UN Authority Figures

UN Women Executive Board: Gabon

65 per cent of women in Gabon reported feeling unsafe when walking alone at night. Gender-based violence and discrimination are still widely prevalent in this nation, as well as gender-based violence, high maternal mortality rates, and discriminatory legal provisions related to polygamy and inheritance.
Source: ActionAid, April 8, 2015

Mission of the UN Women:
"The main roles of UN Women are: To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms; To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society; To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress." (UN Women website)

Gabon's Term of office: 2016-2018

Gabon's Record on women's rights:
"The law does not address spousal rape. There were no reliable statistics on the prevalence of rape, but a women's advocacy NGO estimated it to be a frequent occurrence. Discussing rape remained taboo, and women often opted not to report it due to fear of reprisal or shame. Only limited medical and legal assistance for rape victims was available... Women virtually never filed complaints with civil authorities, although the government operated a counseling group to provide support for abuse victims... No law prohibits sexual harassment, and it was a widespread problem... women continued to face considerable societal discrimination, including in obtaining loans and credit and, for married women, opening bank accounts without their husbands' permission, and administering jointly owned assets especially in rural areas... Practitioners of ritual killings injured and killed children... Ritual killings, of children as well as adults, in which limbs, genitals, or other organs were amputated, occurred and often were unpunished. The practice was driven by the belief that certain body parts enhanced certain strengths. Blood was also used in rituals." (US State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2015, Gabon)