are also a large factor in the discontinuation of schooling of girls. As a result of the high drop-out rates of girls, there is a dearth of female teachers in schools (only 9%), in addition to a lack of qualified teachers generally.

Another obstacle often mentioned is the poor sanitary condition prevailing in most schools, characterized by a lack of water sources and latrines in schools. These factors constitute a very powerful constraint on girls, especially when they reach puberty age.

Another factor is the de facto high cost of school. Although school is free in principle, costs besides school fees must be covered by parents, including uniforms, books, etc. These costs can be prohibitive for the poor families that constitute the majority of the population(55% of the total population living under the poverty line[4]). There is a lack of adequate infrastructure as many of the schools are shelters erected by the community and that have to be replaced at the beginning of each school year. Additionally, the distance to walk to school can be a deterrent factor for girls’participation. These factors also generally affect refugee and displaced girls’ ability to attend and complete school.

UNICEF has designed an integrated package of interventions linking education to child

protection, health, nutrition, hygiene as well as water and environmental sanitation,

based on interventions that are proven to get children into school, keep them there,

and help them learn. This Essential Learning Package(ELP) is implemented in

partnership with WFP in the IDP sites of Eastern Chad, the 3 nomadic regions of Hadjer

Lamis, Kanem, Bahr El Gazal as well as in the 4 districts of lowest enrolment for girls

that are Batha East, Biltine and Mangalme in the Guera region, Mayo Lemie in the East

Mayo Kebi region.

In the IDP sites of Eastern Chad, UNICEF with partners could help 20,000 displaced children of school age to resume classes or 40% of the total, using community teachers recruited and quickly trained on the ground. In the nomadic zone and the 4 districts of lowest enrolments for girls, UNICEF in partnership with the Ministry of education is involved in community teachers ‘training and has so far trained 1,300, helping them better teaching to at least 130,000 pupils or 10% of the total population enrolled in primary school. UNICEF is also providing furniture and school materials to these 130,000 pupils(10% of the total enrolled students).

HIV

Efforts have been made to reinforce training on HIV and AIDS in Chad’s schools, thanks to the February 2004 law 002/MEN/SG/SLSMEN /004 which made HIV and AIDS education mandatory in schools and laid out a strategy to combat HIV/AIDS. Teacher training material was validated and 6 modules of training were diffused in 2009 throughout the country.

Data on HIV/AIDS education in schools are unavailable as no study has been conducted.

  1. Employment and work

Article 11 of CEDAW requires the State to take all appropriate measure to eliminate discrimination against women “in the field of employment”. Please provide available information on progress and obstacles to ensuring gender equality in employment, including in particular regarding:

  • Equal opportunity to employment, including same criteria for selection, in law and in practice
  • Percentage of working women and gender distribution of employment,
  • Whether any jobs are specifically prohibited for women, including on grounds of safety and health,
  • Free choice of profession and employment, right to promotion, job security and benefits, and equal wages
  • Equal access to social security, particularly in cases of retirement, unemployment, sickness, invalidity and old age and other incapacity to work and paid leave
  • Any special measures for protection of women’s health in the workplace
  • Requirement of pregnancy test by any employers, possibility of dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy or of maternity leave, dismissal on the basis on marital status.
  • Maternity leave, including whether or not with pay without loss of employment, seniority or social allowances
  • Measures in place to allow parents and care-givers to balance family obligations with work, including existence, access and affordability of child care facilities
  • Protection and guarantee of the reproductive rights, including special measures to protect women from harmful work during pregnancy
  • Access of rural women to employment and work in rural areas
  • Measures to ensure equal wages between men and women for work of equal value (which does not mean only the same job and level)

Data/ indicators are not available for the labour sector.

Article 6 of the Labor Code of 1996formally forbids employers from taking gender into consideration as a factor in employment, training, promotion, remuneration, social advantages, discipline and dismissal.

In articles 109, 110, and 111, the Code establishes a positive discrimination for women, stipulating their right to pre-natal and post-natal leave of up to three weeks. Women have the right to free health care paid by the employer, in the conditions stipulated by the collective conventions. The right to breastfeed one hour per day for 15 months following delivery is also guaranteed, and the time for breastfeeding is considered effective working time.

While women employed in the private sector benefit from allocations for family and medical coverage, those in the public sector do not in practice benefit from the same measures, although they are entitled to under national laws.

A study of sex workers in 2009 revealed an infection rate of 20% which demands urgent action in the form of programmes and projects for prevention, testing, use of condoms, training, etc.

  1. Child Labour
  2. State action in terms of legislation, national policies and measures to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise progressively the minimum age for admission to employment or work to a level consistent with the fullest physical and mental development of young persons
  3. Minimum ages for admission to different kinds of employment or work
  4. Types of employment or work deemed to be hazardous by national laws or regulations
  5. Types of hazardous work children are actually engaged in, and disaggregated data on number of children employed in hazardous work
  6. Measures in place for providing access to education, health and social protection for children in labour

The national legislation takes into account different dispositions of the ILO Conventions 138 and 182, in arts. 20, 32, 35, and 38 of the Chadian Constitution, as well as in arts.18, 52, 206, 208 and 210 of the Labour Code. The Decree Nº 55/PR/PM-MTJS-DTMOPS/1969 regarding child labour was revised and incorporated the dispositions of ILO Convention 182.