UN Committee worried about treatment of women

The UN Human Rights Committee said on Friday in Geneva that it was concerned about the duality of statutory law and customary law in Cameroon, which has sometimes resulted in unequal treatment of men and women. It also said, on concluding its 67th session, that it was worried by the continuing existence of polygamy in the West African nation. Other sources of concern for the committee included the high rate of illiteracy among Cameroonian women, the absence of a specific law prohibiting female genital mutilation (FGM) and the fact that FGM was still being practised in certain parts of the country. However, it welcomed a commitment made by Cameroon’s government to promote gender equality through a Ministry of Women Affairs, and the establishment of a National Committee on Human Rights and Freedoms, empowered to oversee all relevant Cameroonian authorities.