Guinea-Bissau

26% of girls in Guinea-Bissau marry before the age of 18 and 8% marry before the age of 15.

2% of boys in Guinea-Bissau marry before the age of 18.

Child marriage is most prevalent in Gabu (where 52% of women aged 20-49 were married before the age of 18), Bafata (39%), Quinara (26%), Tombali (35%) and Oio (28%)

Child marriage is much more common in rural (36%) areas than urban (11%) areas of Guinea-Bissau.

Child marriage is most prevalent in the Fula ethnic group (45%), Mandinga (30%), Mancanha and Balanta (16%).

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

In Guinea-Bissau, child marriage is exacerbated by:

● Poverty: 35% of women living in Guinea-Bissau’s poorest households were married before the age of 18, compared to only 9% in the richest households.

● Level of education: 51% of women with no education were married as children, compared to only 1% of women who had completed secondary education or higher.

● Harmful practices: Harmful practices such as Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting (FGM/C), sexual rituals and child marriage continue to take place in rural parts of Guinea-Bissau. These practices often highlight the submission and humiliation of girls and women.

● Gender norms: It is generally considered that a girl is ready for marriage when she hits puberty. In addition, a study commissioned by Plan International in 2018 found that in many communities Muslim fathers and male community leaders were mostly in favour of child marriage and conservative values.

● Family honour: In Guinea-Bissau, fathers seek to safeguard their family’s reputation by marrying their daughters early to avoid pregnancies out of wedlock.

● Weak legal frameworks: According to a study commissioned by Plan International, there is no common understanding on the minimum legal age for marriage in Guinea-Bissau, even between governmental authorities. Among communities, there is a lack of awareness on the legal age of marriage, or people do not feel concerned by the law because they have never heard of a litigation case.

Trafficking: The buying and selling of child brides reportedly takes place in Guinea Bissau.

Guinea-Bissau 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 noted that there is a high prevalence of child marriage in Guinea-Bissau. According to the government, poverty is what exacerbates child marriage. The government also noted that cases of FGM/C are increasing at an alarming rate. Access to education remains a challenge for reasons such as child labour, child marriage, teacher strikes and inadequate school infrastructure and teaching materials.

Guinea-Bissau co-sponsored the 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage and signed a joint statement at the 2014 Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

Guinea-Bissau ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, which the Committee on the Rights of the Child has interpreted to recommend the establishment of a minimum age of marriage of 18, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1985, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

In 2005 Guinea-Bissau signed, but has not yet ratified, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, including Article 21 regarding the prohibition of child marriage.

In 2008 Guinea-Bissau 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 Guinea-Bissau’s 2015 Universal Periodic Review, recommendations were made to improve the school attendance of girls as a way of discouraging child marriage in rural areas. The government reported that child marriage is embedded in traditional culture and that eliminating the practice would take a “great deal of time” and require “careful handling”. It agreed to take practical steps to eradicate the number of child marriages, including through public information campaigns.

As a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in 2017 Guinea-Bissau adopted the Strategic Framework for Strengthening National Child Protection Systems under which protecting children from marriage is a priority. In June 2019, the ECOWAS Heads of State endorsed the ECOWAS Child Policy and Strategic Action Plan and the 2019-2030 Roadmap on prevention and response to child marriage.

In addition, in July 2019, the ECOWAS First Ladies signed “The Niamey Declaration: Call to End Child Marriage and to promote the Education and empowerment of Girls”, calling Member States to initiate legislative, institutional and budgetary reforms to implement the Roadmap.

In 2019, at the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25, Guinea-Bissau committed to strengthen the national capacity to deliver high quality and appropriate prevention and multi-sectoral (health, psychological, socio-economic and legal) responses for survivors of gender-based violence and harmful practices, including child marriage.

At the London Girl Summit in July 2014, the government signed a charter committing to end child marriage by 2020.

Guinea-Bissau is a partner country of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

Mr. Carlos Alberto Kennedy De Barros, Guinea-Bissau’s Minister for Women, Family and Social Solidarity, spoke about the political and strategic implications of child marriage at the High Level Meeting on Ending Child Marriage in Senegal in October 2017.

During the current cycle of Guinea-Bissau’s Universal Periodic Review, the government has not reported any recent efforts to end child marriage in the country.

The minimum legal age of marriage in Guinea-Bissau is 18 years; however, girls and boys aged 16 can be married with parental consent.