Crisis Prevention and Recovery

KEY STATISTICS

As a consequence of the armed conflict that started in September 2002, an estimated 700,000 persons are internally displaced, 52 percent of whom are women.

During the conflict, women and girls were victims of widespread, and at times, systematic rape and sexual assault committed by armed forces.

Women represent 63 percent of the informal sector; 49 percent of women work in subsistence agriculture.

Only 8.5 percent of parliamentarians and 5.6 percent of mayors are women.

According to the 2005 national AIDS survey, the HIV AIDS prevalence rate is 6.4 percent for women against 2.9 percent for men.  

Since the outbreak of the conflict in September 2002 women and girls have been victims of forced prostitution, sexual violence and rape. These women and girls lack access to adequate psychological and medical care, basic social services and judicial counseling.

CALL TO ACTION

Rape during conflict situations is not inevitable. The systematic use of rape in conflict situations is a war crime for which perpetrators must be held accountable. Perpetrators of sexual violence during armed conflict, as well as those who authorize attacks, are violating international law. States must hold them acccountable, and there must be resources for victims to seek justice.

When the UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1325 on Women and Peace and Security in October 2000, it was the first time the Security Council had addressed the disproportionate and devastating impact that armed conflict has on women. The resolution also recognized the often undervalued contributions that women make to conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peace building, and the need to ensure that women are involved in all stages of the peace process.

UNDP IN ACTION

In an effort to address the recovery needs of women and girls, UNDP Côte d’Ivoire has:

• In collaboration with the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, UNIFEM and the Government of Norway, supported the development of a five-year national action plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women and Peace and Security.
• Created the first post-conflict support center for women and girls in the country, based in Man in West Côte d’Ivoire, a region particularly affected by the conflict. This center, run by a local women’s non-governmental organization, is one of the few in Africa (other such centers exist in Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Congo-Brazzaville) to provide psychological, health and economic services to women and girls affected by the conflict.
• In collaboration with national government counterparts, the Independent Electoral Commission, non-governmental organizations and UNIFEM, advocates for the increased participation of women in national and local elections.