Guinea

The report from Guinea shows clearly that the Ebola outbreak from 2013 to 2016 still has after-effects that hinder the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, the report unfortunately contains little information on children with disabilities and migrant/asylum-seeking/refugee children. The improvements in education with free preschool and primary school are positive. The next step should be to make secondary education free of charge.

The Committee welcomes the efforts of the State party to prevent female genital mutilation and child marriage, including through official statements by government officials and religious leaders. Furthermore, it notes as positive the prevention of 15 cases of child marriage in the first half of 2018 and the work on a new strategy against child marriage. The Committee is, however, seriously concerned about the still high prevalence and reported increase of female genital mutilation and the high number of child marriages and the insufficient protection schemes available to children, particularly girls, who are victims of or at risk of becoming victims of female genital mutilation and/or child marriage.
The Committee therefore urges the State party to take active measures to put an end to female genital mutilation and child marriage, and to substantially strengthen comprehensive awareness-raising programmes on the various negative effects of such harmful practices.

The Committee is also deeply concerned that the prevalence of gender-based violence against girls, including rape, remains high and recommends to take all measures necessary to prevent and combat the sexual abuse of girls. Furthermore, the Committee recommends to develop and implement the standardized protocols necessary for health workers and for law enforcement entities to ensure that cases of child rape are promptly recorded, investigated and prosecuted and that perpetrators are duly sanctioned, with no recourse to community mediation.

The Committee recommends that the State party adopt a human rights-based approach to disability and set up a comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of children with disabilities. It urges the State party to ensure inclusive education, access to health services and reasonable accommodation in all spheres of life for all children with disabilities, including children with sensory disabilities, and to develop awareness-raising programmes to combat the stigmatization of children with disabilities.

To guarantee every child the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends that the State party continue to invest in measures to decrease maternal mortality and preventable deaths of new-borns and of children under 5 years of age, particularly avoidable deaths related to malaria, acute respiratory illness, neonatal infections, diarrhoea, inadequate prenatal care, the lack of professional assistance during childbirth, low immunization coverage and the prevalence of malnutrition. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party strengthen the measures taken to decrease the disparity in access to health services, to drinking water and to adequate sanitation between urban and rural areas – particularly access to antenatal and postnatal care, emergency obstetric care and skilled birth attendants in rural areas, and ensure access to health care for children who are survivors of Ebola.

Concerning adolescent health, the Committee recommends to strengthen Guineas measures to address drug abuse, including tobacco and alcohol abuse, and develop accessible and youth-friendly drug dependence treatment and harm-reduction services and to strengthen efforts to curb the sale of pharmaceutical “street drugs”, including by adopting and implementing a national policy and strategy.

The Committee recommends that Guinea ensure that all children have access to mental health services and counselling.

The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that the special vulnerabilities and needs of children, as well as their views, are taken into account in disaster risk management and in developing policies or programmes addressing issues of climate change, particularly droughts, and that it strengthens reforestation measures.

The Committee is deeply concerned about the negative impact of legal and illegal mining operations on the living conditions of children, such as the high prevalence of child labour including the worst forms of child labour, sexual abuse and prostitution, high dropout rates from school, the expropriation of land, exposure to harmful substances and other health hazards, environmental degradation and deforestation, and forcing children to walk long distances to find clean drinking water. To improve the situation, the Committee recommends that the State party take all measures necessary to expeditiously remove children of all ages from hazardous work situations, reintegrate such children into school and ensure that the mine operators responsible for such exploitation are promptly prosecuted with commensurate sanctions. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party take all measures necessary to require companies to undertake periodic child-rights impact assessments, establish regulations on the procedure for, and scope of, compensation for dispossessed families, and strengthen child protection measures, including against sexual exploitation.

The Committee is seriously concerned that the State party has no general legal aid scheme and that deprivation of liberty is the most common sentence for children in conflict with the law, including for minor offences. Further, the State party does not have specific detention and rehabilitation centres for convicted children, and detention conditions are characterized by overcrowding and poor nutrition, and by a lack of adequate health care, of adequate sanitation, and of education and training opportunities. In addition to that, programmes for the protection of children in conflict with the law, including for their social reintegration, are rare.

The Committee is deeply concerned about low levels of birth registration reported by the State party, including levels as low as 14 per cent in at least one prefecture and 5 per cent in at least one municipality, and the limited awareness of the population of the importance of birth registration and related procedures, particularly among parents who are illiterate.

Concluding observations on the third to sixth periodic reports released on 28 February 2019.More information about education in Guinea: Equatorial Guinea Education Sector Diagnostic