P 041315Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5299
INFO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY

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