Development

The government of the Central African Republic presented the first draft of the second NAP, finalizing and approving it under the leadership of the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, of the Family, and the Protection of the Child, with the financial and technical support of UN Women.

Implementation

The Ministry for the Promotion of Women, of the Family, and the Protection of the Child is responsible for the coordination of the implementation of the NAP, in partnership with UN Women, and in collaboration with other UN agencies including international NGOs working on the WPS agenda. The Action Plan recommends the creation of a Technical Secretariat to support the implementation.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The monitoring and evaluation of the NAP will be made by a Technical Committee, composed of:

• The National Technical Comittee for the fight against gender-based violence, harmful traditional practices and child marriage
• The Equality Observatory
• The Local Committees for Peace
• The National Forum recommendation follow-up committee
• The National Mediation Council
• The Commission for Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation
• Local focal points

Civil Society

The National Action Plan notes the role CSOs play in the implementation of the NAP, and identifies a need to collaborate with all organizations working with the WPS agenda. The NAP intends to train and help CSOs to develop leadership and increase women’s participation in all levels of political life, and sees them as a key source for data and information.

The timeframe for the NAP is 2019-2022.

The main objective of the NAP is to reinforce the participation of women at all levels of decision making, especially regarding the prevention, the management and resolution of conflicts and peace consolidation.

The second objective is to ensure the participation of women and the introduction of their rights and specific needs in conflict and post-conflict situations through peace consolidation and economic recovery programs.

Moreover, each axis has an objective as well:

1. Create measures for conflict prevention in post-conflict situations.
2. Promote the significant participation and involvement of women in all conflict resolution, peace consolidation and security efforts.
3. Promote and protect women’s rights, with an emphasis on the prevention of gender-based violence.
4. Guarantee that women and girls’ specific needs are considered during the reconstruction of the country, with attention to the most vulnerable groups.
5. Ensure protection of women and girls during epidemics, natural disasters and terrorist threats.

All the actions on the Central African Action Plan are structured around the axes of the document. Examples of the enlisted actions are below.

1.1 Sensitize the members of the Government and national top executives on UNSCR 1325 and national and international legal instruments on human rights, as well as on the need to promote policies that reinforce the protection of women and girls.

1.5 Promote dialogue among all the signatories of the Peace and Reconciliation Accords by calling on them to put an end to violence in all forms.

2.2 Review discriminatory laws that prevent the promotion of women’s rights.

2.11 Train women leaders on conflict resolution, mediation and peace consolidation.

3.6 Ensure the implementation of holistic care for women and girls, and men and boys who are survivors of sexual violence.

4.3 Implement a reparations system for victims of sexual and gender-based violence during conflict.

5.6 Include women in the fight against climate change

Indicators depend upon the objectives of the axis, establishing expected outcomes.

1. UNSCR 1325 and international and national texts regarding human rights as well as the protection of women and girls are known among 60% of the community and are sufficiently implemented by key stakeholders.
2. Women’s participation in decision-making at all levels in conflict prevention, resolution, and security governance are significantly increased with tangible results.
3. Concrete measures are implemented for the promotion and protection of women’s rights.
4. The specific needs of women are considered in post-conflict reconstruction, and in conflict and post conflict situations, with particular attention to the most vulnerable (women and girls internally displaced, with a disability, survivors of GBV, etc.)
5. Women and girls are better protected and supported during emerging epidemics, natural disasters, climate change, and terrorist threats.

Likewise, the NAP includes indicators for each activity enlisted. These include:

• 1.1.1 Number of sensitization sessions in Bangui in 2019 and 2020
• 1.1.4 Percentage of the state and the communes’ budgets earmarked for gender issues in 2019 and 2020
• 1.4.1 150 Local authorities trained in 16 prefectures in 2019 and 2020
• 2.2.1 Number of women in decision-making in the administration and within institutions

The NAP recommends the creation of a Monitoring and Evaluation plan to define the references, indicators, techniques and means to collect data. It also includes a matrix for this process, where the objectives, strategies, specific actions, indicators, means of verification, data collection methods, frequency of the reports and responsible individuals or institutions. No further information is included.

The NAP identifies that CFA 4,400,000,000 (Approx. USD 7,400,000) will be needed for the full implementation of the Plan. The Ministry for the Promotion of the Women, of the Family, and the Protection of the Child is responsible for advocating for financing for the NAP in the national budget and mobilizing internal resources. Additionally, the working group for the NAP will collaborate with the technical and financial partners to identify the available and potential sources of financing for the implementation of the NAP. Furthermore, UNFPA AND UN Women will support the Ministry to organize biannual advocacy meetings with senior officials of banking institutions, heads of commercial institutions, NGO leaders and majors to ensure support for the NAP.

Throughout the document, there is a recurrent recognition of the role women play regarding disarmament, particularly through DDR processes. Further, in axis 5, the NAP discusses Regulation 01/CEMAC/UMAC/CM of April 11, 2016 on the prevention and repression of money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and arms proliferation. 

Actors

NAP Development

The NAP mentions that civil society was involved in every stage of drafting the National Action Plan. They contributed to the preliminary analysis of the topics and challenges to be addressed in the NAP. They were consulted to review the initial draft suggested by experts via workshops organised all over the country.

The Ministry of Social Affairs, National Solidarity and Gender Promotion are in charge of the development of the NAP. To be noted, BINUCA, which is the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic, was also involved in drafting the NAP.

NAP Implementation

The NAP mentions that civil society will be part of the implementation phase as a collaborating group of the Sector Committee for Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction. It is not quoted as taking part in the implementation process on an independent basis.

The Ministries of Social Affairs, National Solidarity and Gender Promotion are in charge of implementing the strategies and programs for protection and promotion of women’s rights.

The Sector Committee for Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction, created to ensure a smooth coordination between programs and projects related to gender equality, will also be responsible for the implementation of the NAP. In order to prevent the ever-increasing number of institutions related to gender issues, its capacities will be strengthened. It will therefore be comprised of representatives from the Ministries of Defence, Public Security, Justice, Health, Communications, Finance and Social Affairs, technical and financial partners as well as civil society organizations and private sector organizations.

NAP Monitoring and Evaluation

The NAP mentions that civil society will be part of the monitoring phase as a collaborating group of the Sector Committee for Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction. It is not quoted as taking part in the monitoring process on an independent basis.

Several bodies will be charge of monitoring the implementation of the NAP. The Ministers of Social Affairs, National Solidarity and Gender Promotion are in charge of monitoring the implementation of the plan. The Monitoring Committee of the CEDAW will also be part of the  monitoring process for the implementation of the Convention on a national level. It will deliver a report, together with all national actors, accordingly. The Sector Committee for Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction will also be involved in the monitoring phase.

Timeframe

The Central African Republic NAP covers the period 2014 inclusive of 2016. For each axis, a table displays the timeframe for the implementation of each activity.

Objectives

The National Action Plan is composed of 5 “Strategic Priority Axis”:

1. Enhancing national actors’ and people’s awareness of UNSCR 1325 and other international instruments that protect women’s rights with the intention of mobilizing societies to stand up for protecting civilian populations during conflicts and for involving women in peace processes
2. Strengthening violence and conflict prevention as well as civilian populations’ protection
3. Strengthening women’s participation and representation in all levels of decision-making processes related to conflict prevention response and resolution
4. Strengthening civilian populations’ protection against violence and better reintegrating victims from sexual-based violence during conflicts in the society.
5. Strengthening coordination and monitoring processes

Actions/Activities

Each Strategic Priority Axis implies specific objectives as well as clear actions to achieve this result. For instance, the first strategic priority axis,  “Enhancing national actors’ and people’s awareness of UNSCR 1325 and other international instruments that protect women’s rights with the intention of mobilizing societies to stand up for protecting civilian populations during conflicts and for involving women in peace processes” relies on the following set of activities:

1. Train decision makers on UNSCR 1325 and other legal instruments related to women’s rights
2. Train employees of UN agencies and financial and technical partners on UNSCR 1325 and other legal instruments related to women’s rights
3. Organize trainings on UNSCR 1325 and other legal instruments related to women’s rights for soldiers and policemen at all levels
4. Organize trainings on UNSCR 1325 and other legal instruments related to women’s rights for actors in the legal and judicial sector (judges, lawyers, officers of the judicial police, members of the prison administration) at all levels.
5. Organize trainings on UNSCR 1325 and other legal instruments related to women’s rights for NGOs’ management at all levels
6. Brief population and local actors on women’s role in peace processes, development and national reconciliation
7. Translate UNSCR 1325 and other legal instruments related to women’s rights in the national language
8. Organize media campaigns on UNSCR 1325 and other legal instruments related to women’s rights on centralized and decentralized levels

Indicators

For each axis and underlying activities, indicators have been clearly defined.

For instance, for the eight activities underlying the first axis “Enhancing national actors’ and people’s awareness of UNSCR 1325 and other international instruments that protect women’s rights with the intention of mobilizing societies to stand up for protecting civilian populations during conflicts and for involving women in peace processes”, the following indicators are mentioned:

1. Number of decision makers trained on UNSCR 1325 and other legal instruments related to women’s rights
2. Number of employees of UN agencies and financial and technical partners trained on UNSCR 1325 and other legal instruments related to women’s rights
3. Number of employees trained on UNSCR 1325 and other legal instruments related to women’s rights in each body
4. Number of people trained on UNSCR 1325 and other legal instruments related to women’s rights in the judicial and legal sector
5. Number of people trained on UNSCR 1325 and other legal instruments related to women’s rights amongst NGOs’ management
6. Percentage of the population favourable to women’s involvement in peace and reconstruction processes
7. Number of legal text translation copies in the national language distributed to the population
8. Number of people who understand the legal content of UNSCR 1325 and other legal instruments related to women’s rights on centralized and decentralized levels.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The NAP dedicates a full axis to monitoring and implementation processes. It relies on a set of activities and for each activity an expected result as well as responsible bodies for achieving the result are clearly defined.

Budget

The total budget for implementing this NAP is $8.2 mln, split as following: $4.0 mln in 2014, $2.4 mln in 2015 and $1.7 mln in 2016.

Disarmament 

The Central African Republic NAP discusses plans of action for disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating female ex-soldiers in society but it is not explicit in recommendations.