11 February 2015 - Women's organizations of Bissau-Guinean civil society today handed over to the Head of State, José Mario Vaz, the Declaration of Canchungo at a ceremony attended by the UN family led by the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Guinea-Bissau, Marco Carmignani.

The Declaration of Canchungo is an advocacy tool which aims to raise awareness of national authorities, particularly the incumbents of sovereign bodies, on the urgent need to adopt strategies that will result in change in attitudes towards a greater participation of women in politics and in decision-making spheres/processes as a necessary condition for the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law.

Among the proposals is "a minimum of 40% to ensure a significant representation of women in decision-making bodies, especially in parliament and government."

The text also calls on national authorities to "review the legal framework of the political and electoral system of the country in order to make it more gender sensitive."

Other proposals involve the creation of reception centers, and psychosocial and legal support for women victims of violence.

The document submitted to President José Mario Vaz is entitled "The Declaration of Canchungo" because it was written at the end of a discussion meeting on gender equality held in October 2014 in Canchungo, a city in the northern part of the country and funded by the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS).

In addition to national authorities, the civil society and the international partners, this event had the special participation of a high level delegation of the 5th Committee of the UN which is on an official visit to the country. The 5th Committee is composed of the main UN donors and aims to assess the impact of the UN actions on the ground.