Women are often economically excluded, yet they have the talents and skills to have a stable and peaceful economic life. Accelerating legal equality for their economic inclusion in society is thus an imperative.

The question of gender in our Ivorian society and our world remains crucial. “Gender” is a development approach that aims to reduce social, economic, political, and cultural inequalities between men and women, girls and boys. It reveals the injustices and discrimination that are tolerated and even encouraged in various social contexts, most often against women. In other words, it is about the chances, opportunities, rights, and duties that are accorded to every individual (man and woman) in a society. And, increasingly, it is about rethinking the nature of the balance between the two sexes from a social perspective.

This concern, which is at the heart of this session of parliamentarians, is timely. In Ivory Coast, several actions have already been carried out and continue to be carried out for the inclusion of women not only economically but also in many other areas. I am giving you a presentation so that you can see the panorama of this subject in my country.

Until 2019, Ivory Coast was ranked 43rd out of 52 countries in Africa for the Gender Equality Index and 136th out of 144 countries in the world for the World Economic Forum 2015 according to the AfDB.

Ivory Coast has ratified most of the international instruments on gender, especially for the economic inclusion of women and their empowerment.

The country shows a political will to correct its gender indicators as indicated in the NDP (National Development Program) 2016-2020; the National Policy on Equality, Equity and Gender (PNEEG) 2009.

The gender analysis will be assessed through the following dimensions: respect for and application of human rights, governance and decision-making bodies, access to and control of resources, socio-cultural barriers, and gender-based violence, crisis management, budgetary process, and institutional mechanisms.

According to the Ministry of Family, Women and Children’s (MFFE) 2016-2020 report:

• Respect for and implementation of human rights: Ten years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, efforts to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in Africa have intensified and resulted in the ratification of numerous international or regional conventions and In Ivory Coast, the principle of gender equity is also recognised in the Constitution of 1 August 2000. Unfortunately, many inequalities remain, mainly due to cultural, institutional, and legal reasons.
• Governance and decision-making bodies: The imbalance between women and men in the political sphere reflects the fact that men dominate the political scene. Nevertheless, women’s participation in political bodies has improved since the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994 and the Beijing Conference in 1995. At the level of political bodies, efforts are made to give all populations equal opportunities to hold office and responsibility, but this is still timid. According to the Report on Equality between Women and Men carried out in 2006 by the Ministry of Family, Women and Social Affairs, we note, for example, that 13% of ambassadors were women in 2004, and thirteen (13) village chiefs were women out of 8549. Also, the efforts of the Ivorian Government in this area are in line with the ratification of conventions relating to human rights. However, the efforts made by the state to popularise these instruments have not led to their total appropriation by the public authorities, judicial institutions, and the population.
• Access to and control of resources: Access to economic resources for twenty years, Ivory Coast’s development model, which was based on the extensive use of natural resources, workforce, and foreign capital, achieved performances that were described as “remarkable”. The predictable and unpredictable changes have exposed the fragility of this development system. The development plans that were put in place were thwarted by the many inequalities (social, economic) that exist between men and women. The contribution of women to the economic development of the country is rarely taken into account. Their work is neither recognised nor valued at the micro levels and macroeconomic. In agriculture, women make up a large part of the unpaid labour force, particularly in cash crops such as coffee, cocoa, and cotton. Although women’s participation is also noticeable in the informal sector, the income generated is on average 33% lower than that of men. The survey on poverty carried out in 2002 by the National Institute of Statistics shows that Ivory Coast has almost 40% of poor people, 67% of whom are women. Thus, one of the main objectives of national accounting is to allow the elaboration of economic budgets which, in principle, unseal the imbalances in society. It must be acknowledged that in Ivory Coast, all the plans and programmes undertaken have not integrated the gender dimension and their budgets have remained silent on the issue. Consequently, these inequalities call for profound reforms to be undertaken to reduce the ever- increasing gap between women and men. This brings us back to determining the contribution of women and men to the Gross Domestic Product in the perspective of elaborating a State budget that takes gender into account. In the area of formal education, one of the fundamental principles is Basic Education, adopted as part of the National Education and Training Development Plan (PNDEF) in 1997. This principle makes schooling compulsory up to the age of 16 for all children in Ivory Coast, regardless of gender. Mechanisms have been put in place within the Ministry. These mechanisms have made it possible to increase the gender parity index in primary education from 0.77% to 0.81% over the period 1997 to 2000 (National Education Statistics 2002). Despite all these initiatives by the Government and its partners, the number of girls in school is still low in some places.

In the area of health, a high maternal mortality rate (690 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births1 in 2000 compared to 597/100,000 live births in 19942); a resurgence of malnutrition as deficiency diseases affecting women of childbearing age and children are indirect causes of maternal mortality. Neonatal mortality is still high (41‰). Finally, the Ivorian Government has made the fight against AIDS one of its priorities by creating a Ministry in charge of the Fight against AIDS (MLS) in 2001. According to the results of the AIDS Indicators Survey (EIS 2005), national seroprevalence was 4.7%3 in 2005. This rate shows gender disparities, as it is higher among women (6.4%) than among men (2.9%).

These data thus confirm the progressive feminisation of the pandemic.

• Gender-based violence and socio-cultural barriers: Gender-based violence is perpetrated on the basis of stereotypes of all sexes. It concerns any act directed against a man or a woman as a result of the unequal social relations governing the community and disadvantaging a group. In Ivory Coast, there are no comprehensive studies targeting violence in society and especially the institutional

Ivory Coast has made some progress, including:

• The place of women in government: the Ivorian government had 3 women out of 21 members in 2000, 5 women out of 36 members in 2005, 5 women out of 36 in 2011, 8 women out of 42 members in 2022. Women do not even represent a third of the ministers who form the government. This means that they are still left out.
• Women’s representation in the National Assembly: 19 women out of 225 members from 2000 to 2011, 28 women out of 218 members from 2011 to 2016, 28 women out of 255 MPs from 2016 to 2021, 32 women out of 254 MPs in 2022.

In view of the figures, the Ivorian hemicycle remains very male with a low representation of women. This is contrary to the 2019 law on parity voted by the MPs themselves, which obliges political parties to present at least 30% of women. This was hardly respected as only 15% of the candidates were women.

Speaking of the economic inclusion of women, more specifically their representation in the hemicycle, Ivory Coast is still very much behind. It lags behind countries such as Togo and Senegal, and even further behind Rwanda, which is a global example with more than 60% of women MPs.

• The representation of women in public and parapublic institutions:
• The High Authority for Good Governance (Habg): 89%.
• The Great Mediator: 55%.
• The Constitutional Council: 78%.
• The Grand Chancellery, the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), and the State Inspectorate are institutions in which women’s representation remains very low.

In the light of all that has been said and seen above, it is clear that women are very poorly represented in the bodies. Although efforts have been made, much remains to be done.

It seems that women themselves do not feel capable; they do not trust themselves enough to run for and hold leadership positions.

The government, women’s associations and organisations, and all social actors must continue to fight for this equality, which until now has remained a distant dream in Ivory Coast. So that, both economically as well as at any other level, women can be included and participate in the development of their society.