REQUEST FOR INCREASED ENGAGEMENT ON EFFORTS TO

UNCLAS ABIDJAN 000475 STATE FOR DRL:KGILBRIDE, GTIP:VZEITLIN, AF/RSA:LMUNCY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KWMN PHUM PREL IV SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR INCREASED ENGAGEMENT ON EFFORTS TO CURB GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE REF: A. STATE 64939 ¶B. 08 ABIDJAN 897 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Gender-based violence (GBV) is a widespread problem in Cote d'Ivoire, particularly in regions where the conflict displaced large numbers of people. The Ivoirian government is currently implementing anti-GBV projects in 18 departments in the north, west, and center of Cote d'Ivoire (the areas most affected by the conflict),with considerable financial assistance from bilateral and multilateral partners. Medical, psycho-social, judicial, and economic assistance for populations affected by GBV is lacking, however, and health services for GBV victims remain limited, especially in rural areas. END SUMMARY ¶2. (U) In response to reftel, Emboffs met with representatives of the Government of Cote d'Ivoire (GoCI), the United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) Gender Unit and Human Rights Unit, Save the Children-UK (SCUK),and International Rescue Committee (IRC). Responses to reftel questions follow: ¶A. What is the host country doing to curb gender-based violence in conflict areas? In 2000, the Ministry of Family created the National Committee to Fight Violence Against Women and Children. National Committee members conduct community sensitization, interview victims, and refer them to medical providers. The Committee relies heavily on donor support to carry out its work. In 2007, Cote d'Ivoire adopted a National Action Plan for the Implementation of UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1325. The 2008-2013 action plan identifies four main priority areas, the first of which is to protect women and girls from GBV and female genital mutilation (FGM). From 2006 - 2009, with significant financial and technical assistance from the African Development Bank (2.3 million USD),the Japanese government (1 million USD),UNFPA (300,000 USD),and the Spanish government (262,000 USD),the Government of Cote d'Ivoire implemented the following anti-GBV projects: - Elaboration and validation of a national strategy document on GBV. - Research Studies on GBV. Information from these studies will form the basis of a government-managed GBV database currently under construction. - Rehabilitation of operating rooms and maternity wards at 5 public health centers/hospitals. Four additional locations are scheduled to be rehabilitated. - Rehabilitation of 14 government-run social centers. - Training of approximately 900 personnel, including health care providers, social workers, judicial authorities, NGO representatives, and community members on proper procedures for handling the psychosocial and judicial aspects of GBV cases. 17 directors of community radio stations were also trained on GBV-related issues. - 18 public forums on GBV organized across the country, drawing the participation of approximately 1,500 people. - Establishment of 234 anti-GBV local, village-level vigilance committees in key regions. - Psychological support provided to 1,364 victims of GBV. - Sensitization of 52 FGM practitioners. The following projects are currently in progress: - Establishment of a Ministry of Family hotline that the general population can call to discuss concerns related to GBV and get information and advice free of charge. - Establishment of anti-GBV regional working groups directed by the Ministry of Family in 18 departments. (Five have already been established and their committee members already trained.) - Production of a made-for-TV film and a documentary on GBV to raise awareness of GBV issues - Establishment of 4 regional centers for the promotion of health and women's rights ¶B. What programs are currently being conducted on the ground by the USG and other donors to treat victims of GBV and to empower women to resist and report rape and sexual violence? Currently the USG funds multiple GBV projects in Cote d'Ivoire. The USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) is funding a 400,000 USD project in western Cote d'Ivoire to raise awareness of the GBV problem among vulnerable communities located along the Liberian border. Through Democracy and Human Rights Fund money, the Embassy also organized a coalition of eight local NGOs to implement a 24,911 USD anti-GBV study and sensitization campaign in eight secondary schools in Abidjan. The PEPFAR program in Cote d'Ivoire supports several GBV-related projects, including: - A 450,000 USD grant to International Rescue Committee to strengthen synergies in HIV prevention and GBV services - A 150,000 USD grant to Engender Health to train facilitators, mentor local partners, and implement a program aimed at changing male attitudes towards GBV - Larger multi-million HIV/AIDS specific grants to CARE International and Family Health International (FHI) that include GBV programming components. CARE has worked with the Ministry of Health to train physicians, and FHI focuses on capacity building of clinics and NGOs that service commercial sex workers. - Two research projects, financed at a total of 275,000 USD, are also being conducted this year on women who sell produce at markets and men who have sex with men. Both studies include questions related to GBV perceptions. What programs are particularly effective and what programs are not working? According to SCUK and IRC representatives, GBV is inextricably linked with accessing and controlling economic resources. Both organizations report that programs incorporating income-generating activities (in addition to sensitization and government capacity building) have been particularly successful. IRC has experimented with helping women set up small village-level savings and loan associations so they can use microcredit to increase their earning power. The project has been very successful and is low in cost: IRC simply provides a cashbox and a set of keys to get the women started and then trains them on how the system works. The NGO has noted that as women's' incomes grow, so does their power and status within the community. These microcredit associations are also used as forums for discussing GBV issues within communities. SCUK also reported that programs in which participants play a key role in running the program and managing their own materials have the highest rates of success. What else can be done and what resources are required? If funding became available, what programs would be effective in your country? Gaps remain in GBV programming in Cote d'Ivoire, and U.S. funding for GBV programs could potentially go a long way. SCUK and IRC are only working in the west, southwest, and center of the country, so additional funding could be used to target regions not currently benefiting from other programs. Female genital mutilation, for example, is particularly problematic in northern Cote d'Ivoire, especially in rural areas. Another acute need that is currently unmet is the establishment of shelters for GBV victims. There are currently no government-run shelters: usually GBV victims are referred to NGOs that may or may not have space to accommodate them. Programs that promote equality for women in a broad sense could contribute to changing a culture that still encourages the subservience of women and girls. A major impediment to rapes being reported is the cost of a medical exam. Women who are raped must pay a fee to obtain the medical evidence needed to bring a case to court. Poor women who cannot afford to pay the fee are rarely able to obtain justice. UNFPA recently approached the Embassy to discuss this issue and is looking at two options: 1) establishing a fund to help cover this cost for rape victims and 2) persuading the government to waive the fee for rape victims. Embassy would be supportive of either option; USG funding to advance action on this front would be particularly useful. ¶C. To what extent are perpetrators of GBV being brought to justice by host country law enforcement authorities? If they are not, what are the constraints and what is being done to sensitize host country judicial and law enforcement personnel to the seriousness of this problem? Have USG-funded judicial assistance programs, to the extent that they exist, been effective? On paper, Cote d'Ivoire has one of the most comprehensive sets of legislation and policy related to sexual violence within the sub-region. Tough laws ban FGM and punish rape, sexual harassment, and forced/early marriage. However, these laws are not routinely enforced -- in part because impunity remains problematic in Cote d'Ivoire and because cultural stigmas generally influence people to solve problems through other, non-judicial methods. Women who report rape or domestic violence to the police are often ignored. Female victims are often encouraged by relatives and/or police to seek an amicable resolution with the rapist or abuser rather than pursue a legal case. Government enforcement of domestic violence complaints remains minimal, partially because police and the courts view domestic violence as a problem to be addressed within the family. In 2008, the National Committee to Fight Violence Against Women held awareness-raising seminars for over 1,000 judicial and law enforcement personnel in order to sensitize them about GBV. The USG does not currently fund any judicial assistance programs in Cote d'Ivoire; however, prior USG support to local human rights NGOs offering judicial assistance clinics for rape victims met with success. In 2000, U.S. Embassy funds helped the local NGO Association of Female Jurists create legal assistance clinics to help GBV victims. Since 2004, these 20 clinics have helped 779 women with their cases. Renewed USG support for similar judicial assistance programs would be well received and would directly assist GBV victims with their cases. ¶D. What efforts are underway to sensitize host country militaries to issues of GBV and to ensure that sexual violence is not being perpetrated by government forces? Two colonels in the Ministry of Defense informed post's Defense Attache office that the Ivoirian military had not considered the GBV issue until UNOCI met with them to discuss UNSC Resolution 1325. The colonels said the Ivoirian military is not currently conducting any anti-GBV programs in Cote d'Ivoire, though they welcomed U.S. funding for awareness-raising programs, especially those geared to newly-enlisted officers. PEPFAR has recently started a new program with Population Services International to educate defense and security forces about HIV/AIDS. The educational tools include components on GBV. The UNOCI Gender Unit also provides training and technical support on gender issues to the National Police on topics including recruiting women, women's job performance, and women's access to justice. ¶E. To what extent are women's empowerment, girls' education, and shelters and care for victims of violence - to the extent that any programs in these issues may exist - being mainstreamed into general humanitarian and capacity-building work in the region? The Ivoirian government promotes women's empowerment through the following national programs: - The National Program to Fight Poverty: in 2008, 6,738 women benefited from income-generating microprojects under this plan. - The Rural Economic Development Program (PRODEMIR): in 2007-2008, the Ministry of Agriculture financed 60 rural agricultural projects benefiting 158 women's groups. - Integrated Program for School Cafeterias (PIPCS): in 2008, women's agricultural cooperatives cultivated and produced over 43,000 tons of food for 804 school cafeterias. - Commercialization and Local Initiatives Support Program (PACIL): this program focuses on improving agricultural market chains, rural infrastructure, and financing/credit for local initiatives involving rural development projects. - National Fund for Women & Development (PGNFNFD): an Abidjan pilot microfinance project that helps women obtain small loans for microprojects. The Ivoirian government promotes girls' education through: - A ministerial decree signed in 2000 that seeks to eliminate obstacles children encounter in accessing education - The 2008-2013 Higher Education Assistance Project, which insists that 1/3 of all higher education slots be reserved for girls, notably in math, science, and technology - Supporting the PIPCS program, which has boosted the school enrollment and retention rate for young girls - Revising school textbooks to eliminate any negative gender references - The Strategic Plan for Girl's Education, which was elaborated in 2006 Although the Ivoirian government provides some care and support to GBV victims through 2 psychosocial centers in Abidjan and social centers in the interior of the country, there are currently no government-run shelters for GBV victims. Victims receive home visits, advice, and support through members of the National Committee for Violence Against Women, but the committee has a small operating budget for these types of on-the-ground activities and has no transportation to get around the country to see women in non-urban areas. ¶F. Are UN peacekeeping missions sensitizing troop contributing countries (TCCs) to the problem of gender-based violence and what efforts are being undertaken to clarify the peacekeepers' rules of engagement and particularly the circumstances under which they are able to take perpetrators of rape and sexual violence into custody? UNOCI's Conduct and Discipline Unit requires that all peacekeeping contingents undergo mandatory training on sexual exploitation and abuse. In general, however, it is the UNOCI Human Rights Office that intervenes in cases of rape and GBV brought to the attention of UNOCI. The Human Rights Office directs GBV cases to the appropriate Ivoirian authorities and follows up on these cases on a victim's behalf. ¶G. What is the host government doing to sensitize male leaders at the community level about the problem of gender-based violence and to encourage their support of prevention, treatment, and accountability efforts within their communities? Post is not aware of any GoCI programs to sensitize male leaders at the community level about the GBV problem. IRC is one of the few organizations working directly with male leaders. This relatively new project, which seeks to sensitize male community leaders about GBV problems in their communities, is still at the beginning stages. IRC has contracted a study with the London Institute of Tropical Medicine to see how effective this new program is in changing male opinions and behaviors before it considers expanding this approach. ¶H. To what extent are donor countries coordinating regularly with each other, the UN system, and the host government to ensure a streamlined approach to combating gender-based violence? The Gender Working Group chaired by UNFPA meets monthly. Members of the group include all of the various UN agencies (UNFPA, UNIFEM, UNICEF, UNDP, UNHCR, UNOCHA, UNOCI Gender and Human Rights Divisions),the World Health Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organization, World Food Program, and the International Labor Organization. The European Commission and international NGOs Save the Children, IRC, and Danish Refugee Council also send representatives. The Ivoirian government sends representatives from thirteen different ministries and ANADER (the National Agency for Support to Rural Development). One local NGO - AIBEF (Association Ivoirienne pour le Bien-Etre familiale) - also attends. UNOCI representatives told Emboffs that although the gender working group has existed since UNOCI's creation, it is more a forum for exchanging information, than a dynamic group which coordinates the efforts of multiple partners into a cohesive programmatic approach to combating GBV in Cote d'Ivoire. AKUETTEH