Judicial authorities have not yet received a complaint about ill-treatment inflicted to children during an
arrest or detention, as the sensititisation campaign of the S / DLTDJ has curtailed such cases. However,
it should be noted that the custody cells in police stations and gendarmeries, except those available to the
Child Protection Squad, are not adapted to the requirements related to the situation of children, putting
them generally in contact with adults.
5.1 Parental guidance (art. 5)
In its Article 5, the Constitution recognises the family as the basic cell of society and ensures its
protection.
A bill which aimed to review existing laws related to persons and the family called Code of Persons and
the Family has been validated by a panel of experts under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice in
cooperation with the Ministry in charge of the child. Since 21 November 2012, Articles 58, 59, 60 and
67 of that Law were revised by the National Assembly.
Parental guidance programmes are implemented in the country, such as the Education Programme on
Family Life and Education regarding the Population (EVF / EMP).
The EVF / EMP Programme, implemented by the Ministry of Education since 2003 and supported by
UNFPA, is dedicated to students in kindergarten, primary and secondary education through the
inclusion into training curricula of thematic relating to education and family life. The first cycle of the
project had to stop due to the crisis in 2005, a new programme was approved in August 2010.
This new phase, which has to cover at least 60% of schools in the country by 2012, includes a section
dedicated to parents ("School for Parents") through monthly meetings organised in collaboration with
the SMCs schools, at which topics related to family life will be discussed.
Under the National Programme of Child Health and Child Survival, promotional activities concerning
family and community practices or Essential Family Practices (PFE) are carried out through community
health workers.
5.2 Family reunification (art. 10)
Different provisions on entry and residence of foreigners in Côte d'Ivoire have been adopted since 2003
(Law No. 2003-03 of January 03, 2003, amended by Law No. 2004-303 of May 3, 2004, as well as
Decision No. 2005-05 / PR of 15 July 2005 on the identification of people in Ivory Coast) have not
modified the rules provided for family reunification. According to the information included in the initial
report, the legal framework therefore remains Law No. 90437 of 29 May 1990.
5.3 Recovery of child maintenance (art. 27, para. 4)
R 33: The Committee recommends that the State party publicise the provisions of domestic
legislation concerning maintenance, especially for illiterate women, and ensure that professional
groups dealing with this issue are adequately trained and that the courts are stricter regarding the
recovery of allowances from solvent parents who do not comply.
The draft law amending the Code of Persons and the Family has included all the legal provisions
concerning the recovery of maintenance for children contained in the law on marriage and divorce law.
Under these provisions, the custody holder can get support for the maintenance of children.
Under Articles 387 and 388 of the Penal Code, the non-payment of child maintenance for two months
equates to a family abandonment offense which is punishable by a three months to one year prison
sentence and a fine from 30,000 to 300.000 FCFA.
RAPPORT INITIAL SUR LA MISE EN OEUVRE DE LA CHARTE AFRICAINE DES DROITS ET DU BIEN ÊTRE DE L'ENFANT
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