Women in Ivory Coast

Last updated
Women in Ivory Coast
Ivorian woman.jpg
Woman in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 2007
General Statistics
Maternal mortality  (per 100,000)400 (2010)
Women in parliament 11.0% (2012)
Women over 25 with secondary education 13.7% (2010)
Women in labour force51.8% (2011)
Gender Inequality Index [1]
Value0.613 (2021)
Rank155th out of 191
Global Gender Gap Index [2]
Value0.632 (2022)
Rank133rd out of 146

Women in Ivory Coast formed less than half the country's population in 2003. [3] Their social roles and opportunities have changed since the time of French colonialism.

Contents

From independence in 1960, women's status under the law was inferior to that of men, and this continued until the 1990s. The legal changes following President's Félix Houphouët-Boigny death brought improvement in legal and educational opportunities for women at all levels, and women have been moving into the highest levels of business and government.

Cultural traditions and practices, too, have usually marked women for inferior status. While adherence to traditional roles persists, this continuity—as well as the traditions themselves—vary greatly with place and social context. Ivory Coast has more than 60 ethnic groups, usually classified into five principal divisions: Akan (east and center, including the "Lagoon peoples" of the southeast), Krou (southwest), Mandé (Mandé west and Mandé northwest groups), and Senufo-Lobi (north center and northeast). Each of these groups has its own traditional roles for women, as do the religions practised in the country (Christian 20–30 percent, Muslim 15–20 percent, indigenous 35–50 percent).

Today's northern Ivory Coast was at the periphery of the Mali Empire and the great medieval states of the Sahel, while with Portuguese (from the 1460s) and later French colonial expansion, women of the southern regions experienced wars of colonialism and resistance firsthand. In the 1970s, Ivory Coast was considered the economic leader of West Africa, but since the 1990s, poverty and conflict have increased, at times affecting women disproportionately. The interplay of all these experiences has transformed the social roles of women in Ivorian society.

The main issue of gender equality in Ivory Coast is education. According to CIA World Factbook, the literacy rate in Ivory Coast in total is 43.1%. 53.1% of males can read and write and only 32.5% of females can read and write. This shows that more than half of men can read, and less than half of women can read. It also states that the school life expectancy for males is ten years, whereas for girls it is eight years. So far, no specific organizations have helped women education in Ivory Coast. However, many organizations have helped education for women in Africa as a whole, such as Africa Education Trust and Aid for Africa.

In order for women's education to be as equal as the men's in Ivory Coast, the government must provide more schools for free, so that the people do not think about financial issues once they put their child at school, and so the parents can afford to put both their sons and daughters in school. Education is free in Ivory Coast, but the parents must provide the school supplies, which might be a challenge if they have more than one child (Our Africa). This might lessen the need for women to go to school. For this to happen, the people must inform the government and if they refuse, protest. Education is a basic right everyone should afford, no matter the gender.

By making education supplies free, it takes one more weight off of the adult's shoulders. This would ensure that more women will have an education. By doing this, the child labor would lessen, children will have a good education and in the future, they will be more likely to have a job. This will make the citizens of Africa's lives much easier in terms of finances and education.

Women's roles on the eve of colonialism

Ethnic and cultural groups defined women's status in different ways on the eve of colonialism, with beliefs about the role of women in society partly the result of specific ethnic background and historical circumstance. It has been argued that Ivorian cultures largely had a cultural bias against equality between the sexes, embodied in customary law and codified in the colonial period. But this view has been challenged by Ivorian writers, who argue that in many pre-colonial societies, women held political and /or economic power equal to many men. [4] Looking specifically at the N'Gongbo Baoulé people, one writer contrasts Ivorian women's roles the traditional Western tradition where the public and the private spheres are separated, with the superior public sphere reserved for men, and argues that Western intellectuals transpose this model onto "traditional" societies in Africa. Rather, the African experience is said to be characterized by coexistence of parallel positions, overlapping roles, and cross-gender cooperation.

Amongst the Mossi peoples, women's inheritance of family land and possessions, while uncommon, is possible.

Women of the Dyoula Mande peoples, living traditionally in scattered communities across in long-distance trade communities, were often powerful merchants in their own right.

The Gio or Dan people of the southwest regard domestic duties as the preserve of women, while many Mandinka women engage in farming and trade.

Women in bond labor communities, or those in cultures with strong caste systems found themselves doubly discriminated against.

From the 12th century, but progressing more deeply into the north of Ivory Coast from the 16th century, Islam defined the status of women in Muslim communities. Polygamy, practised among most Mande peoples since pre-Islamic days, was codified under Islam, which offered both protections and disadvantages. In Mande Muslim communities, the first wife has authority over any subsequent wives, sharing domestic work, and caring for the extended family, into which the wives' parents may be folded into the husbands family.

Finally, the African slave trade, beginning in the 15th century destroyed whole communities, with women killed in slave raiding and associated warfare and those enslaved separated from families, and transported to the Americas (or to neighboring states) in brutal conditions. The beginning of the direct colonial period in the 19th century brought general dislocation, warfare, and large population movements, especially in the southern forest zones of West Africa, as the French moved in from the West and South in the 1860s–90s.

Under French colonialism

Colonial law and women

Role expectations for women were altered somewhat by colonial legislation, which liberated captives throughout francophone Africa in 1903, and then by the Mandel Decree of 1939, which fixed the minimum age of marriage at fourteen and made mutual consent a formal necessity for marriage. [5] These decrees, while promulgated by colonial officials, affected rural areas only fleetingly. Bonded and caste communities remained in serfdom like conditions until at least the World War I period, when a series of population movements and communal resistance changed many of these dependence relationships. Wars during the early colonial period caused an increase in slave taking, in which women were separated from men and moved into new communities. [6] The Jacquinot Decree of 1951 invoked the power of the state to protect women from claims to their services—by their own or their husband's family—after marriage, and enabled women to obtain a divorce more easily and invalidated in-laws' claims to any bride-price that had been paid to a woman's family to legitimize the marriage. [5] This decree also recognized monogamy as the only legal form of marriage and allowed couples to marry without parental consent. [5] Small numbers of girls were offered primary education by the French government (in urban areas), while Catholic missions, offered education to others, especially in the south. [7]

At the same time, almost the entire population of the colony were colonial Subjects, ruled under the French Code de l'Indigénat. In practice, this meant that women, like men, were ruled by decrees from a handful of French Cercle Commanders, who administered with little oversight, and carried out policies through a series of French appointed "Canton chiefs". "Customary" law, outside Muslim areas, was usually rule decided by appointed chiefs and their officials, while only whites and a tiny number of educated African men were subject to French courts. Whatever decrees issued at the colonial capital in Dakar were implemented at the discretion of local commanders, who usually preferred to leave social concerns to chiefs. [8]

Colonial dislocation

Women were especially affected by three colonial practices that increased in the early 20th century: forced labor, taxation, and military draft. All of French West Africa was subject to periodic forced labor campaigns, which peaked in the 1930s, and declined thereafter. Ivory Coast was unique, though, in that the north of the colony had white run cotton plantations, for which locals were pressed into service when migrant labor (mostly from modern Burkina Faso) was unavailable. Unlike road building or other forced labor projects, for which men were called up for a period ranging from days to months, men (and some women) were pressed into cotton work for years at a time. While only a small number of women were drafted into French labor schemes, the process of taking men out of their communities for long periods of time meant that women were forced to provide for their communities. [9] This, from the beginning of the 20th century, also meant some involvement in the marketplace, as French colonial taxation (in currency) superseded taxation in kind from the 1930s to 1950s. [10] Women were also placed in positions of independence due to the recruitment of African troops (the Tirailleurs) which was especially heavy in Ivory Coast during the World Wars. Men who survived these experiences came home less likely to accept the strictures of colonial or customary rule, and while they were away, women were forced to provide for, and sometimes lead, communities. [11]

Independence struggle

The political struggle for independence after the Second World War was organized around the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA), whose Ivorian section was led by Félix Houphouët-Boigny. After his break with the French Communist Party in 1950, under pressure from the French administration, many of the socially progressive planks of the RDA platform were dropped, and once in power, many legal advantages given to women (in law alone) were reversed. Women played little role in the formal leadership of the RDA, yet women were crucial in demanding independence from France.

At the grassroots, women played an active role in the independence struggle across French West Africa. One dramatic example occurred in 1949, when protests by local women in Grand Bassam and Abidjan caused the administration to back down from the detention of RDA leaders, and help spread support for the party at a time in which it was facing severe repression. [12]

Post-independence

At independence, the government of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny acknowledged existing decrees affecting the status of women and went on to establish the primacy of the nuclear family, raise the minimum age for marriage to eighteen, and condemn in general terms the notion of female inferiority. [5] At the same time, however, legislation during the 1960s established a husband's right to control much of his wife's property, and it required a woman to obtain her husband's permission to establish a bank account or obtain a job. [5] The government also placed restrictions on a woman's right to divorce, denied legal recognition of matrilineal rights of inheritance (inheritance by a man's nephews before his sons), and finally, condemned the practice of bride-price. [5]

Houphouët-Boigny's political style and longevity shaped Ivorian elites into a wealthy, male, educated social stratum. [5] By the late 1980s, women were beginning to emerge within this group, as education and acculturation enabled them to challenge the established order. [5] Official attitudes toward the status of women were pragmatic, like most official attitudes in Ivory Coast. [5]

In 1963 women reacted to the extent and direction of government control by forming the Association of Ivoirian Women (Association des Femmes Ivoiriennes—AFI). [5] They also persuaded the president to establish the Ministry of Women's Affairs (Ministère de la Condition Féminine, later the Ministre de la solidarité et de la Promotion de la Femme) in 1976 and to appoint AFI leader Jeanne Gervais as minister. [5] Gervais's goals were to obtain better educational and employment opportunities for women and to establish judicial equality for women. [5] Legislation was enacted in 1983 to allow a woman to control some of her property after marriage and to appeal to the courts for redress of a husband's actions. [5]

Civil War

Women were greatly affected by the Ivorian Civil War, begun in September 2002, but coming on the heels of a decade of internal conflict. The growth of the concept of Ivoirité, a 1990s nationalist movement which sought to exclude large portions of the population from "true" citizenship, was both championed by and caused the suffering of women. Changes in nationality law meant that women married to Ivorian born men no longer considered citizens lost their citizenship as well. [13] On the other side, some women leaders were prominent exponents of Ivoirité, most notably Simone Gbagbo, the wife of the president. [14]

Once the war broke out into open conflict in 2002, women formed 52 percent of the estimated 700,000 Internally displaced persons during the war, while rape and sexual violence were widespread, especially in the north and west of the country. Both rebel and government forces have been accused of systemic sexual violence towards women as a tactic to terrorise populations suspected of opposition to their forces. Women suffering the effects of such violence are often shunned, while customary law offers few remedies, and the formal court system has largely failed to prosecute perpetrators. Women have found themselves forced into prostitution in the wake of economic collapse in war-torn areas. [15]

Even with the coming of relative peace in 2004, sexual violence remained a significant problem throughout both rebel- and government-held areas. [16]

The civil war also was a venue for women's active participation. Both sides had special women's political organisations, most active of which are "Cadre de concertation permanent des femmes" (Ccpf) led by Dao Coulibaly Henriette, and the "Coordination of Patriotic Women of Côte d'Ivoire" ("Coordination des femmes patriotes de Côte d'Ivoire" - CFPCI). A pro government group, the CFPCI is led by former Sports Minister Geneviève Bro-Grebé, [17] and allied to the "Young Patriots" student organisation, itself accused of fomenting violence against those perceived as disloyal to the government, including rape. [18] Women's political organisations continue to be very publicly involved in the sometimes rocky peace process which brought rebel leader Guillaume Soro into power sharing with the government. [19]

Closer to the ground, Ivorian and international organisations have attempted to serve women suffering the effects of war, including one of Africa's first women-run local sexual violence recovery centers in the northern town of Man. [20]

Recent years

In spite of the ubiquity of women selling products in markets like this, Ivorian women are only half as likely to be in regular employment as men. Cimarchebordroute.jpg
In spite of the ubiquity of women selling products in markets like this, Ivorian women are only half as likely to be in regular employment as men.

Through most of the 1980s, the status of women, in practice and in the law, was still well below that of men, but educational opportunities for women were improving at all levels. [5] In 1987 about one-sixth of the students at the National University of Ivory Coast were women, and the number of women in the salaried workforce had also increased. [5] As of the late 1980s, women made up almost one-fourth of the civil service and held positions previously closed to them, in medicine, law, business, and university teaching. [5]

Politics

While prominent women take leadership roles in politics, their numbers are minimal. The first female parliamentarian was elected in 1965, and only 5.7 percent of parliamentary seats were held by women in 1990, and 8.5 percent in 2005. These women are disproportionally appointed to oversee ministerial portfolios (17.1 percent of ministerial posts in 2005). [21] At the highest political level, the wife of current President, Simone Gbagbo, holds a powerful position as head of the ruling party's parliamentary bloc, and has been frequently spoken of as future head of state or Prime Minister. [22]

Women's Rights

Demographics

The total population of Ivory Coast consists of more males than females. [3] The life expectancy of males at birth is roughly the same as that of females (female: 41.2; male: 40.8). [3] This marks a downward trend since 1990, when average life expectancy was 53.4 for women and 49.6 for men. [23]

Comparative rankings

Since 1995, the United Nations Development Program has been keeping Gender-related Development Index (GDI), a ranking of aggregate statistics of development, with focus on gender inequality. Ivory Coast has consistently ranked in the lowest quarter of the GDI, dropping to 166 of 177 in 2007, from 145 in 2005. Out of the 156 countries with both HDI and GDI values, 150 countries have a better ratio than Ivory Coast's. [24] This movement is in line with Ivory Coast's Human Development Index trend, which peaked in 1985, and has dropped ever since. [25] While leading neighbors like Mali and Niger, Ivory Coast consistently lags Senegal, Ghana, and The Gambia. In comparison to Senegal and France, female life expectancy at birth is around 60 percent of French totals, and 14.1 years less than Senegal, but this trend roughly mirrors male life expectancy at birth. [26] Adult literacy rates are higher than Senegal's, but current female enrollment as a percentage of males is now less, and estimated earned income for females in Ivory Coast is dramatically less, while Ivorian men may expect to earn more than their Senegalese neighbors. A Senegalese man (per person/year) will be expected to earn USD $2,346, and a Senegalese woman USD $1,256, while an Ivorian man will average USD $2,472, but Ivorian women average just USD $795. [27] As of 2004, Ivory Coast's combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrollment ratio (female enrollment as a percentage male) trails Niger and Eritrea, even though its total percentage of children enrolled is much higher. [28]

Reproductive health

2005 estimates are that the average Ivorian woman gives birth to 4.73 children, and 690 women per 100,000 die in childbirth. [29] While maternal mortality and fertility rates are declining, they are far above those of developed countries. Child mortality has in fact increased since 1990, with 101.3 children out of every 1000 live births dying before the age of five in 2005, an increase from 97.2 in 1990. 43.5 percent of women are married by the age of 18 (median: 19.8 for women, 27.6 for men), while the median age at first sexual intercourse for women is 16.1 years. 115.6 per 1000 women aged 15–20 have given birth. Only 53 percent of women aged 15–24 know that condom use can protect them from HIV. [30]

There are stark disparities in women's lives in rural areas versus urban areas. Women in rural communities are more likely to be married younger, give birth, and see children die in their first five years than urban women. In rural areas 41 percent women between the ages of 15 and 19 will give birth to their first child, with only 32.1 percent aided by a skilled attendant, in contrast to 18.9 percent of urban women of this age group giving birth, and 79.1 percent with birthing aid. [30]

Literacy

Boys and girls head to school in a northern town. Illiteracy rates for females, while still well above males, have dropped since 1990. Ecolecodivoire.jpg
Boys and girls head to school in a northern town. Illiteracy rates for females, while still well above males, have dropped since 1990.

Female literacy trails that of males, though both are low by developed nation standards, at 50.9 percent overall, 57.9 percent male literacy, and 43.6 percent female literacy. [31] 2005 illiteracy rates for females, while still well above males, has dropped since 1990 (74 percent to 57 percent for females 15 and over, 49 percent to 36 percent for males 15 and over). Females between 15 and 24 saw their illiteracy rate drop from 60 percent to 41 percent in this period (35 percent to 26 percent for males). School enrolment for girls still lags boys, with 68 percent of primary-school-aged and 17 percent of secondary-school-aged girls enrolled (89 percent and 30 percent for boys). The poorest children of both sexes are less likely to receive schooling, yet even in the top wealth quintile only 70.7 percent of girls aged 6–10 attend school (82.9 percent for boys). This falls to 48 percent in the next lowest rung for girls (62.2 percent for boys). [30]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armed Forces of the Republic of Ivory Coast</span> Combined military forces of Ivory Coast

The Armed Forces of Côte d'Ivoire are the armed forces of Ivory Coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivory Coast</span> Country in West Africa

Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is the port city of Abidjan. It borders Guinea to the northwest, Liberia to the west, Mali to the northwest, Burkina Faso to the northeast, Ghana to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. Its official language is French, and indigenous languages are also widely used, including Bété, Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin, and Cebaara Senufo. In total, there are around 78 different languages spoken in Ivory Coast. The country has a religiously diverse population, including numerous followers of Islam, Christianity, and indigenous faiths such as Animism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurent Gbagbo</span> Ivorian politician

Koudou Laurent Gbagbo is an Ivorian politician who was the President of Côte d'Ivoire from 2000 until his arrest in April 2011. A historian, Gbagbo was imprisoned in the early 1970s and again in the early 1990s, and he lived in exile in France during much of the 1980s as a result of his union activism. Gbagbo founded the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) in 1982 and ran unsuccessfully for president against Félix Houphouët-Boigny at the start of multi-party politics in 1990. He won a seat in the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire in 1990.

The First Ivorian Civil War was a civil conflict in the Ivory Coast that began with a military rebellion on 19 September 2002 and ended with a peace agreement on 4 March 2007. The conflict pitted the government of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo against a domestic insurgency led by the New Forces of Ivory Coast. Following the war, a second civil war (2010-2011) would begin over the results of the 2010 Ivorian presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign relations of Ivory Coast</span>

Throughout the Cold War, Ivory Coast's foreign policy was generally favorable toward the West. In particular, Félix Houphouët-Boigny kept relations with France that was among the closest between any African country and a former colonial power. The country became a member of the United Nations at independence in 1960 and participates in most of its specialized agencies. It is also an associate member of the European Union. In general, President Bédié initiated and maintained relations with many countries of the European Union and Asia. Ivory Coast maintains a wide variety of diplomatic contacts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opération Licorne</span> Military operation in Côte dIvoire

Opération Licorne was a French Armed Forces peacekeeping operation in support of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire. The French forces had been stationed in the country since shortly after the outbreak of the Ivorian Civil War. The troops' main mission was to support the United Nations peacekeeping mission and to ensure the security of French and foreign nationals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simone Gbagbo</span> Ivorian politician

Simone Ehivet Gbagbo is an Ivorian politician. She is the President of the Parliamentary Group of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) and is a Vice-President of the FPI. As the wife of Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Côte d'Ivoire from 2000 to 2011, she was also First Lady of Ivory Coast prior to their arrest by pro-Ouattara forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Ivorian presidential election</span> Presidential election in Ivory Coast

Presidential elections were held in Ivory Coast in 2010. The first round was held on 31 October, and a second round, in which President Laurent Gbagbo faced opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, was held on 28 November 2010. Originally scheduled to be held in 2005, the vote was delayed several times due to the Ivorian Civil War and difficulties involved in the organization and preparation of the elections. A peace agreement between the government and the former rebel New Forces was signed on 4 March 2007, and in late April 2009, it was announced that the elections would be held by 6 December 2009, and that the date would be announced shortly. On 15 May 2009, the date was announced to be 29 November 2009. On 11 November, the elections were postponed again due to delays in the electoral roll. It was announced on 3 December 2009 to be held in late February or early March 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 Ivorian coup d'état</span> Coup détat in Ivory Coast

The 1999 Ivorian coup d'état took place on 24 December 1999. It was the first coup d'état since the independence of Ivory Coast and led to the President Henri Konan Bédié being deposed.

There is a large population of Lebanese people in Côte d'Ivoire, whose numbers are variously estimated in the tens or hundreds of thousands. They are the largest Lebanese diaspora community in West Africa. An estimated 1% of all people living in the Ivory Coast are from Lebanon. 90% of the Lebanese community in Ivory Coast lives in Abidjan, where they represent over 7% of the total population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010–2011 Ivorian crisis</span>

The 2010–11 Ivorian crisis was a political crisis in Ivory Coast which began after Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Ivory Coast since 2000, was proclaimed the winner of the Ivorian election of 2010, the first election in the country in 10 years. The opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara, and a number of countries, organisations and leaders worldwide claimed Ouattara had won the election. After months of attempted negotiation and sporadic violence, the crisis entered a decisive stage as Ouattara's forces began a military offensive in which they quickly gained control of most of the country and besieged key targets in Abidjan, the country's largest city. At the time, international organizations reported numerous human rights violations, and the UN undertook its own military action with the stated objective to protect itself and civilians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Ivorian Civil War</span> Civil War in Ivory Coast from November 2010 to April 2011

The Second Ivorian Civil War broke out in March 2011 when the crisis in Ivory Coast escalated into full-scale military conflict between forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Ivory Coast since 2000, and supporters of the internationally recognised president-elect Alassane Ouattara. After months of unsuccessful negotiations and sporadic violence between supporters of the two sides, the crisis entered a critical stage as Ouattara's forces seized control of most of the country with the help of the UN, with Gbagbo entrenched in Abidjan, the country's largest city. International organizations have reported numerous instances of human rights violations by both sides, in particular in the city of Duékoué where Ouattara's forces killed hundreds of people. Overall casualties of the war are estimated around 3000. The UN and French forces took military action, with the stated objective to protect their forces and civilians. France's forces arrested Gbagbo at his residence on 11 April 2011.

Aya Virginie Touré, born Aya Virginie Kouamé, is a peace activist and politician in Côte d'Ivoire. She became known for organizing women in nonviolent resistance against President Laurent Gbagbo who refused to step down since he lost the presidential election to Alassane Ouattara. Touré worked to mobilize women as the Deputy Director for Ouattara's 2010 Ivorian presidential election. In 2016, she was elected as a deputy in the 72nd circonscription which includes the cities of Guépahouo and Oumé. Since at least 2014, she has been the Executive Director of the Petroci Foundation, the caritative organization of the Ivorian oil and gas company.

On December 4, 1958, Ivory Coast became a member state within the French Community. On August 7, 1960, Ivory Coast achieved its full independence from France, and Félix Houphouët-Boigny became the first president after the independence.

The following lists events that happened during 2011 in Ivory Coast.

Anne Jacqueline Oble, also known as Jacqueline Lohoues-Oble, is an Ivorian lawyer and politician who was the first woman to stand as a candidate in a presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada–Ivory Coast relations</span> Bilateral relations

Canada–Ivory Coast relations are the diplomatic relations between Canada and Ivory Coast. Both nations are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.

This period in the history of Ivory Coast was affected by the end of the 33-year reign of Félix Houphouët-Boigny in 1993, as well as demographic change which had seen the Muslim population rise from 6% in 1922 to 38.6% in 1998, including a majority in the north of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">France–Ivory Coast relations</span> Bilateral relations

France–Ivory Coast relations are the diplomatic relations between the French Republic and the Republic of Ivory Coast. Both nations are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the United Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martine Djibo</span> Ivorian educator and politician (died 2022)

Martine Aya Djibo was an Ivorian educator and politician who served in the National Assembly from 1975 until 1980 and from 1990 until 2010. Although initially a member of the PDCI-RDA party, she defected in 2004 and founded the Party for the Unity of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, citing frustrations with the party amid the First Ivorian Civil War.

References

  1. "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORTS. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  2. "Global Gender Gap Report 2022" (PDF). World Economic Forum. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "Overview: Côte d'Ivoire Data extracted "from the publication Country Profiles for Population and Reproductive Health, Policy Developments and Indicators 2005, produced jointly by UNFPA and Population Reference Bureau."". United Nations Population Fund . Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  4. N'Dri Thérèse Assié-Lumumba. Les Africaines dans la politique : femmes baoulé de Côte-d'Ivoire. Paris, L'Harmattan (1996). See review at Pounthioun M. D. Diallo, Assié-Lumumba, N'Dri Thérèse. -- Les Africaines dans la politique : femmes baoulé de Côte-d'Ivoire. Paris, L'Harmattan, 1996, 206 pp. (« Points de vue »)., Cahiers d'études africaines, 160, 2000
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Byrnes, Rita M. (1988). "The role of women". In Handloff, Robert Earl (ed.). Cote d'Ivoire: a country study. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. pp. 78–79. OCLC   44238009. PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  6. see Martin Klein. Slavery and Colonial Rule in French West Africa. Cambridge University Press (1998) ISBN   0-521-59678-5: pp. 132–37, 208–209, 237–240. As the title indicates, Klein is concerned with the persistence of African slavery under French rule. He argues that customary law and French appointed chiefs allowed formal slavery to continue in some areas up to the 1920s, and the social relationship to survive through independence.
  7. Virginia Thompson, Richard Adloff. French West Africa. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. (1958) pp. 527–28, 580–82
  8. Jean Suret-Canele. French Colonialism in Tropical Africa 1900–1945. Trans. Pica Press (1971)
  9. Jean Suret-Canele. op sit, pp. 233, 247–48, 253–256. Detailing forced contracts as long as two years (paid only at the end of contract) in Cote d'Ivoire, Congo and Madagascar for cotton plantations, forestry, and public works.
    Myron Echenberg, Jean Filipovich: "African Military Labour and the Building of the Office du Niger Installations, 1925–1950" in The Journal of African History, Vol. 27, No. 3 (1986) Details the 1926 decree allowing long term forced labor for the building of a vast irrigation system for a largely unpopulated area, where it was never used
  10. Andrew, C. M. and Kanya-Forstner, A. S.: "French Business and the French Colonialists" The Historical Journal, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Dec. 1976) Suret-Canale, Jean. 1966. "La Fin de la Chefferie en Guinée," Journal of African History, Vol. VII, No. 3, pp. 459–93
  11. Myron Echenberg, Colonial Conscripts: The Tirailleurs Senegalais in French West Africa, 1857–1960. Heinemann (1990), ISBN   0-435-08052-0
    Nancy Ellen Lawler. Soldiers of Misfortune: Ivorien Tirailleurs of World War II. Ohio Univ Press (1992) ISBN   0-8214-1012-1
  12. Thompson and Aldoff, pp. 128–29.
  13. Marie-Natalie LeBlanc. “Between Foreigners and Citizens: The Negotiation of Political Agency by Elder Malian Women in Côte d'Ivoire”, American Association of Anthropology, (AAA) Annual Meeting, Chicago, US, November, 1999
  14. L'influence de Simone Gbagbo. 12 December 2006. by "SOURCE J.A.", Soir Info.
  15. Focus on Women in Côte d’Ivoire. United Nations Development Programme, Crisis Prevention and Recovery. (nd), retrieved 2008-04-02.
    “My Heart Is Cut”: Sexual Violence by Rebels and Pro-Government Forces in Côte d’Ivoire, Human Rights Watch, August 2007. "Government and rebel authorities appear to have directly or indirectly authorized sexual violence since the war began in 2002; the prevailing impunity for these crimes has emboldened the perpetrators at all levels."
  16. Human Rights Watch, August 2007
  17. Geneviève Bro-Grebé, présidente du Collectif des femmes patriotes (CFPCI), Geneviève Bro-Grebé official website.
  18. CÔTE D'IVOIRE. Targeting women: the forgotten victims of the conflict, Amnesty International (nd)
    Les bataillons de la rue - 21 nov 2004 - CHEIKH YÉRIM SECK, Jeune Afrique.
  19. Daniel Balint-Kurti. Côte d’Ivoire’s Forces Nouvelles, AFRICA PROGRAMME ARMED NON-STATE ACTORS SERIES: Chatham House, September 2007.
    Abidjan respire, CÔTE D'IVOIRE - 18 mai 2003 - par CHEIKH YÉRIM SECK, ENVOYÉ SPÉCIAL
    Côte d'Ivoire: Processus de sortie de crise - Les femmes des partis politiques s'engagent aux côtés de Soro. Nord-Sud (Abidjan). 19 fév 2008.
    Côte d'Ivoire: Après la résistance et la défense de la République - Les femmes patriotes mettent le cap sur la réélection du président Gbagbo. Notre Voie (Abidjan). 31 janvier 2008.
  20. Focus on Women in Côte d'Ivoire. United Nations Development Programme, Crisis Prevention and Recovery. retrieved 2008-04-02
  21. 2007/2008 Report on Human development statistics: Côte d'Ivoire, UNDP.
  22. Sur l'influence de Simone Ehivet Gbagbo: Soir Info.
    Vincent Hugeux, « Simone Gbagbo, femme fatale », L'Express, 20 fév 2003.
    www.simonegbagbo.ci
    Les femmes noires en politique : un engagement de plus en plus prononcé 6 Oct 2006 Maryline Bella, ananzie.net.
  23. UNFPA-2005, below.
  24. 2007/2008 Report: Gender-related development index, Gender-related development index (GDI) rank, UNDP.
  25. Human Development Index Trends: 2007/8, UNDP.
  26. See UNDP ref. France: 83.7 Senegal:64.4 Côte d'Ivoire: 48.3
  27. 2007/2008 Report on Human development statistics: Côte d'Ivoire, UNDP. Comparison to Senegal's 2007 report.
  28. Côte d'Ivoire comparative factsheet: Building the capabilities of women, UNDP.
  29. United Nations Population Country Profiles for Population and Reproductive Health, Policy Developments and Indicators 2005, produced jointly by UNFPA and Population Reference Bureau: For women of childbearing years, defined as 15–49.
  30. 1 2 3 UNFPA 2005.
  31. Definition: age 15 and over can read and write. 2003 est., from CIA World Fact Book, via Demographics of Ivory Coast