Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau
Under a government that continually fails to enforce gender equality legislation, women in Guinea-Bissau face high levels of poverty, domestic violence and sexual and gender-based violence.
Despite a women’s political platform developed in 2008, women’s participation in parliament remains low. Guinea-Bissau acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1985, and launched a National Action Plan per Resolution 1325 in 2011. In the same year, Guinea-Bissau passed a law aimed at ending female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Lack of prosecution for rape, exacerbated by widespread impunity and corruption, eliminates the effectiveness of laws making SGBV illegal.
Based on the work of NGOWG members and their partners, the NGOWG calls for an end to impunity in Guinea-Bissau, and encourages gender mainstreaming as a priority for the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS).
Current and Past Recommendations to the UN Security Council (Monthly Action Points)
Guinea-Bissau (February 2018)
The Security Council is expected to consider a report and renew the mandate for the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS). The Council should address concerns surrounding Guinea-Bissau’s judicial system, which has allowed impunity and corruption to grow, particularly in cases involving SGBV (CEDAW/C/GNB/CO/6). Increased attention on legal reform must coincide with efforts to ensure women’s participation and the protection of women’s rights. The Council should consider strengthening the provisions in UNIOGBIS’s mandate to ensure consultation with women’s CSOs and to mainstream gender in security sector reform, national reconciliation processes, institution building and efforts to address the root causes of instability (S/RES/2122 (2013), OP 2(c)). Finally, the Council should call on UNIOGBIS to address the differentiated impact trafficking has, in all of its forms, on women and call for engagement and involvement of women’s CSOs in anti-trafficking efforts.
Relevant Resources
