equality in the political, economic and social spheres of life. Furthermore, through the intervention of the Office of the President of the Republic, a survey on all the skills of women was conducted in order to place a list of female executives at the disposal of job providers desirous of their services. This survey led to the preparation of a Compendium on the Skills of Women in Cote d’Ivoire (COCOFCI). Through this skills data base on more than 10,000 women in Cote d’Ivoire and the diaspora, the Government will most of all be able to reduce the disparities between the two sexes in public and private employment and to empower women as essential instruments of development. Besides, it should be recalled that in December, 2012, Cote d’Ivoire passed a law providing for the equality of men and women in the household through the institution of the notion of parental authority in place of the then existing notion of paternal authority. In the same spirit, and as part of the development of the skills of women, far-reaching measures have been taken to ensure the access of girls to military training institutions like the Preparatory Technical Military Academy (EMPT) and the National Gendarmerie. It can also be observed that a greater number of women are occupying decision-making positions. Incidentally, the National Council on Women has just been established by the President of the Republic himself in order to fast-track Cote d’Ivoire’s policy on equal opportunities between men and women for the purposes of ensuring balanced and sustainable human development. Among others, the prevention and elimination of violence against women materialized through the formulation, adoption and implementation of a number of reference documents as follows: - roadmap on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); - National Strategy on the Fight against Gender-Based Violence (SNLVBG): This document is a common framework on actions aimed at deepening the holistic response to gender-based violence in Cote d’Ivoire. With regard to the institutional mechanisms and measures to cater for survivors of violence, the following should be noted: - establishment of the National Committee on the Fight against Gender-Based Violence, operational since 2014; - setting up of forty-three (43) platforms for the fight against GBV throughout the country. These are centres set up to promote a multisectoral approach and to manage individual cases at the local level; - opening of fourteen (14) other counselling offices for victims, and waiver of the requirement of a medical certificate at the commencement of legal proceedings against suspected rapists by a circular from the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Public Freedoms. In addition the Government’s initiatives were also targeted at the phenomenon of the trade, exploitation and the worst forms of labour of persons, particularly girls who are forced to engage in dishonourable and degrading practices, in utter disregard of their rights. These included the following: - setting up a national committee on the fight against the trade, exploitation and worst forms of labour of persons; 41