UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 69) Women are involved in all levels of decision-making in the Congo, they make up 8.6 per cent of members of parliament and 13 per cent of the Government; they occupy 12 per cent of decision-making positions in the Ministries, 17.3 per cent in the departmental councils and 26 per cent in the municipal councils; in 2011, a total of 36.4 per cent of mayors were women.

Para 75) Currently, there is no provision under domestic legislation to define discrimination against women. However, the lack of a legal definition notwithstanding, efforts are being made to ensure that women are equal as regards ownership of property, access to employment and political activity. Women may own land through matrilineal or patrilineal filiation, through inheritance or by marriage.

Para 76) The Ministry for the Advancement of Women and the Integration of Women into Development has introduced a bill on the representation of women in political, administrative and elected positions. The Supreme Court has given a favourable opinion on the bill. Irrespective of the bill, Congolese women already play an active part in all sectors of public life.

Para 95) During the period 2007-2011, the education sector benefited from 12 per cent of extrabudgetary expenditure, i.e. 3 per cent of GDP. Free schooling has made it possible to improve the school enrolment rate. As an illustration, during the 2010/11 school year, the total number enrolled in school was 12,895, of whom 6,627 were girls.

Para 96) In 2009-2010, the number of persons enrolled in literacy courses and non-formal education was 11,702, of whom 7,021 were girls or women; in 2008-2009 the figure was 9,802.

Para 97) Under the project in support of basic education (PRAEBASE), pilot programmes for young school dropouts have been carried out: 1,244 young persons, including 627 girls, benefited from education programmes providing apprenticeships for trades in order to enable them to join the workforce.

Para 98) Between 2005 and 2011, the net primary school enrolment ratio rose from 87 per cent to 92 per cent; however the ratio of girls to boys in school fell from 0.97 per cent to 0.81 per cent in secondary education.

Para 113) The following measures have been adopted:
-Development of the national strategy on education for girls and promotion of the "Child- and girl-friendly school" model.

UN Compilation:
Para 10) UNICEF pointed out that the bill on equal access for women to political functions had been awaiting adoption by Parliament for years.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 25) JS2 indicates that women's participation in political life is not in line with the parity principle as enshrined in the Constitution and the 2006 Political Parties Act.

Para 26) JS2 indicates that as at 2013 women hold 13 per cent of seats in the Senate and 7 per cent in the National Assembly, while 4 of the 38 government ministers (10 per cent) are women, as are 6 of the 26 advisers to the Office of the President of the Republic (23 per cent), 1 of the 9 members of the Constitutional Court (11 per cent), 15 of the 44 members of the National Human Rights Council (34 per cent), 27 of the 75 members of the Economic and Social Council (36 per cent) and 10 per cent of district mayors. JS2 indicates that there are no women serving as local mayors, prefects or chairs of departmental, communal or district councils, and that women remain underrepresented in the leadership of political parties.

National Report:
Para 22) The national system for protecting and promoting human rights is not limited to the National Human Rights Commission but also includes other national bodies, for example … bodies newly established under the Constitution of 25 October 2015, such as: … • The Women’s Advisory Council, tasked with issuing advice on the situation of women and offering the Government suggestions for promoting women’s participation in the country’s development.
Para 23) The following institutional acts have been adopted to supplement this legal framework: … Organic Act No. 14-2018 of 15 March 2018 on the organization, membership and functioning of the Women’s Advisory Council.
Para 49) The Congo has signed a United Nations Development Assistance Framework for the period 2014–2018. On 4 March 2016, the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and the Integration of Women in Development entered into an agreement with UNDP on an annual workplan for a project to support gender, female leadership and HIV/AIDS prevention.
Para 51) Overall, many activities have been conducted to promote and protect women’s rights. They include an information, education and communication campaign on the growth of the teenage pregnancy rate, which took place on 22 July 2015 in Pool department and from 5 to 8 August 2015 in Sangha department. In addition, a meeting on reviving the National Observatory on Gender-based Violence was held in Brazzaville on 9 September.
Para 52) Since 2014, the Congo has increased the participation of women in political and public life and strengthened their representation in decision-making bodies.
Para 53) The Congolese Constitution of 25 October 2015 guarantees the principle of parity and affirms that women and men have equal rights. Women’s advancement and representation in all political, elective and administrative posts are guaranteed by law. These principles have been incorporated into the Electoral Act.
Para 54) The new article 61 of the Electoral Act stipulates that “women must constitute at least 30 per cent of candidates put forward for election to the National Assembly and the Senate”.
Para 55) The representation of women in decision-making bodies currently stands at 11.5 per cent in the National Assembly, 22.9 per cent in the Senate, 22.85 per cent in the Government, 12 per cent in decision-making positions in the ministries, 18.82 per cent in departmental councils, 23.5 per cent in municipal councils and 20 per cent in the Supreme Court.
Para 56) According to the most recent civil service personnel audit, women make up 49.5 per cent of public sector workers.
Para 57) Under the 2012–2016 National Development Plan, activities have been conducted throughout the Congo to support farming and market gardening partnerships and hairdressing and sewing training centres for women. Many measures have been introduced across the country to support income-generating activities, which serve to empower women. They include the distribution of hairdressing and sewing kits, agricultural processing equipment, mechanical equipment and motor vehicles. Between 2012 and 2017, 3,186 such items were distributed, including 1,692 sewing kits, 780 hairdressing kits, 40 units of agricultural processing equipment, 152 market gardening kits, 40 units of household equipment, 23 units of mechanical and motorized equipment and 459 Kavaki motor vehicles.
Para 64) This legislative framework and regular activities to support women are the tools with which the Congo is working to improve women’s lives, allow them to thrive and guarantee respect for their fundamental rights.
Para 61) Existing Congolese law provides that, “irrespective of any property derived from the dissolution of the marriage, the surviving spouse has property and usufruct rights over the main residence, the right to remain in occupation at that residence and, where applicable, the right to a survivor’s pension, annuity or portion of the death benefit”. Surviving spouses may not be declared unworthy to inherit for refusing to participate in customary mourning rituals. Cruelty to or maltreatment of a widow or widower at mourning ceremonies is punishable under the Criminal Code.
Para 62) The principle of spousal equality has been carried over into the draft personal and family code, which is in the process of being adopted. The draft also contains a number of new provisions. For instance, it stipulates that, “if none of the relatives of a deceased person is entitled to inherit, the surviving spouse receives the inheritance in full”. The new code will significantly mitigate the widely condemned effects of widowhood practices and even prohibit them in certain cases. The draft also stipulates, inter alia, that “a woman may not be considered as part of her deceased husband’s estate. Customary practices that require a widow to marry one of her deceased husband’s relatives are thus prohibited.” These practices are punishable under the draft Criminal Code.
Para 63) Customs and traditions that remove or restrict women’s right to occupy or acquire customary land or land in urban or peri-urban areas have been declared null and void.
National Report:
Para 105) According to the second Congolese National Household Survey on Poverty, the unemployment rate in the Congo is 6.9 per cent, with some disparities between men and women. … Among persons with disabilities, the rate is 19.85 per cent for men and 9.54 per cent for women, according to the 2017 General Population and Housing Census.
Para 136) Human rights organizations expect, and indeed demand, the immediate adoption of legislation on the prohibition of torture, the abolition of the death penalty and the effective attainment of gender parity. They consider that, even within the Government itself, women are not only underrepresented but also still lack access to certain positions and privileges, such as: • Posts in the core ministries of the State • The position of cabinet minister.
Para 137) No woman has ever been promoted to the rank of general in the armed forces nor held the top position in any of the constitutional institutions. Human rights organizations consider this to be a violation of the CEDAW.

UN Compilation:
Para 10) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) noted that a new Constitution had been promulgated on 6 November 2015. It had been adopted by referendum on 25 October 2015. This text … establishes the equality of men and women before the law.
Para 16) CRC was concerned about the … the multiple gender-based discrimination against girls.
Para 36) [CRC] was concerned about the unequal parental responsibilities of the mother and the father, ingrained in law and in practice.

National Report:
Para 50) On 25 October 2016, the Congo and the United Nations Population Fund signed a partnership agreement on combating gender-based violence, one outcome of which was the launch of a project on preventing and combating gender-based violence. The Ministry of the Interior and Decentralization is heading the project, which involves police officers, gendarmes, lawyers, doctors, psychologists and other professionals. The project led to workshops to draft and endorse a training manual for police staff and senior officers and training guidelines on combating gender-based violence. Both documents were approved on 9 August 2018.
Para 51) … In addition, a meeting on reviving the National Observatory on Gender-based Violence was held in Brazzaville on 9 September.
Para 58) A particular cause for concern is violence against women, which is addressed in a bill currently before the parliament. Training and awareness-raising campaigns have been carried out in preparation for its adoption. In 2015, 600 police officers underwent training on gender-based violence and inequality in Pointe-Noire. In Brazzaville, training has been provided for 80 victim-support centre workers and 35 members of the police force and the social affairs, health-care and justice sectors. In Pointe-Noire, a marine patrol squad consisting of 11 women has been formed. From 25 to 27 August 2015, judges, police officers and workers in the health-care and social affairs sectors attended a seminar on the criminal nature of violence against women. They were also trained in caring for victims, counselling them and identifying cases. Police stations and hospitals have been equipped with computer tools, office supplies, digital cameras and video cameras and essential medicines.
Para 59) As part of its implementation of the National Gender Policy and the Programme to Combat Gender-based Violence, the Government has worked with the Post and Electronic Communications Regulatory Agency and mobile telephone operators (Airtel-Congo, MTNCongo, Azur and Congo-Telecom) to set up a toll-free emergency hotline, 14 44, which has been operational since 4 March 2018. This shows the commitment of the Congolese public authorities to combating gender-based violence.

UN Compilation:
Para 52) [CRC] expressed its concern about the widespread violence against children, particularly girls …

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 41) JS1 indicated that many children continued to be victims of physical violence or corporal punishment. Violence, especially sexual violence against girls, remained a major problem.

National Report:
Para 77) Sexual violence is classified as a crime and is punished by article 332 of the Congolese Criminal Code, which punishes the crime of rape. However, certain cases in which the crime has gone unpunished may be attributed to the failure of the victims to lodge a complaint or to the inertia and shortcomings of the judicial system.

Para 78) Efforts to combat the scourge are headed by NGOs, public institutions and United Nations agencies, which utilize extrajudicial means such as:
- The organization of information, education and communication sessions in order to change behaviour;
- The launch of the Zero Tolerance campaign, whose activities will last two years;
- Creation of hostels for the victims of violence;
- Establishment of an observatory for violence control;
- Revision of the legal framework to take into account legal issues affecting women (Criminal Code, Tax Code, Family Code, etc.).

Para 82) Female genital mutilation is prohibited in the Congo by article 62 of Act No. 4-2010 of 14 June 2010 on the protection of children in the Republic of the Congo. Campaigns to raise awareness about such practices are organized as part of the effort to combat sexual violence.