Summary: State Party Guinea-Bissau ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 29 November 2010. It participated in the convention’s Tenth Meeting of States Parties in August–September 2022. Guinea-Bissau voted in favor of the key United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting the convention in December 2022.

Guinea-Bissau provided an initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention in November 2019, which confirmed that it has never produced cluster munitions. In May 2022, Guinea-Bissau clarified that it does not possess any stockpiled cluster munitions, including for research and training purposes.

Policy

The Republic of Guinea-Bissau signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified it on 29 November 2010. It became a State Party on 1 May 2011.

Guinea-Bissau has not reported any national implementing legislation for the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1]  

Guinea-Bissau submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention in November 2019, and provided four annual updated annual reports in 2020–2023.[2]

Guinea-Bissau participated in some meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention, including the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008, where it joined other African states in opposing efforts to weaken the convention text and participated in the consensus adoption of the text.[3]

Guinea-Bissau attended the convention’s intersessional meetings in May 2022 and provided an update on stockpiles. This marked its first participation in a meeting of the convention since 2014.[4] Most recently, it participated in the convention’s Tenth Meeting of States Parties held in Geneva in August–September 2022, where it reiterated that it does not possess any cluster munitions.[5]

Guinea-Bissau voted in favor of the key UNGA resolution promoting full implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in December 2022.^[6]It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Guinea-Bissau has not elaborated its views on certain important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the convention, such as the prohibitions on transit; on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions; on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions; and on investment in cluster munition production.

Guinea-Bissau is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Use, production, and transfer

Guinea-Bissau said in 2008 that it has never used or produced cluster munitions.[7] In its initial transparency report provided in November 2019, Guinea-Bissau confirmed that it has no cluster munition production facilities.

Guinea-Bissau is not known to have exported cluster munitions, but may have imported them in the past.

Stockpile destruction

Guinea-Bissau clarified in 2022 that it does not possess any cluster munition stockpiles.

Guinea-Bissau initially reported that it possessed cluster munitions but did not provide information on the types or quantities.[8] Guinea-Bissau sought financial and technical assistance to identify and safely destroy cluster munition stocks by the convention’s 1 May 2019 deadline.[9] An assessment of Guinea-Bissau’s storage facilities conducted in January 2020 by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) did not identify any cluster munitions.[10]

In May 2022, Guinea-Bissau told the convention’s intersessional meetings that the Ministry of National Defense recently carried out a verification exercise to confirm the existence of cluster munitions, which concluded that Guinea-Bissau “does not have any reserves of such ammunition under its jurisdiction or control.”[11]

Guinea-Bissau confirmed that it does not stockpile cluster munitions in its recent transparency reports and it has any not retained any for research or training purposes.[12]

COUNTRY SUMMARY

Guinea-Bissau was affected by contamination including antipersonnel and antivehicle mines, as well as explosive remnants of war (ERW), as a consequence of armed conflicts from 1963–1974 and 1998–1999, and in 2006.[1]

On 5 December 2012, Guinea-Bissau formally declared fulfillment of its clearance obligations under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty. In 2021, it reported discovering additional suspected mined areas and submitted an Article 5 extension request, which was granted, setting an initial new deadline of 31 December 2022. This enabled Guinea-Bissau to mobilize the resources to conduct survey, in order to formulate an evidence-based action plan.[2]

In April 2022, Guinea-Bissau submitted a further two-year Article 5 extension request, which was granted, amending the deadline to 31 December 2024. This request included a workplan to conduct a national survey, to determine the nature and extent of contamination. It outlined initiatives for implementing marking, emergency spot tasks, risk education, and clearance. [3]

Guinea-Bissau is responsible for a significant number of mine/ERW victims.[4] It has only one physical rehabilitation center, in the capital, Bissau. Since 2021, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has reduced its support to the center, but still provides training. [5]Haut du formulaire

ASSESSING THE IMPACT

Contamination

 Extent of contamination[6]

Note: CHA=confirmed hazardous area; SHA=suspected hazardous area; N/A=not applicable.

*Contamination remains unknown in unsurveyed areas in the North, East, and South provinces.

**This reported figure includes mixed antipersonnel mine, antivehicle mine, and ERW contamination.

**Re-survey is needed to confirm estimated contamination.

Landmine contamination

Landmine contamination in Guinea-Bissau dates back to the liberation war of 1963–1974, and was further exacerbated by the Civil War in 1998–1999 and the Casamance conflict in March 2006. The conflict with non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in the north, which began in March 2006, resulted in the placement of mines by a faction of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance. Devices reported to have been used included both manufactured antipersonnel landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), modified to be victim-activated.[7]

Guinea-Bissau declared completion of its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance obligations in 2012. Yet in 2021, Guinea-Bissau reported that “previously unknown mined areas” comprised antipersonnel and antivehicle mines and ERW across nine confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) in North province (in Cacheu and Oio) and South province (Quebo and Tombali). In addition, 43 areas were suspected to contain mines and ERW, located in East (Bafatá and Gabú), North (Cacheu and Oio), and South (Quinará and Tombali) provinces.[8]

As of the end of 2022, Guinea-Bissau reported nine CHAs totaling 1.09km², with no additional progress made on surveying the 43 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs).[9]

Guinea-Bissau reported that it did not have the required financial resources to conduct survey and clearance prior to 2022.[10] The total reported CHA resulted from a survey carried out by Humanitarian Aid in Guinea-Bissau (HUMAID). The 43 SHAs were identified by HUMAID through reports from the local population.[11] Both CHA and SHA are planned to be re-surveyed by Guinea-Bissau in compliance with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS).[12]

Cluster munition remnants contamination

The last known unexploded submunitions were reported to have been destroyed by Cleared Ground Demining (CGD) in August 2008.[13] However, in 2009, Guinea-Bissau submitted a Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report which referred to “some clusters” at the Paiol da Bra ammunition storage area.[14] CGD later reported clearing 73 PTAB 2.5M submunitions from this area in 2009.[15] In June 2010, the National Mine Action Coordination Center (Centro Nacional de Coordenção da Accão Anti-Minas, CAAMI) acknowledged that cluster munition remnants remained a problem in Guinea-Bissau, but stated that survey was needed to identify the extent of contamination.[16] In 2010, CGD found and destroyed six unexploded PTAB 2.5M submunitions during clearance in the Paiol da Bra area.[17] In March 2011, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) reported that no submunitions were found during its survey in Guinea-Bissau.[18]

In 2019, Guinea-Bissau stated that all cluster munition contaminated areas were cleared before the Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force for the country.[19]

Other types of contamination

In 2022, Guinea-Bissau reported 0.4km² SHA in Biombo and Oio regions (in North province), and Quinará (in South province). Field visits were needed to confirm this contamination.[20]

Casualties

5-year casualties total: 2018–2022[21]

From 1963–2022, a total of 1,591mine/ERW casualties were reported in Guinea-Bissau. This total includes at least 1,436 survivors.[22]

CAAMI registered 13 mine/ERW incidents and 73 casualties from 2012–2022. The majority of these casualties were boys (20), where the age and gender was known (25). Two casualties were caused by antipersonnel mines, while 40 were caused by antivehicle mines. Another 13 casualties were caused by ERW, with the remaining 18 attributed to unknown devices.[23]

No casualties were recorded in Guinea-Bissau in 2022. One mine/ERW incident was reported in 2021, when two children were killed and six injured by the explosion of an unknown device in Pitche, Gabú region, at an old army barracks.[24] This was the first incident since 2016.

Cluster munition casualties

The total number of cluster munition casualties in Guinea-Bissau is unknown. There were 11 cluster munition remnant casualties due to scattered ordnance that resulted from the explosion of a weapons depot in 1998.[25] In 2019, the Ministry of National Defense indicated that it was not aware of any cluster munition casualties in the country.[26] In 2020, Guinea-Bissau noted that it needed to conduct a survey in order to identify any cluster munition survivors.[27]

COORDINATION

Summary table[28]

Note: CAAMI=Centro Nacional de Coordenção da Accão Anti-Minas (National Mine Action Coordination Center); N/R=not reported.

ADDRESSING THE IMPACT

Clearance

Highlights from 2022

In February 2023, CAAMI established a free national hotline to report the presence of mines, ERW, and incidents involving explosive ordnance.[29]

Management and coordination

Management and coordination overview

CAAMI was established in 2001 under the Ministry of National Defense. It coordinated mine action operations in Guinea-Bissau until completion of clearance in 2012.[30] In 2021, CAAMI resumed its activities, though it reported that it did not have the financial resources to fulfil its mandate.[31] CAAMI reported in 2022 that it has requested support from international operators Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and the HALO Trust, and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), to build its capacity and that of local operators.[32]

Guinea-Bissau formed the National Council for Humanitarian Demining on 28 February 2023, to coordinate humanitarian demining activities and validate national standards.[33]

In August 2022, MAG reported that it had signed an agreement with the government of Guinea-Bissau to support CAAMI and conduct mine action activities in the country.[34]

CAAMI reported in November 2022 that it will require a total of US$5.7 million to implement its workplan for 2022–2024, and called for an annual national contribution of $40,000 as well as international financial support. As of June 2023, only partial funding had been secured.[35]

In May 2023, CAAMI organized a workshop on land release and the establishment of working groups, as a means of coordinating activities with operators.[36]

Legislation and standards

CAAMI developed seven national mine action standards on survey and clearance, which were submitted to the National Council for Humanitarian Demining for approval in 2023.[37]  

Strategies and policies

Guinea-Bissau has a National Mine Action Workplan 2022–2024, which was also included in the National Development Program.[38] CAAMI planned to develop a residual risk management strategy with support from MAG in 2023–2024.[39]

Information management

In 2022, CAAMI requested support from MAG and GICHD to update its outdated information management system and rebuild its capacity. CAAMI planned to review paper archives and historical data to help identify residual contamination. [40] In June 2023, CAAMI reported that it had planned a workshop in July–August 2023 to improve information management and use of IMSMA, with support from GICHD.[41]

Gender and diversity

A workshop on gender and diversity in mine action was held in May 2023 to build the capacity of CAAMI and mine action operators.[42]

Clearance operators

MAG planned to deploy non-technical survey and clearance teams at the beginning of 2023.[43] As of June 2023, two international clearance operators were accredited: MAG and the HALO Trust. One national non-governmental organization (NGO), HUMAID, was also accredited.[44]

HUMAID has carried out mine action activities since 2012, including demining and spot tasks, but has faced challenges with equipment that requires maintenance or replacement. Another national operator, We All Fight Against Mines (Lutamos Todos Contra As Minas, LUTCAM), was previously active. CAAMI reported it was considering reactivating LUTCAM to enhance national capacity, or integrating former LUTCAM staff into HUMAID demining teams.[45]

CAAMI planned to deploy three clearance teams to support non-technical survey in the North, South, and East provinces.[46]Haut du formulaire

Land release: antipersonnel landmines

CAAMI did not report any land release during 2022. No clearance or survey activity has taken place in Guinea-Bissau since 2014.[47]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance deadline

Summary of Article 5 clearance deadline extension requests[48]

On 5 December 2012, Guinea-Bissau formally declared fulfillment of its clearance obligations under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, having been granted a short two-month extension to its initial deadline.[49] However, in its declaration of completion, Guinea-Bissau reported that “Battle Area Clearance tasks remain as well as an expected residual contamination which will be addressed by CAAMI.”[50] After the 2012 declaration, mine clearance operators and donors withdrew from the country.[51]

In November 2019, Guinea-Bissau reported residual ERW contamination.[52] In 2021, Guinea-Bissau reported suspected mine and ERW contamination and submitted a request to extend its Article 5 deadline to 31 December 2022. The request was granted, with Guinea-Bissau aiming to mobilize resources and gather information to submit a third extension request in 2022.[53]

In April 2022, Guinea-Bissau requested an additional two-year extension, which was granted. The request detailed a preparatory phase in 2022 (for resource mobilization, capacity-building, and training), and an implementation phase in 2023–2024 (for non-technical survey, marking, emergency spot tasks, risk education, and clearance). It is uncertain if Guinea-Bissau will meet its December 2024 deadline, as delays in the preparatory phase were reported in June 2023.[54]

Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 clearance deadline

Guinea-Bissau reported to have completed clearance of cluster munition remnants before the Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force for the country in 2011.[55]

Risk education

Management and coordination

Management and coordination overview 

Guinea-Bissau planned to resume risk education activities in 2022, but this was postponed to 2023 due to delays in funding.[56] National mine action standards aligned with IMAS 12.10 on Risk Education were planned to be developed, while CAAMI personnel will receive refresher training.[57] Guinea-Bissau’s Technical Working Group on Risk Education has not been active since 2012, and CAAMI coordinates directly with operators. Risk education is included in the National Mine Action Workplan 2022–2024.[58]

Risk education operators

CAAMI plans to provide Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) to affected populations alongside survey and clearance. Risk education will be delivered by operators and community focal points. Training was planned for 2022, but had not been reported as of June 2023.[59]

Target groups

CAAMI planned to undertake a Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) survey in 2023 to better design risk education messages, materials, and delivery methods.[60] Communities where CHAs have been identified will be prioritized for this survey and risk education activities.[61]

Victim assistance

Highlights from 2022

During 2022, despite the withdrawal of ICRC funding, the Center for Physical Rehabilitation provided physical rehabilitation services and assistive devices to 1,180 patients, including 30 mine/ERW survivors. The ICRC covered the cost of treatment, transport, and accommodation for 105 patients.[62] This represents a significant reduction from 2021, when 3,900 persons with disabilities, including 109 survivors, accessed services, with 926 supported by the ICRC.[63]

Management and coordination

Management and coordination overview

CAAMI has a designated victim assistance focal point.[64] CAAMI worked with the Ministry of Women, Family and Social Cohesion, the Ministry of Public Health, and the Federation of Associations for the Defense and Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Federação das Associações de Defesa e Promoção dos Direitos das Pessoas com Deficiência, FADPD) to mainstream victim assistance into public policies and programs.[65] A five-year National Strategy for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities was adopted in 2022.[66]

The Ministry of National Defense and CAAMI hosted a victim assistance dialogue in January 2022, to discuss the implementation of the National Strategy for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities, and to strengthen victim assistance coordination activities and implementation.[67]

Information management

A centralized database of mine/ERW victims and their needs previously existed, but was lost. CAAMI relies on remaining paper archives, which were yet to be entered into a database.[68]

Legal frameworks or policies on disability inclusion

Guinea-Bissau has no specific law on the rights of persons with disabilities. Former military personnel with disabilities received government pensions, though this has not adequately met their housing, food, and healthcare needs.[69]

Guinea-Bissau has formed a Directorate for Inclusive Education, and in 2021–2022 Humanity & Inclusion (HI) supported the Ministry of Education to develop a national strategy and action plan on inclusive education.[70]

Victim assistance providers

The Center for Physical Rehabilitation, in Bissau, remained the only functioning rehabilitation center nationwide, providing physical rehabilitation services and producing assistive devices. The ICRC’s multiyear support to the center was reduced to minimal staff training during 2022, and CAAMI has called for new funding to continue providing rehabilitation services.[71]

HI withdrew completely from Guinea-Bissau in March 2022, after having worked on inclusive education in Bissau, Cacheu, Bafatá, and Biombo.[72]

FADPD has 17 national members, including associations representing mine/ERW survivors.[73] Representatives attended the National Dialogue on Victim Assistance in 2022.[74]

Needs assessment

The Ministry of Public Health, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Italian Association of Raoul Follereau Friends, conducted an assessment of rehabilitation services.[75] It concluded that the prioritization of rehabilitation within the healthcare sector was insufficient, citing lack of funding, equipment, and qualified personnel. Outside of the capital, Bissau, access to rehabilitation services was limited, while services were not available in most hospitals and primary healthcare centers.[76]

Medical care and rehabilitation

The Ministry of Public Health developed a National Rehabilitation Strategic Plan for 2023.[77]

In Guinea-Bissau, only six hospitals have the capacity to provide medical care for survivors; with just one, in Bissau, able to treat the most serious injuries.[78] CAAMI reported in 2022 that no emergency medical care or first-aid was available in remote mine/ERW-affected areas.[79]

 Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

The socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion of survivors remained largely unaddressed in 2022, while barriers persisted in accessing education, public buildings, and transportation.[80]

In 2022, the ICRC organized a wheelchair basketball tournament in Bissau and donated sports wheelchairs and other equipment to a local organization.[81]

Policy

Guinea-Bissau signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 22 May 2001, becoming a State Party on 1 November 2001. In December 2004, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said Guinea-Bissau was planning to enact domestic legislation to implement the treaty,[1] but in July 2007, the director of the National Mine Action Coordination Center (CAAMI) told the Monitor that the government would not adopt a new law as the treaty automatically became national law under the constitution, making mine-related crimes subject to existing penal sanctions.[2] Guinea-Bissau has reported that the Mine Ban Treaty was approved by parliament on 13 December 2000 and subsequently by the office of the president by a decree, thus entering the Convention’s obligations into law in Guinea-Bissau.[3]

Guinea-Bissau previously regularly attended meetings of the treaty, but has not done so since it attended the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. Guinea-Bissau submitted its 10^th Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in 2011, but has not submitted subsequent reports.

Guinea-Bissau is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Guinea-Bissau is also party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and retention

Guinea-Bissau has reported that it never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. On 17 October 2005, Guinea-Bissau destroyed the last of its 10,654 stockpiled antipersonnel mines, just ahead of its stockpile destruction deadline of 1 November 2005.[4]

In December 2011, Guinea-Bissau demonstrated transparency by reporting that an ammunition storage assessment conducted jointly with the UN Mine Action Service had identified a small number of additional stockpiled antipersonnel mines in the military bases of Quebo and Gabu.[5] Seven PMN mines were found, as well as two boxes containing an undetermined number of POMZ-2 mines. Guinea-Bissau stated its intention to destroy them no later than 31 March 2012, but as of September 2012 the Monitor had not received a confirmation that the mines had been destroyed. Under the Cartagena Action Plan, a State Party that discovers stockpiled mines after the expiration of its deadline must share such information with States Parties as soon as possible and destroy the mines as a matter of urgent priority.

In its 2008 Article 7 report, Guinea-Bissau reported having retained 109 mines for training purposes.[6] However, 100 of these—50 POMZ-2 and 50 PMD-6—were listed as “disarmed.”[7] In its 2009 report, Guinea-Bissau stated that the 50 POMZ-2 mines had been recycled for metal use, and the 50 PMD-6 mines had also been destroyed.[8] In its subsequent Article 7 reports, Guinea-Bissau listed only nine mines as retained for training: six PMN, one M409, and two M969 mines. Most recently, in 2011, Guinea-Bissau reported that there was no training underway.[9]

Use

There have been no reports of use of antipersonnel mines in Guinea-Bissau since March and April 2006, when a faction of the Senegal-based Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (Mouvement des Forces Démocratiques de la Casamance, MFDC) fled from Senegal and laid both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines in northern Guinea-Bissau.[10]