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 (May 2014)
The Security Council is expected to discuss a report of the Secretary-General on the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) and potential options for readjustment of the scope of the mission’s mandate. Past reporting on UNIOGBIS has served as good practice for the way in which a mission can report on efforts to mainstream women, peace and security across all work within the mission. The current report should follow this good practice by reflecting the ongoing challenges to and giving support for women’s participation in conflict prevention, political processes, peacebuilding efforts, as well as women’s role in security sector reform. The Security Council should support greater space for women’s engagement in efforts to build trust following the coup. The Security Council’s discussion should also discuss gender-specific analysis and recommendations in the context of conversations surrounding revisions to the mandate, ensuring that gender and women, peace and security maintain a cross-cutting issue in any future mission.
Relevant Resources
