Cabo Verde - Universal Periodic Review

UPR 30, May 8, 2018
Recommendations by Canada

Recommendations

Please check against delivery

Thank you, Mr. President.

Canada commends Cabo Verde on its efforts to strengthen human rights, including the rights of LGBTI persons.  We commend in particular Cabo Verde’s decision to join the Equal Rights Coalition, the first member from Africa.

Canada recommends that Cabo Verde:

1. Strengthen its efforts to prevent gender-based violence by conducting awareness and education campaigns to facilitate a better understanding of the concept of gender equality.
2. Undertake the necessary awareness and education efforts to stop the practice of early marriage and early pregnancy.
3. Step up its efforts to eradicate human trafficking, in particular of women and children, including through the implementation of the 2015 law amending the criminal code in connection with human trafficking.

We note that the proportion of early marriages in Cabo Verde is one of the lowest in the region; 18% of women under 18 are married. That said, there is still room for improvement, considering that the recorded rates have remained practically unchanged since 2002.

Background

According to UPR Info, a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) that tracks the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, in the first two cycles of the UPR, Cabo Verde received 173 recommendations, of which 168 were accepted (an acceptance rate of 97%).

Canada’s previous recommendations to Cabo Verde related to sexual violence, human trafficking, and police brutality.

Cabo Verde has an excellent score for respect of human rights, and is a leader in Africa in that respect. Substantial efforts have been made in recent years to improve existing governance mechanisms in the country, and the general freedom index is generally satisfactory. Overall, the country has a relatively low level of institutional corruption, despite a number of challenges in the wake of the preparations for the 2016 general election. The legal systems are functional, but the government lacks resources to enforce its resolutions, notably with regard to human trafficking.

Although Cabo Verde prohibits gender-based discrimination, wage disparities and unequal access to education for girls are still regrettable. A national gender equality and equity program, launched in 2015, has not received any funding to date, making it impossible to achieve tangible progress. Early pregnancy issues are still important and raising awareness among the target population may be necessary in order to inform on their consequences and how to prevent them.