Gender inequalities in the Central African Republic persist. They are so deeply ingrained that significant positive change will probably take decades. Some facts from a government briefing paper on gender issues in CAR below. (It is well worth looking at other sources as well.):

• The share of illiterate women (68 percent) is substantially higher than that of men (46 percent)
• Net school enrolment is about 37 percent for girls against 44 percent for boys, these are some of the lowest rates in Africa
• More than 14 percent of women in urban areas have been subjected to sexual violence
• Women in urban areas are more than twice as likely to suffer from HIV/AIDS than men (infection rate 11 percent against 5 percent)
• CAR’s maternal mortality rate is among the world’s highest (1,355 per 100,000)
• Only 11 out of 105 members of parliament are women
• Only 10 percent of all judges are women
• Women remain argely uninvolved in the management and control of financial resources

Humanitarian and Development Partnership Team member UNFPA was recently reinforced by a Gender Advisor, supported by the GenCap initiative, to ensure a gender sensitive and equal approach in all humanitarian operations in the Central African Republic.

For photos of vulnerable women in CAR and to read the brief on gender, go to the next page.

Briefing paper on gender inequality in CAR