Equatorial Guinea

30% of girls in Equatorial Guinea marry before the age of 18 and 9% marry before the age of 15.

4% of boys in Equatorial Guinea marry before the age of 18.

Child marriage is driven by gender inequality and the belief that women and girls are somehow inferior to men and boys.

There is very limited information on child marriage in Equatorial Guinea.

In Equatorial Guinea pregnant girls are not allowed to attend school. Many pregnancies are unplanned, occur in a child marriage or are the result of sexual violence. Excluding pregnant girls and adolescent mothers from school not only denies their right to education, but also

Equatorial Guinea has committed to ending child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The government submitted a Voluntary National Review at the 2022 High Level Political Forum. In this review, the government acknowledged that there is very limited information regarding child marriage in Equatorial Guinea. However, the government noted that the prevalence rates are lower than most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The government raised that there is currently a draft bill on Traditional Marriage and on the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence.

Equatorial Guinea co-sponsored the 2013, 2014, 2018, 2020 and 2022 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage, and the 2013 Human Rights Council resolution on child, early and forced marriage. In 2014, Equatorial Guinea signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

Equatorial Guinea acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992, which the Committee on the Rights of the Child has interpreted to recommend the establishment of a minimum age of marriage of 18, and acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1984, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

In 2002 Equatorial Guinea ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, including Article 21 regarding the prohibition of child marriage.

In 2009 Equatorial Guinea ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, including Article 6 which sets the minimum age for marriage as 18.

During its 2014 Universal Periodic Review, Equatorial Guinea agreed to examine recommendations to step up efforts to fight against “heinous” traditional practices such as child marriage and to strengthen public policies allowing for the elimination of child marriage.

During its 2019 Universal Periodic Review, Equatorial Guinea supported recommendations to step up efforts to prevent and end early, child and forced marriage.

As of 2022, the government, alongside UNICEF and UNFPA, has launched advocacy campaigns to combat child marriage, violence against women and girls and other harmful practices. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Gender Equality organized the UNiTE! Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls campaign. The main aims of this campaign were to:

1. Increase awareness on protecting and the consequences of violence against women and girls.

2. Advocate for strategies and programmes that aim to eliminate and prevent violence against women and girls.

3. Promote the leadership of women.

4. Mobilise key stakeholders to combat violence against women and girls.

Since 2022, there are 3 pending draft bills waiting for approval. These draft bills are:

1. The Code of the Family and Persons in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea

2. The Draft Bill on the Integral Protection to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Violence against Women and Domestic Violence

3. The Draft Bill Regulating Traditional Marriage in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.

Under the Civil Code 2011, the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years.

However, minors can get married at 14 years or older if a judge allows it, at the request of one of the parties getting married. In such cases, both the minor and their parents/guardians must be heard on the matter.