UPR Sexual Rights Database

"National Report:
Para 50) In order to help eliminate discrimination against women, training and awareness- raising workshops on gender and women’s access to land were organized for the prefects, traditional leaders, religious authorities, landowners and other key actors in local communities between 2013 and 2014. The workshops strengthened the capacity of 175 actors in the Savannah, Kara and Plateaux regions.
Para 51) Furthermore, with the support of civil society organizations, the Government carried out the following activities:
- Awareness-raising among men and women, community leaders and local authorities on violence against women and girls;
- Launch of the African campaign against child marriage in Africa with awareness- raising on early marriages and pregnancies;
- Establishment of a framework for consultation and dialogue involving the police, gendarmerie, justice sector, health workers, traditional leaders, religious leaders, media managers and local community chiefs;
- Monitoring the health and legal situation of victims;
- Introduction of village and cantonal focal points to combat violence against women."

"National Report:
Para 79) The Personal and Family Code prohibits customary practices that constitute violence or discrimination against women, especially discriminatory practices against widows, levirate and sororate (art. 411). The age of marriage is now 18 years for both sexes (art. 43). The law does not take into account the nature or the origin of assets and does not distinguish between the sexes in the settlement of estates (art. 414). It should also be noted that the provisions of article 99 of the Family Code now give responsibility as head of household to both spouses.
Para 80) A national communication strategy targeting cultural or traditional practices that incite violence or discrimination against women, including female genital mutilation, as well as early marriage has also been implemented with the support of UNICEF. The strategy focuses on the involvement of the primary representatives of decentralized administrations and grass-roots organizations, namely prefects, traditional chiefs and religious leaders, representatives of the various religious denominations and village development committees. For example, eight regional consultations and two national consultations were organized and led to the signing of commitments by these different opinion leaders to become more involved or take initiatives to eradicate traditional practices harmful to children.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 18) AFPT noted that spousal violence has not been incorporated into the new Criminal Code."

National Report:
Para 31) The 2011 National Policy on Gender Equality and Gender Equity and the corresponding action plan, which was updated in July 2019 to include an implementation strategy, serve as a framework for all action taken for the advancement of women in Togo.
Para 32) Gender equality is enshrined in articles 2 and 11 of the Constitution. In collaboration with several partners, the Government is undertaking numerous initiatives to promote gender equality: • Implementation of a project involving the establishment of trained peer educator clubs in the fields of political leadership, peace and development. A total of 591 women have been trained since 2016. • Development and implementation of two national programmes on women’s leadership, the first relating to the political sphere and the second to the professional sphere, with a view to increasing access to leadership roles for women working in the public and private sectors, in order to improve the performance of institutions. • Promotion of women in State institutions, government agencies and so on.
Para 93) Act No. 2021-012 of 18 June 2021 on the Labour Code strengthens equality of treatment of workers and protects women and persons with disabilities against discrimination in employment.
Para 127) Togo has undertaken the following initiatives to ensure gender equality and the empowerment of women: • Adoption of the 2016–2030 Agricultural Policy and the corresponding strategic plan for the period up to 2030, which comprises four strategic areas of focus. The second of these areas covers the issue of women’s access to productive resources and income, placing emphasis on the need to build their productive capacity and on the management and control of their income. • Implementation of the Project for the Empowerment of Rural Women in Togo. • Establishment of private sector support structures to help women entrepreneurs and other working women take full advantage of entrepreneurship and job creation opportunities in the formal sector. • Implementation in Togo of the Economic Community of West African States project called “50 Million African Women Speak”, which is intended to facilitate the empowerment of women through the creation of a virtual platform for networking, sharing and access to financial and other information for the purposes of entrepreneurship and enterprise development. • Awarding of 20 per cent of government contracts to young entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs in 2018, in order to promote women’s entrepreneurship. This proportion rose to 25 per cent in 2019. • Development of urban roads and rural tracks to open up the regions and facilitate the transport and sale of agricultural products, mostly by women. • Provision of mechanical and electrical equipment to women’s associations for their economic activities. • Launch of a project to support the financial inclusion of vulnerable women (women living with HIV, widows, porters, women who have been treated for obstetric fistula and women with disabilities) in July 2017.
Para 128) The number of women supported through this project totalled 3,500 in 2019, 5,655 in 2020 and 6,609 as of June 2021.
Para 129) Various measures have been taken to improve the living conditions of women with disabilities in particular. For example, the standard amount of capital available to them through the National Fund for Inclusive Finance has been increased and the repayment period extended.
Para 130) Several measures have been taken to promote the participation of women in national political life: • Launch of the 2019–2023 Equality for Girls national campaign, which is intended to bring about a social shift towards equality for women and girls. • Measures to raise awareness among the various political parties of the issues of gender equality and the participation of women in decision-making. • Provision of training in leadership and communication techniques to potential women candidates. • Plans to establish trained peer educator clubs in the fields of political leadership, peace and development in all cantons. A total of 591 women have been trained since 2016. • Establishment of a political academy for women leaders with a view to increasing the participation of women in public life. During its 2018 session, the academy provided training to 132 women in areas such as leadership, personal development, political career planning and political communication. • Implementation of the “Women Running for Municipal Councillor” project, which helped to build the campaigning skills of 219 women candidates in the 2019 municipal elections.

UN Compilation:
Para 40) The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, noted that the participation of women and young people in decision-making remained limited. Furthermore, women and girls continued to experience inequality and discrimination in economic, legal, social and political aspects of their lives.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 35) JS9 noted the poor working and living conditions of workers in certain industries, particularly those in the free trade zone. For example, female workers do not receive maternity leave, and pregnant women risk losing their jobs.

National Report:
Para 66) Togo has 1,139 registry offices staffed by 1,408 persons. The vast majority of these offices are located in cantons and villages and in health centres, the aim being to bring civil registration services closer to users. By Decree No. 2018-132/PR of 28 August 2018 on the reform of the civil registration system, the Government established a technical committee on civil registration with a view to providing all Togolese persons with birth certificates.
Para 67) During a meeting of the Council of Ministers on 15 September 2021, the Minister responsible for territorial administration was instructed by the Government to continue carrying out evaluations in order to determine the practical arrangements that should be made to ensure that civil status certificates are universally available free of charge.
Para 68) The State and its partners organize activities to raise awareness of the importance of birth registration on a regular basis.

UN Compilation:
Para 45) The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences noted that despite the Government’s efforts to ensure that all children were duly registered at birth, only 40.9 per cent of children under 5 years of age had a birth certificate. That significantly exposed them to the risk of becoming victims of child labour, child marriage and other forms of exploitation, as children without birth certificates were generally more vulnerable to human rights violations and experienced disproportionate limitations in accessing their rights.