CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC-ABORTION-TBs-CEDAW

Concluding Observations on Report 6 (2024) (Link)

Health

41. The Committee takes note of the national health policy (2019–2030) and its focus on the reduction of maternal mortality and the provision of health services for pregnant women, and of the steps taken to rebuild the health infrastructure in the State party as part of peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction efforts. The Committee notes with concern, however:

(a) The underfunding of the health sector and challenges in financing the reconstruction of the health infrastructure;

(b) The limited access to sexual and reproductive health services for women and girls, in particular rural women and girls and women and girls who are victims of sexual violence;

(c) The criminalization of abortion except in cases of rape and the recourse of women and girls to unsafe abortion services, endangering their lives and health;

(d) The limited access to malaria prophylaxis and treatment for women, including pregnant women and girls;

(e) The high rate of HIV infections among women and the high proportion of women not using any form of contraception (82.2 per cent).

42. In line with general recommendation No. 24 (1999) on women and health and targets 3.1 and 3.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals, to reduce global maternal mortality and ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, the Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Increase budgetary allocations and, if necessary, seek international assistance to rebuild the health infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, and recruit more health workers, including women;

(b) Strengthen the access of women to antenatal, perinatal and postnatal health services and train midwives and other relevant health professionals, especially in rural areas, on gender-responsive protocols for attending to victims of sexual violence;

(c) Decriminalize abortion and legalize it in all cases and ensure that women and girls have adequate access to safe abortion and post-abortion services to prevent maternal mortality, and ensure their bodily autonomy and their right to make free choices about their reproductive rights, including family planning;

(d) Provide free malaria prophylaxis and treatment to pregnant women as part of antenatal care, as well as to girls, rural women, internally displaced women, pygmy women, women with disabilities, women in detention and lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women.

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Concluding Observations on Report 1-5 (2014) (Link)

Health

39. The Committee is concerned about the lack of funding for the health sector during the pre-conflict period. It notes with concern that the destruction of health centres and the looting of medical equipment and medicines during the conflict further undermined the already-weak health system. It is also concerned that armed groups continue to attack medical personnel in several hospitals and health centres that have been partly restored. The Committee is concerned that this state of affairs seriously affects women’s access to health-care services, with particularly grave consequences for women who lack access to sexual and reproductive health services, resulting in an extremely high maternal mortality rate. The Committee is also concerned about the current lack of health-care and psychological services, including emergency contraception, safe abortion services and counselling, for women and girls who are victims of rape.

40. The Committee recommends that the State party, with support from the international community:

(a) Ensure that women have access to health-care services by restoring the health system and ensuring adequate provision of health centres and hospitals, in addition to the security of all medical and health-care personnel;

(b) During such restoration, accord priority to the provision of sexual and reproductive health services in all areas of the State party, taking due account of the Committee’s general recommendation No. 24 on women and health;

(c) Ensure that women who are victims of rape, including rapes perpetrated during the conflict, have access to health-care and psychosocial services, including emergency contraception and safe abortion services;

(d) Coordinate all activities with stakeholders from the international humanitarian and development communities to secure financial resources for restoring and equipping health facilities and ensure a comprehensive approach integrating a gender perspective to their development and implementation.

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