UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 12) [The Elections Act] was amended in 2014 to increase the proportion of women from 25 per cent to 30 per cent and to improve geographical and proportional representation in order to widen participation.

Para 33) The findings of a workforce survey to determine levels of employment and participation in economic life among men and women made public in April 2012. Among its more significant results, the survey showed that economic participation among both sexes increased from 39.3 per cent in 1999 to 43 per cent in 2011. The number of people reliant on paid work jumped to 40.1 per cent, standing at 43.6 per cent for men and 29.4 per cent for women.

Para 69) The National Quarter-Century Strategy for 2007-2031 advocates the participation of women in a wholesale revival of society. One of the central elements of the Strategy is, in fact, the empowerment of women.

Para 70) The State's concern in this regard has led it to create various frameworks as well as seven official national mechanisms to empower women and promote their role in society.

Para 71) The national policy for the empowerment of women - which was adopted by the Council of Ministers in 2007 and has been used as a reference for the Constitution, national laws and regional and international treaties - has been updated for the period 2015-2016, with the help of development partners. Projects included in the policy aim to address issues such as education, health care, the environment, economic empowerment, human rights law, political participation and decision-making, and peace and conflict resolution. A detailed outline of a national policy to empower women has been proposed, incorporated into the second five-year plan (2012-2016) and sent out to districts and provinces.

Para 72) The participation of women in the national legislature in 2015 was as follows. There were 131 female members of the National Assembly which has a total number of seats of 450, and there were 16 female members, out of a total of 56, of the Council of States.

Para 73) Following the 2014 amendments to electoral law, the people of Sudan helped to reinforce the foundations of democracy by participating in the April 2015 elections and the peaceful transfer of power. The proportion of women in parliament went up from 25 to 30 per cent ...

UN Compilation:
Para 5) ... In 2015, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, was concerned by the discriminatory interpretation and implementation of provisions of the Criminal Law Act, the Public Order Act and the Personal Status Act. The Special Rapporteur noted that over 26 laws, including the Personal Status Act, contained provisions that were discriminatory towards women. Proposed changes at the federal level included: an amendment to the minimum age of marriage; the harmonization of domestic substantive and procedural laws with international human rights standards; and the ratification of CEDAW and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 10) JS2 noted Sudan did not accept previous recommendations to reform NSSA (2010) and did not amend its laws on marriage, custody, divorce, property rights, and indecency in compliance with international human rights law and as previously accepted recommendation.

Para 48) JS1 noted that in the first cycle Sudan accepted recommendations on gender equality and women's equal rights, and on steps to amend/repeal all discriminatory provisions in the Sudanese Nationality Act of 1994. However, children can only acquire citizenship from their Sudanese mothers through an application process, whereas children of Sudanese fathers acquire Sudanese citizenship automatically.

National Report:
Para 38) A memorandum of understanding has been signed with UNICEF on a pilot project under which cash transfers would be made to mothers for the first 1,000 days of their child’s life. The project targets 50,000 mothers in the states of Kassala and Red Sea;
Para 39) A memorandum of understanding on facilitated loans was concluded in July 2019 to enable target groups to gain easy access to funding. In fact, funding has been provided to 7,751 beneficiaries and 135 women’s groups and associations via the Savings and Social Development Bank and the Family Bank. A total of around 250 million Sudanese pounds has been allocated by the two banks for the loans scheme, 100 million by the former and 150 million by the latter.
Para 67) The State has taken positive steps to empower women and enable them to enjoy a greater number of civil and political rights. Under the Constitutional Document, at least 40 per cent of the members of the Legislative Council are to be women.
Para 68) A number of policies, strategies, plans, programmes and projects have been prepared. The most significant of these was the national policy for the empowerment of women, which the Government approved in 2007 then updated in 2017. An action plan for the implementation of the policy at the central level and in the states has also been adopted as part of government plans, in line with the Agenda 2063 of the African Union and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Various activities, programmes and projects are run in cooperation with United Nations agencies and with other bodies and institutions, and a national gender equality action plan has been adopted. Para 69) In line with the Constitutional Document, the Government has appointed women to leadership positions, including that of presidency of a state and head of a ministry, as well as to leading roles in the judiciary.
Para 70) Women’s issues have been integrated into various sectors where they have been given support in the performance of their jobs with capacity-building and skills development. A ministerial committee has been set up to review legislation affecting women.
Para 71) One State initiative in the area of education has been the education strategy 2007– 2031. A five-year educational plan has also been rolled out, which emphasizes the importance of generalizing basic education, increasing rates of completion, reducing dropout, training teachers and creating new classrooms in order to address admission disparities.
Para 72) A strategy has been developed which aims to reduce disparities in quality and to increase the level of education among girls, focusing particularly upon nomads and displaced persons.
Para 73) Public awareness about issues affecting women and their rights is being promoted, in which regard a number of alliances and other bodies have been formed, and community advocacy initiatives on behalf of women have been organized.
Para 76) The Constitutional Document and the Juba Peace Agreement envisage a political will to uphold freedoms and to provide opportunities for the involvement of women at a level of at least 40 per cent.
Para 79) The Government rolled out its national policy for the empowerment of women in 2007 then updated in 2017, making it part of overall development plans.
Para 88) A survey has been conducted into the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and on medium- and small-sized enterprises run by women.
Para 110) A detailed plan regarding the national policy for the empowerment of women was developed and incorporated into the second five-year plan 2012–2017. It was applied in the capital and in the states to women in vulnerable categories and women with disabilities.
Para 116) As part of its efforts in this regard, the State has set up specialized mechanisms to promote the welfare of vulnerable groups such as women. The Ministry of Social Development – as the competent national institution charged with developing policies and strategies for vulnerable categories such as women and persons with disabilities – works as a coordinating body among the relevant authorities in the states.
Para 118) The State has established women and family affairs departments in a number of ministries and government institutions and has set up departmental offices at the state level.

UN Compilation:
Para 33) The Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan noted that physical distancing measures had severely hit the service sector, which absorbed over a million workers, mostly in low-income and casual jobs. Consequently, there was a high risk that many businesses would fail if the disruption of normal business operations continued. The informal hospitality sector, notably the work of women tea sellers, was impacted through the general reduction of the economy.
Para 38) The Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan expressed concern that the COVID-19 pandemic might compromise the chances of the Sudan to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. … Food insecure populations, including internally displaced persons, refugees, migrants, returnees, host communities and women and children, had limited coping mechanisms to buffer the impact.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 75) JS13 noted that the Juba Agreement stipulates women’s representation in all levels of government and decision-making in a fair and effective manner, with a representation of no less than 40%. Thus, a representation rate of 15.3% in the current cabinet is an explicit violation and contravention of the Constitution. JS13 recommended to change the current composition of the Cabinet, and abide by its constitutional obligation to represent women equitably, at a rate of no less than 40% of the Cabinet.

National Report:
Para 22) Sudan is in the process of ratifying the following instruments: • CEDAW (1979);

National Report:
Para 25) The Government of Suriname (Ministry of Labour, Employment Opportunity and Youth Affairs) has submitted the Bill on Equal Treatment in Employment to The National Assembly (the Parliament) in 2019. This Bill prohibits among others discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, LGBT individuals in the labour market and related labour issues.

UN Compilation:
Para 15) The United Nations country team stated that the Government of Suriname had not sufficiently taken the necessary steps to adopt legislative and other measures to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and that it had not intensified measures to prevent and sanction violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. There were also no legal regulations that specifically addressed the status of transgender persons.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 10) JS1 stated that still little progress could be reported towards the enactment and adoption of necessary robust and comprehensive legislation and policies to effectively prevent and punish all forms of rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity in all settings.
Para 35) JS1 stated that the right to family life through marriage was exclusively guaranteed for couples of opposite sexes by Article 80 in conjunction with Article 138 of the Civil Code. It noted that the Civil Code was under review, but that so far no attention had been given to the aspect of discrimination on sexual orientation and gender identity of Article 80.