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GUINEA-BISSAU: Sixty percent of primary age children not enrolled

ABIDJAN, 23 May (IRIN) - Guinea-Bissau faces a daunting task to improve
children’s well being. While national immunisation coverage has improved,
its 40 percent primary school enrolment was decreasing, the UN High
Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR) reported on Wednesday.

"60 percent of school age children were not attending school, the rate of
school dropouts was high, adequate health services were not available, and
90 percent of the health budget was from external financing," the report to
the child rights committee of UNHCHR said.

National immunisation rose from 37 percent in 1986 to 60 percent in 1993,
the report said, but traditional practices including early marriages and
circumcision of boys and girls were causing serious problems for children
and women.

"Girls are compelled to marry while still adolescents - 13 to 14 years old.
Circumcision of boys aged 9-13 and girls 7-12 years, among the Fula and
Mandinga ethnic groups are the most cruel and harmful practises. There are
no effective measures at the national level to eliminate them," the report
said.

Guinea-Bissau’s Justice Minister Dionisio Cabi, told the committee that the
country’s 1.2 million people were among the poorest in the world, with 55
percent of the population under 18 years of age. The minister said the
government had recognised the needs of the social sector.

"Military and political conflict in 1998 and 1999 destroyed the
infrastructure in the country including schools, hospitals and roads. Mainly
affected by this destruction were children and women," Cabi said, adding
that strategies to address the problems were being developed, including
ratification of international conventions.

The government, Cabi told the committee, had also identified drug addiction,
prostitution, child labour, child soldiers and the presence of landmines in
the country as the other priority action areas. "The solutions lie in good
governance, respect for human rights, the fight against corruption, and
implementation of measures favouring the well-being of children," he said.

The UNHCHR child rights committee which reviewed Guinea-Bissau’s
implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child and expressed concern, will conclude its session on 7 June. The
country signed the convention on 26 January 1990 and ratified it on 20
August 1990.

The report on Guinea-Bissau is available at
Document>

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