Côte d'Ivoire

In 2024, C�te d'Ivoire's progress in strengthening women's meaningful participation in decision-making processes, with the support of UN Women, continued. Indeed, thanks to the capacity-building efforts of electoral stakeholders (institutional, legal and civil society) as well as their mobilization in favor of women's significant political participation actively supported by UN Women, 32.71% and 32.40% of women participated during 2024 in the country's municipal and regional councils (compared to 15.48% and 12.63% in 2018). In the same vein, C�te d'Ivoire adopted the 2nd generation of its National Action Plan for the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution on "Women, Peace and Security (WPS)" (NAP 24-28). This formal adoption of a NAP R1325 by the Council of Ministers, a first in C�te d'Ivoire, is the fruit of significant support from UN Women to strengthen the knowledge of key stakeholders (notably the Ministries in charge of Women's Affairs, Economy, Planning and Development, Budget and Finance, Foreign Affairs, Security, Defense and National Cohesion and the National Assembly) on the challenges of the WPS Agenda. UN Women's major role has been recognized by the Ivorian government, which asked it, in the Communication to the Council of Ministers adopting the NAP 24-28, to coordinate the contributions of C�te d'Ivoire's other partners to the successful implementation of this NAP. In addition, the main civil society organizations working on gender equality and women's empowerment, supported by UN Women, have increased their influence on the normative, political and peace processes led by the Government. One example is the Network of Women Peace Mediators of C�te d'Ivoire, which has been selected by the Government as one of the members of the Permanent Framework for Consultation and Collaboration (CPCC) between the Government and civil society, as part of the drive to strengthen national cohesion, consolidate peace and national unity, in a sub-regional context of expanding violent extremism and in the run-up to presidential elections in 2025. The increased political participation of women has translated into tangible benefits, such as improved services and increased budget allocation for gender issues. For instance, the budget allocated to the MFFE has increased from 21.4 billion FCFA in 2021 to 27 billion in 2024. Despite these achievements, barriers to progress remain, such as persistent gender stereotypes and limited access to resources for women candidates. To address these challenges, the next steps include continued capacity-building for women leaders, advocacy for gender-sensitive policies, and increased funding for initiatives that promote women's political participation. This progress has significantly contributed to the achievement of SDG 5, (5.1, 5.2, and 5.5), 10 (10.3) and 16 (16.3 and 16.6).

The efforts undertaken in the country, with UN Women support, to significantly strengthen women's political participation are beginning to bear more visible results. Indeed, following the municipal and regional elections of September 02, 2023, women's representation in local elected assemblies reached levels never before achieved, notably 32.71% in municipal councils (compared with 15.43% in 2018) and 32.40% in regional councils (compared with 12.63% in 2018). On average, women accounted for 31.96% of candidacies in regional elections (versus 13.43% in 2018) and 34.02% in municipal elections (versus 18.63% in 2018).The strengthening of women's representation in local elected Assemblies results mainly from the application of Law n�2019-870 of October 14, 2019 promoting women's representation in elected Assemblies by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which decided to apply the provisions of the draft electoral code harmonized with the quota law, resulting from the workshop on harmonizing electoral mechanisms supported in 2022 by the UN Women Country Office. Gender institutionalization at the IEC and the acquisition of appropriate knowledge and skills by its decision-makers and executives in gender mainstreaming in electoral processes, supported by UN Women from 2020 to 2022, thanks to SIDA and UNTFHS funding, provided the necessary insight and awareness for this decision to apply the legal provisions instituted by the quota law and its implementing decree.In addition, the pressure maintained by civil society organizations and particularly by the Monitoring Committee for the Consideration of Gender in Electoral Processes (CSGPE), through periodic advocacy and interpellation press conferences, financed by UN Women, helped to avoid the scenario of the March 2021 legislative elections, where political parties favored the application of the electoral code, amended by Ordinance no. 2020-356 of April 8, 2020, which, in its current format, is out of step with the quota law.In addition, CSGPE carried out an awareness-raising and advocacy tour, with technical and financial support from UN Women, to inform local sections of political parties of the issues at stake in the quota law and encourage them to support its effective application. The tour also served to reinforce women's knowledge of the advantages of the legal provisions instituted by the quota law for their meaningful participation in public life, and to mobilize them to stand as candidates overwhelmingly. Indeed, the highest rates of women's representation on municipal councils were observed in the vast majority of communes visited during the tour: Odienne (48%), Bouake (40%) and Boundiali (34.29%).This result is a contribution to SDG5, in particular target 5.5, and to the achievement of result 8 of the United Nations Cooperation Framework for Sustainable Development (UNCCD 2021-2025) and indicator 8.1.6.