Committee on the Rights of the Child

Eightieth session

14 January–1 February 2019

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the combined third to sixth periodic reports of Guinea

Addendum

Replies of Guinea to the list of issues *

[Date received: 16 November 2018]

Part One

1.Please indicate whether the necessary steps have been taken to expedite the revision of national legislation, particularly the Children’s Code and the Civil Code, with a view to making it fully compliant with the principles and provisions of the Convention.

1.Necessary measures have been taken in the context of the revision of national legislation, including in relation to the Children’s Code. It has already been considered once by the Council of Ministers; subsequently, an interministerial committee was established to address the concerns of the other departments concerned and the amendments suggested by the Council of Ministers. It was transmitted to the General Secretariat of the Government for consideration, adoption and submission to the National Assembly by the end of 2018.

2.As for the Civil Code, it is already before the National Assembly and its consideration has begun; it is due to be voted on and adopted shortly.

2.Please indicate what human, technical and financial resources have been allocated for the implementation of the National Policy for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights and Welfare of the Child in Guinea and its first three-year action plan for 2017–2019, and state how it will be evaluated.

3.As part of the contributions of the Government and development partners to the implementation of the National Policy for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights and Welfare of the Child in Guinea and its first three-year action plan 2017–2019, the National Directorate for Children is supported by the national development budget through the strengthening of the child protection system and by partners such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) under the protection programme. It should be noted that other field partners are part of the same dynamic.

3.Please clarify the mandate and resources of the Guinean Committee on the Protection of Children’s Rights in the area of coordination and specify the division of competencies and responsibilities between that Committee and the National Directorate for Children.

4.The Guinean Committee on the Protection of Children’s Rights is an advisory body that operates under the authority of the Ministry of Social Action, the Advancement of Women and Children’s Affairs. It is responsible for overseeing actions at the national level to implement decisions and recommendations made by the bodies that monitor the implementation of international conventions and treaties on children’s rights.

5.A State-approved body, it is responsible for preparing and submitting initial and periodic reports to the various treaty bodies relating to the rights of the child (international, regional and subregional).

6.The National Directorate for Children, under the Ministry of Social Action, the Advancement of Women and Children’s Affairs, is the government body with overall responsibility for coordinating the implementation of the Convention and its Optional Protocols. In particular, it is responsible for determining and implementing national policy on children’s rights. It is also responsible for running the Guinean Committee on the Protection of Children’s Rights. However, specific issues relating to health, education, security, justice and civil status are the responsibilities of other national directorates, under the authority of other ministerial departments. The National Directorate for Children therefore collaborates with these directorates through a number of intersectoral coordination frameworks.

4.Please describe the policies and other measures adopted to combat discrimination against girls, particularly non-circumcised girls, children living in rural areas and those living in poverty, children born out of wedlock, children with disabilities, children living with HIV/AIDS, child survivors of Ebola, street children, and child migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.

7.Identification and training of male role models and women mentors in behaviour modification are among the measures taken to combat discrimination. Their role is to help children and adolescents of both sexes in developing their capacity to make good choices, enhance their confidence and help them to reflect on issues affecting their lives. They speak out against female genital mutilation and child marriage, to encourage the community to make positive changes in behaviour.

8.As for children living in rural areas and those living in poverty, those born out of wedlock or with disabilities or affected by HIV/AIDS, child survivors of Ebola and those living in the streets, they are supported by the Government and its development partners, they are integrated into the community and their rights are extensively taken into account.

9.As for migrant children and child asylum-seekers and refugees, they receive special attention in accordance with international humanitarian law and national laws.

5.Please clarify whether birth registration is mandatory and indicate the measures taken to remove the main barriers to birth registration and to ensure the registration of all children, including those living in rural or remote areas and those whose parents do not have personal documentation or are stateless. Please also provide information on the impact of the civil registry modernization programme.

10.Birth registration is indeed mandatory under the law on the registration of civil status acts throughout the territory of the Republic of Guinea. Since civil registration is a cross-cutting sector, interoperability with other sectors such as justice and health makes it possible to resolve the various problems existing for children whose parents are in rural or remote areas or are stateless.

11.At the national level, the project to reform and modernize civil registry will help overcome barriers and bottlenecks in the system. There have been some achievements, such as the establishment of the National Directorate of Civil Status, the establishment of the Intersectoral Coordination for the Reform and Modernization of the Civil Registry (CIRMEC), and the development and validation of the National Strategy for the Reform and Modernization of the Civil Registry.

12.With funding from the European Union, UNICEF and the Government of Guinea, the pilot project for the modernization of the civil registry was launched in October 2016 in the N’Zérékoré region. It covers 66 rural communes and 6 urban communes.

13.The goals of this project are to:

•Improve the policy and institutional framework of the civil registration system in Guinea and implement the national civil registry strategy in N’Zérékoré;

•Contribute to improving the performance of the civil registration system and to modernize its procedures in line with international norms and standards.

Impact of the programme for the modernization of the civil registry in the region of N’Zérékoré

•The establishment of CIRMEC at the regional level in N’Zérékoré;

•Provision of motorcycles for 66 civil registration centres in the N’Zérékoré region;

•Installation of solar and computer kits in the region’s six urban communes;

•Provision of office equipment, metal cabinets, archive boxes and office consumables for 66 civil registration centres, 66 health centres and six courts in the N’Zérékoré region;

•Provision of secure records (birth, marriage and death) and village records to improve civil registration;

•The training of 36 trainers, at the national, regional and prefectural levels, on procedures for registration of vital events;

•Training of 318 civil registry staff and officials: 66 civil registry/general secretary posts, 158 heads of health centres and dispensaries, 18 judicial officials, 30 sub-prefects, five prefectural planning and statistics directors, 41 community and religious leaders were trained in the registration of vital events and statistics in the 66 communes of the N’Zérékoré region.

Presentation of the summary of civil status data, by prefecture

Prefecture of N’Zérékoré

14.Under the civil registration system in the prefecture of N’Zérékoré, for January–July 2018, of the 15,845 live births expected (General Population and Housing Census 2014), 4,348 children were registered, a registration rate of 27 per cent.

Findings

15.Regarding the registration of the three event types (birth, marriage and death), it was observed that:

•Eleven communes out of 11 recorded and reported on birth registration in a timely manner (0–6 months), including the following:

•Birth registration rates were highest in five municipalities: Urban Commune of N’Zérékoré: 33 per cent; Womey: 31 per cent; Koulé: 29 per cent; Bounouma: 26 per cent; and Palé: 25 per cent.

•The lowest levels of registration were observed in Koropara: 11 per cent, Gouecké: 19 per cent; Samoé: 19 per cent; and Soulouta: 19 per cent;

•Eight communes out of 11 reported the number of registered marriages and six out of 11 that of recorded deaths.

Yomou prefecture

16.For January–July 2018, the prefecture of Yomou recorded direct registration rates for children (within 0–6 months) of 23 per cent, or 1,629 children in relation to expected live births of 7,067 (General Population and Housing Census 2014).

Findings

•Seven communes out of seven recorded and reported on birth registrations in a timely manner (0–6 months), including the following:

•Four communes exceeded 25 per cent: Bignamou, 41 per cent; Urban Commune, 33 per cent; Bheta, 30 per cent; and Banié, 29 per cent.

•The lowest observed registration rates were 12 per cent for Diecké and 19 per cent for Pela and Bowé.

17.For the other two event types, marriages and deaths:

•Seven communes out of seven recorded and reported on the numbers of marriages and deaths registered.

Macenta prefecture

18.For January–July 2018, of an expected 12,102 live births (General Population and Housing Census 2014), Macenta prefecture recorded 2,851 children within 0–6 months, a registration rate of 24 per cent.

Findings

19.In relation to cumulative information on the registration of civil events, the following has been observed:

•Eleven communes out of 11 recorded and reported on birth registration in a timely manner (0–6 months), including the following:

•7 communes attained the 30 per cent mark;

•The highest figures observed in the region were 74 per cent for Watanka, followed by 58 per cent for Vasérédou, 41 per cent for Panziazou, 39 per cent for Koyamah, 37 per cent for Bininkala and 32 per cent each for Orémai and Daro;

•The lowest rates were registered for Kouankan, at 3 per cent (the lowest regional level), followed by 9 per cent for Bofossou and 13 per cent for Sérédou.

20.For the other two event types, marriages and deaths:

•15 communes out of 15 recorded and reported on marriages; and

•15 out of 15 for deaths.

Lola prefecture

21.Of the 7,009 live births expected (General Population and Housing Census 2014) for Lola prefecture, 999 children (0–6 months) were recorded for the period from January to July 2018, representing a coverage of 14 per cent.

Findings

22.Eleven communes out of 11 recorded and reported on birth registration in a timely manner (0–6 months): Of these, only the communes of Foumbadou and Bossou achieved 27 per cent.

23.The lowest rates were observed in Tounkarata, 5 per cent (the lowest rate in the region after that of Kouankan in Macenta), followed by the Urban Commune, 6 per cent, and Guéasso, 9 per cent.

24.Marriages and deaths are also very poorly reported in this prefecture:

•Four communes out of nine reported on marriages; and

•Five out of nine on registered deaths.

Beyla prefecture

25.For January–July 2018, of an expected 13,019 live births (General Population and Housing Census 2014), 2,696 births were registered within 0–6 months, a registration rate of 21 per cent.

Findings

26.Fourteen communes out of 14 recorded and reported on birth registration in a timely manner (0–6 months), including the following:

•Three communes attained the 25 per cent mark;

•The highest level was 70 per cent, followed by Nionssomoridou at 39 per cent and Sokourala at 26 per cent;

•The lowest rates observed were 14 per cent for Samana, followed by Moussadou and Sinko at 12 per cent each.

27.It should be noted that two communes out of 14 reported on marriage, the Urban Commune and Sinko, and only one of the 14 reported on deaths (Sinko).

Gueckedou prefecture

28.Of an expected 11,689 children born alive (General Population and Housing Census 2014); 2,276 children (0–6 months) were registered for January–July 2018, representing a 21 per cent registration rate.

Findings

29.Zero communes out of 10 recorded and reported on birth registration in a timely manner (0–6 months), including the following:

•Three communes out of 10 attained the 25 per cent mark. This includes 47 per cent for Bolodou commune, 29 per cent for the Urban Commune and 25 per cent for Koundou;

•The lowest registration rates were 8 per cent in the commune of Guendendou, 9 per cent in Ouende-Kenema and 13 per cent each for Fermessadou and Fangamadou;

•Marriages and deaths are very poorly reported;

•Six communes out of 10 recorded and reported on marriages (Bolodou, the Urban Commune, Koundou and Ouende-Kenema);

•Seven communes out of 10 recorded and reported on deaths.

Comparative analysis of the data by prefecture for the period January–July 2018 and expected live births for 2018

6.Please inform the Committee of the progress made in revising the Criminal Code and the Children’s Code with a view to expressly prohibiting corporal punishment in all places and settings, including the home, the school and alternative care settings.

30.To prevent and explicitly prohibit all forms of corporal punishment of children, the Government has taken significant steps such as the Labour Code, which deals with the child’s human protection in the workplace, and the Children’s Code, to name only those. In particular, the progress achieved in this regard relates to the inclusion of one of the Committee’s recommendations through chapter I of the single heading of the draft Children’s Code, on offences against the person of the child, section II, paragraph 2, on corporal punishment, articles 787 to 792:

Article 787: All forms of corporal or physical punishment, cruel, inhuman, degrading or humiliating treatment towards children are strictly prohibited in family, school, institutional or other spheres.

Children have the right to receive care, safety and a good education. They should be treated with respect for the person and individuality and may not be subjected to corporal punishment or other humiliating punishments.

Corporal or physical punishment means any physical penalty inflicted on the child by means of beating or wounding, maiming, confinement, or other violent, humiliating or degrading means.

Corporal or physical punishments also include any act involving the use of physical force in the upbringing of children intended to inflict some degree of pain or discomfort, however light, to correct, control or modify their behaviour.

Article 788: Corporal punishment or assault upon a child may in no way be justified in any proceedings by claiming that it is reasonable punishment.

Any person who becomes aware of such an offence is required immediately to inform the administrative or judicial authorities, on pain of penalties defined in the provisions of articles 864 and 865 of this Code.

Article 789: It is prohibited for all staff of educational institutions to inflict corporal punishment on a child affecting his or her physical or psychological integrity.

Disciplinary sanctions may not be other than educational, such as additional homework, performing a restorative task, detention, the summoning of parents, temporary suspension for one to three days or permanent expulsion from the establishment in accordance with its rules.

At no time may corporal punishment be inflicted on a child, including beating with the hand or any object, kicking, shaking, throwing, pinching, pulling of hair, forcing the child to remain in an uncomfortable or undignified position, excessive physical exercise, burning the hands or mouth or any other form of corporal punishment or humiliating treatment such as verbal abuse or treatment intended to degrade, frustrate, isolate or ignore him or her.

Article 790: Any person guilty of physical or psychological abuse, deliberate deprivation of food or care, whether inflicted on the child in the family, school, institutional or other sphere, shall be punished by one to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 Guinean francs or one of those two penalties.

Parents who are convicted as perpetrators, co-perpetrators or accomplices to a crime or offence against a child, or as co-perpetrators or accomplices to a crime or offence committed by their child, may be deprived of parental authority under the terms of a criminal judgment.

When a tutelary support measure for the child has been adopted, parents who have deliberately failed to exercise the rights and duties of parents for more than two years may be similarly deprived.

Apart from any criminal conviction, parents who have plainly endangered the safety, health or morals of the child, through ill-treatment, abuse or corporal punishment, or pernicious examples of habitual drunkenness, disorderly conduct, neglect or failure to bring up the child may be deprived of parental authority.

Article 791: If such acts against the child have caused bloodshed, injury or illness, the penalty is imprisonment for one to three years and a fine of 3,000,000 to 15,000,000 Guinean francs or one of those two penalties.

If the act has resulted in death, the offender is punished by life imprisonment.

Article 792: Any criminal investigation officer who has subjected a detained child to coercive measures, violence, pressure, physical abuse, humiliation, intimidation or other threats will be prosecuted according to the degree of commission of the offence.

7.In view of the high prevalence of child marriage, particularly in rural areas, please provide additional information on the scope and impact of the National Action Plan to Combat Child Marriage and the results of the socio-anthropological study on child marriage mentioned in paragraph 54 of the State party’s report (CRC/C/GIN/3-6).

31.The national plan to put an end to child marriage and the results of the socio-anthropological study have now caused unprecedented dynamism in mobilizing communities, civil society organizations, technical and financial partners and intersectoral services concerned by this issue. In the first half of 2018, in collaboration with the child protection chain, the Girl Leaders’ Club of Guinea prevented eight cases of child marriage in the Conakry special zone, two cases in Faranah, three cases in Labé, one case in Kankan and one in Kamsar. It should be noted that in these cases, parents gave written promises not to marry off their children below the legal age.

32.Moreover, in order to strengthen the intervention mechanism to put an end to child marriage, consideration is being given to setting up a steering committee involving key stakeholders to promote abolition of the practice. This committee will be in charge of drafting the terms of reference of the national strategy.

33.It should be noted that the five-year plan will be replaced in the next few days by a national strategy bringing together all actors.

8.Please describe the measures taken to give effect to the law criminalizing female genital mutilation in all circumstances and to ensure that perpetrators are investigated, prosecuted and sanctioned. Please provide information on the impact of the National Strategic Plan to Combat Female Genital Mutilation and any campaigns designed to eliminate that harmful practice.

34.Articles 258, 260 and 261 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Guinea define and penalize female genital mutilation (FGM). The same is true of articles 795, 796, 797 and 798 of the Children’s Code.

35.In order to enhance the effectiveness of the Act, a circular from the Minister of Justice requested all competent court administrators and public prosecutors to ensure that proceedings relating to FGM are conducted via the flagrante delicto procedure, that is, without delay. As for the penalties, suspended sentences are prohibited in such cases.

36.The child protection and gender division of the National Gendarmerie has established child protection and gender sections in Gendarmerie companies and investigation squads in the capital and in the interior of the country.

37.These sections are responsible for suppressing all forms of violence against children and women, including FGM. Staff working in those protection sections have received training to strengthen their operational capacity in child and gender protection and in handling cases relating to FGM (the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrator or perpetrators).

38.Members of some civil society organizations working to protect women’s and children’s rights, as well as the local authorities, have been trained to raise public awareness about the negative consequences of FGM, but also to report perpetrators of offences relating to it to the police or judicial authorities.

39.Fourteen convictions of perpetrators and accomplices of excision have been recorded in Conakry and the regions, as a result of the joint efforts of OPROGEM and the NGO AGUIAS through the telephone helpline.

40.The authorization of the judiciary and the police, together with the early warning mechanism through a telephone helpline, No. 116, has made it possible to pursue, slowly but surely, convictions and punishments in cases of excision initiated since April 2014, when the law on FGM was applied for the first time. Today, 20 cases of mass excision have been prevented thanks to synergy of action; 14 cases have been referred to the police, and seven of them resulted in convictions. Unfortunately, all these convictions resulted in suspended sentences.

41.The Ministry of Justice has organized numerous workshops and training seminars for judges on FGM issues. In the past five years, awareness has been raised among more than 800 judicial police officers, gendarmes, police officers and judges.

42.However, efforts are under way with the judiciary to ensure stricter enforcement of the law, despite the sociocultural obstacles underlying the persistence of this practice in our country.

9.Please indicate what measures have been taken to reduce the infant mortality, maternal mortality and chronic malnutrition rates and to make drinking water and sanitation services universally accessible. Please inform the Committee of the measures taken to ensure that children infected by HIV/AIDS have access to appropriate medical treatment, and provide information on specialized health services for survivors of Ebola, including children, and clarify what specific needs they have.

43.Policies and strategies for the health of mothers and children:

•Free obstetric care;

•Strengthening urgent obstetric and neonatal care (training, equipment, medicines, mapping);

•Clinical management of diseases among newborn babies and children;

•Community-based care for diseases of babies and children;

•Management of acute/severe malnutrition;

•Strengthening nutrition surveillance by setting up sentinel sites;

•Institutionalization of monitoring, review of maternal and newborn deaths, and response;

•Introduction of micronutrient powders in various regions.

44.Access to safe drinking water and sanitation services is widely covered in the Public Water Service strategy at the national level. It provides for the installation in the various regions of a number of hybrid systems for clean drinking water, bore-holes equipped with manual pumps and numerous sanitation facilities. The strategy also aims to set up communal microprojects for the promotion of public health and hygiene, community organization and sustainable management of water resources.

45.Measures for the care of children infected with HIV/AIDS.

10.Please inform the Committee of the measures taken to improve the quality of education and school infrastructure, to eliminate all school fees, to improve primary and secondary school completion rates, to reduce disparities between the sexes and regions, and to reduce the high dropout rate, particularly among pregnant girls. Please also provide information on the measures taken to oversee the content of the curriculum taught in Qur’anic schools.

46.Quality education has always been a major concern of the Government. Efforts have been made by the Government and its development partners to achieve this goal. These include: (i) in-service training for teachers; (ii) providing play-based teaching materials to public preschool institutions and community supervisory centres; (iii) the continued piloting of the early grade reading assessment (EGRA) approach; (iv) the revitalization of teaching and administrative inspections; (v) the reprinting of primary-school textbooks; (vi) monitoring and supervision of secondary-school head teachers; (vii) developing user guides for elementary-school textbooks and English textbooks for junior high schools; (viii) support from CEPEC International in initial primary-school teacher training; (ix) the granting of subsidies to schools and primary-school representatives.

47.The following are noteworthy in terms of infrastructure: (i) the construction and equipping of 400 additional classrooms with toilet blocks in primary and 180 in middle schools in urban and rural environments; (ii) the construction of 233 toilet facilities and 403 water points in primary schools which had not had them; (iii) the construction of 172 water points in the 135 new primary schools and the 27 new middle schools in rural areas; (iv) environmental and social stewardship; (v) encouraging demand through awareness-raising, training in the gender approach, the establishment of single-class schools, expanded basic education and the diversification of school subjects and (vi) organizing functional literacy campaigns using the delegation approach and reinvigorating Nafa centres (second-chance schools).

48.Thanks to these processes, educational provision has helped to reduce the imbalance between the sexes and among the regions. It should also be noted that the community awareness strategy in support of girls’ education has ensured the enrolment and retention of girls in school.

49.In the context of the preparation of the new ten-year education programme, education authorities are developing strategies to mainstream inclusive education, especially a bridge between regular and Qur’anic schools.

11.Please inform the Committee of the measures taken to eliminate exploitation and the worst forms of child labour, including work in the informal sector, mines, agriculture and the fishing industry, and begging on the street and domestic work. Please indicate whether any regulations and measures have been adopted to protect children affected by the practice of confiage (entrusting them to a relative or friend) and to curb this informal practice and protect the children involved from exploitation, ill-treatment, abuse and violence.

50.Article 942 of the Children’s Code prohibits the worst forms of child labour, including in the aforementioned sectors, including the exploitation of a child or children through begging; it is punishable by three to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 Guinean francs. The Office for the Protection of Gender, Childhood and Morality (OPROGEM) and the Child Protection Division of the Gendarmerie are increasingly active on child labour. Of the 11 cases recorded, 10 have been prosecuted.

12.Please indicate what measures are envisaged with regard to juvenile courts and the training of specialized judges and social workers. Please inform the Committee of the steps taken to ensure that the detention of children, including pretrial detention, is used only as a last resort and then for as short a time as possible, that children are held separately from adults in detention facilities, and that they have access to appropriate legal assistance.

51.The authorities of the Department of Justice are about to find appropriate premises for the Juvenile Court of Conakry.

52.Newly-qualified judges are trained in juvenile justice and the powers, organization and functioning of juvenile courts at the judicial training school (judicial training centre).

53.In the draft Children’s Code, the responsibilities of juvenile courts and their competencies have been extended to all categories of offences relating to children of all age groups in the Republic of Guinea. In the same context, specialized prosecutors will be gradually put in place. This specialization will prevent ordinary judges from continuing to hear procedures for minors, such as their pre-trial custody or their prosecution. Continuous training courses for judges for juveniles on alternatives to detention are ongoing.

54.From 17 September to 1 October 2018, in the five communes of Conakry and Coyah, as part of the continued efforts of the programme to support the reform of the justice system through outcome 3, and more specifically its component of “socio-occupational reintegration of prisoners”, the Terre des Hommes Foundation conducted a study on the feasibility of community service in Guinea.

55.The study examined the perception of justice-sector actors (judges and law officers), services in charge of social programmes, community members and other influential groups in society.

56.In addition, a new Directorate was established in the Ministry of Justice: the National Directorate for Correctional Education and the Judicial Protection of Young People. One of its key tasks is to manage reception centres for minors, to ensure that they are not in ordinary prisons with adults. In these centres, they will enjoy better legal assistance to facilitate their socio-professional, educational and family reintegration.

13.Please provide information on the measures taken to implement the Committee’s previous recommendations regarding the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSC/GIN/CO/1), in particular with regard to ensuring that the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography are explicitly defined and prohibited in the Criminal Code.

57.The revision of the Children’s Code was used to address this recommendation through sections VIII, paragraphs 2, 10, 11 and 15, dealing with and punishing the perpetrators of crimes related to the Protocol.

14.Please provide information on the measures taken to implement the Committee’s recommendations on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/GIN/CO/1) with regard to criminalizing the recruitment of children by the armed forces and non-State armed groups. Please provide information on the measures taken to identify and assist children recruited for or used in hostilities abroad.

58.Section XIII of the revised Children’s Code, entitled “Children in armed conflict and displaced and separated children and child refugees”, also covers the recruitment of children into any armed force or armed group. Under article 961, paragraph 2, that offence is punished by life imprisonment: “conscripting or enlisting children into armed forces or armed groups or causing them to participate actively in hostilities is punished by life imprisonment”.

59.The same penalty is imposed on anyone who has endangered the physical integrity or health of a child in time of conflict (art. 962).

60.In case of recruitment or use of children in hostilities abroad, the reception system of the West Africa Network for the Protection of Children is set in motion to identify and assist them. Local community-based childcare mechanisms are also involved.

Part Two

15.The Committee invites the State party to provide a brief update (no more than three pages) on the information presented in its report with regard to:

(a)New bills or laws, and their respective regulations;

61.Not available.

(b)New institutions (and their mandates) or institutional reforms;

62.In terms of institutional reforms, local public services have been developed through the transfer of competencies to local authorities, the creation of a national agency for community funding, a national support programme for local entities and the establishment of a fund for social inclusion.

(c)Recently introduced policies, programmes and action plans and their scope and financing;

63.Not available.

(d)Recent ratifications of human rights instruments.

64.No developments at this level.

Part III

Data, statistics and other information, if available

16.Please provide consolidated information for the past three years on the budget lines regarding children and social sectors by indicating the percentage of each budget line in terms of the total national budget and the gross national product. Please also provide information on the geographic allocation of those resources.

	2012	2013	2015
Ministry of Social Action, the Advancement of Women and Children ’ s Affairs	4 905.2	7 728.2	38 537.6
Percentage of State budget	0.28	0.39	1.35
Ministry of Education and Literacy	16 098.9	49 896.1	45 807.9
Percentage of State budget	0.93	2.53	1.60
Ministry of Health and Hygiene	169 968.2	209 630.6	254 774.6
Percentage of State budget	9.84	10.64	8.90
State budget	1 727 388.5	1 971 117.5	2 864 086.4

17.Please provide further information for the past three years on the resources allocated to:

(a)Increase the percentage of children registered at birth or registered retroactively;

65.As part of the modernization of civil registration in Guinea, the National Directorate of Civil Status received funding from the European Union and the United Nations Children’s Fund in the amount of one million six hundred thousand euros (€1,600,000).

(b)Reduce the disparities between rural and urban areas with regard to access to basic health services;

66.The Ebola virus epidemic, which claimed the lives of thousands of people, also exposed the limitations of the health system in both urban and rural areas. The lessons learned from this painful period have led the Government to increase the health budget. Subsequently, improved health centres are being built and equipped in all rural communities, using State funds and with support from development partners.

67.The improved health centre is part of a pilot project to provide the country with four such health centres across the sub-prefectures of Maferinyah (Forécariah), Banankoro (Kérouané), Gouécké (N’Zérékoré) and Matoto commune (Conakry) The project’s strategic goal is to enhance the ability of patient care facilities to prevent and control infections in health centres. The overall cost is estimated at US$2,566,785.

68.The improved health centre is a modern complex. It is the result of international cooperation in post-Ebola resilience in Guinea, as a support hub for the dynamic recovery of the country’s health system. The Government intends to extend it to all rural communities.

69.It includes a flexible space for inpatients, a technical base consisting of an operating theatre, an imaging unit, a biomedical laboratory, a centre for the treatment of diseases with epidemic potential and two dwellings for health workers. This infrastructure under construction in rural communities will significantly reduce the disparities and weaknesses in the country’s health system. It should be noted that these improved health units are all provided with state-of-the-art equipment.

(c)Improve the delivery of basic services, including health services, access to drinking water, sanitation and protection, for children at school;

70.With regard to access to safe drinking water, the National Drinking Water Service, traditionally responsible for rural water supply, is increasingly being decentralized, strengthening the management of drinking water services by rural communities themselves, with the establishment of a public water service. The strategy is based on local project management and the involvement of voluntary management organizations and decentralized regional services.

71.While strengthening the public water service strategy at the national level, there are plans to install in the regions a number of hybrid systems for clean drinking water, wells equipped with manual pumps and numerous sanitation facilities. The strategy also aims to set up communal microprojects for the promotion of public health and hygiene, community organization and sustainable management of water resources.

72.The contributions of the State and its development partners aiming to support the water supply in rural and semi-urban areas have helped to significantly improve access to quality water for rural populations. These actions are part of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the National Economic and Social Development Plan.

73.The Commission of the European Union has granted funding in the amount of €8.4 million to the Republic of Guinea for the implementation of a project to support the water supply in rural and semi-urban areas. This is done in the context of the European initiative for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These funds have been directed primarily to the N’Zérékoré and Kankan regions. They have also helped to strengthen the National Drinking Water Service in the implementation of the public water strategy in rural and semi-urban areas.

74.Although the level of access to safe drinking water in Guinea has generally improved in recent years (up to 70 per cent), it remains very low in some prefectures of the country’s administrative regions. As for basic health-care services, the improved health centres initiative is part of this effort.

(d)Implement the National Social Protection Policy, with particular regard to children.

75.The final version of the National Social Protection Policy has just been approved under the auspices of the Government. It is now in the dissemination phase.

18.Please provide, if available, updated statistical data for the past three years, disaggregated by age, sex, ethnic origin, national origin, geographic location and socioeconomic situation, on:

(a)Infant and maternal mortality (disaggregated by cause of death);

76.Not available.

(b)The number of cases of sexual violence and rape committed against children and adolescents, the number of investigations and legal proceedings instituted and the outcome of the trials, indicating the sentences handed down to the perpetrators and the redress and compensation afforded to the victims;

Number	Offence	Number of cases	Brought to court	Age
-18	+18
01	Rape	184	144	126	58

(c)Cases of child marriage;

77.21 cases of child marriage were prevented, 14 cases investigated by the relevant departments and 11 cases were brought before the courts and tribunals.

(d)The number of recorded cases of female genital mutilation, indicating the follow-up given to such cases, the sentences handed down to the perpetrators and the redress and compensation afforded to the victims;

78.Throughout the country, 92 cases of mass excision have been prevented. Seven convictions of perpetrators and accomplices of excision have been identified in Conakry and in the regions, as a result of the joint efforts of OPROGEM and the NGO AGUIAS through the helpline. The victims were provided with psychosocial counselling and medical, legal and juridical services.

(e)Teenage pregnancies and girls receiving medical and professional support during pregnancy and delivery, cases of maternal mortality among girls and adolescents, and the number of girls imprisoned for having resorted to clandestine abortions;

79.Not available.

(f)The number of children affected by sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, and by malaria;

80.Not available.