Outcome Report >> Guinea Bissau, Comment, 35th Session, February 2020

Plan International, Inc. noted that Guinea-Bissau had ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, committing to guaranteeing the respect of the rights of children in Guinea-Bissau. Substantial progress in the respect of human rights had been made in recent years including with the strengthening of legislation to criminalize female genital mutilation and the creation of certain institutions, which responded better than in the past to harmful practices affecting women and children. However, despite progress made, gaps remained. It noted the results of a survey, indicating that: as many as 44.9 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 had suffered female genital mutilation; low birth registration rates of children under five years old; and that the rate of child marriage of girls under 18 years of age was of 37 per cent. In light of the above, it encouraged the creation of a synergy between the authorities at various levels of the administration and civil society actors for the effective implementation of laws and regulations prohibiting female genital mutilation through an awareness raising campaign and the prosecution of the perpetrators of harmful practices. It also urged the authorities to take the necessary legislative measures in order to repeal all the exceptions still in place allowing marriage before the age of 18 years of age. [Para 818]