UN Authority Figures

UN Women, Executive Board: Djibouti

In Djibouti, 93.1 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 had undergone female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) while infibulation, the most extreme form of FGM/C, continued to be widely practiced. (Photo)

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 web-site, "Overview")

Term of office: 2013-2015

Djibouti's Record on women's rights:
"The law...does not address spousal rape...Families of the victim and the perpetrator usually settled informally rape cases, which often went unreported. Reliable statistics on the prevalence of rape were not available. Domestic violence against women was common, but few cases were reported... the law does not specifically prohibit domestic violence...Families and clans, rather than courts, handled cases of violence against women. Police rarely intervened in domestic violence incidents, and the media reported only the most extreme cases, usually involving death of the victim...[C]ustom and traditional societal discrimination, including in education, resulted in a secondary role for women in public life and fewer employment opportunities in the formal sector. Women did not possess the same legal rights as men. In accordance with Sharia, men inherit a larger proportion of estates than do women...93.1 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 had undergone FGM/C [female genital mutilation/cutting]...Infibulation, the most extreme form of FGM/C, continued to be widely practiced, especially in rural areas..." (US State Department's Country Report on Human Rights 2012, Djibouti)

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