Equatorial Guinea

The United Nations in Equatorial Guinea

The United Nations was founded on 24 October 1945, after the Second World War. Equatorial Guinea joined the UN to give life to a great vision for humanity, which implied maintaining international peace and security, promoting sustainable development and guaranteeing human rights. The United Nation’s current membership includes 193 Member States, and its work focuses on protecting the lives of people in every corner of the world.  

As a member of the United Nations, Equatorial Guinea has actively contributed to facilitating the implementation of the UN mandate, ranging from being an active temporary member of the UN Security Council to supporting the improvement of the lives and livelihoods of poor people worldwide. 

Milestones

1. Gender equality and empowerment of women and girls 

The United Nations supports the country to increase women’s participation in politics, legislative reforms, establishing legislative reforms, and programmes. Currently, the UN system contributed to establishing a National Plan on Violence against Women and Girls; updating the family code; drafting legislation on violence against women and girls; providing draft bills to protect pregnant adolescents; and elaborating a roadmap to develop an action plan for the application of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. 

These plans, programmes, and bills aim to put women and girls front and centre in all decision-making to promote sustainable development, economic prosperity, climate action, and human rights (particularly the rights of women and girls).  

2. Support during the COVID-19 pandemic 

Under the technical leadership of WHO, the United Nations has supported the Government’s health response to COVID-19. The UN system, including the international financial institutions, has also assisted the Government in developing a national COVID-19 Socio-Economic Response and Recovery Plan to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. The plan has five pillars: 1) Protection of health services and systems; 2) Social protection and essential services; 3) Protection of jobs, small and medium enterprises and the most vulnerable productive actors; 4) Macroeconomic response and multilateral collaboration; 5) Social cohesion and community resilience. 

3. United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) 

A Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) has been established to mobilize financial resources to accelerate the implementation of the current United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2019_2023 and contribute to the call for action towards the Sustainable Development Goals, the 2030 Agenda and the 2035 Sustainable Development Plan. The MPTF will also support the implementation of the National Socio-Economic Recovery Plan from the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds have four thematic windows: 1) support for COVID-19 vaccination; 2) strengthening systems and knowledge management; 3) good governance and security; and 4) recovering and building back better. 

4. Supporting the transformation of food systems 

Under the leadership of the Resident Coordination Office, the UN, through FAO, UNDP and UNICEF, supports the transformation of food systems in Equatorial Guinea. This technical support and accompaniment enabled the country to participate in the World Food Systems Summit 2021. Two inclusive National Dialogues were held in the country to prepare for this. More than 200 people, actors of the food chain, participated and addressed the fragility of national food systems to achieve food security and the Sustainable Development Goals. The technical support provided by the UN system has enabled the country to provide itself with a strategic, summarized and pragmatic national roadmap. This roadmap considers the difficulties and lessons learned in implementing nationwide programmes and plans developed for this sector over the last 25 years and the commitments made by the country at the international level. 

5. Response to the 7M emergency in the city of Bata 

At noon on 7 March 2021, a series of explosions occurred at the arsenal in the Nkoantoma military camp, in Bata. As a result, numerous buildings were damaged in the camp’s surroundings. One hundred and seven people were killed, including children. More than 600 people were injured and around 16,000 people were affected by the explosions. With the deployment of members of its Country Team and two teams from OCHA and UNREC, the United Nations system was at the forefront in responding to the country’s call for support. The UN with its partners provided several types of support, ranging from conducting multiple assessments, including rapid impact studies on the causes of the blasts; evaluation of damaged housing infrastructures—by using innovative technology and youth participation; analysis of water quality, including that of wells, distribution of food and non-alimentary items, including hygiene and dignity kits; provision of cash-for-work and cash transfers to the most vulnerable families. 

6. Strengthening cooperation through dialogue and partnership. 

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the implementation of the UNDAF Cooperation Framework Plan 2019-2023, between the United Nations system and the Government and other partners. Therefore, to revive the partnership, the Government organized a high-level retreat with the UN Country Team from 20-22 November 2020 in Riaba City. The retreat provided opportunities to strengthen dialogue, analyse difficulties encountered in implementing the UNDAF and identify solutions. After two intense days of discussions, twelve key priorities and programme recommendations were agreed upon. In addition, the Government and the UN ountry Team established a code of conduct to strengthen cooperation with the various entities.  

Data about the work of the UN Country Team on COVID-19 is available on their Country Dashboard. 

For more information, please visit: GuineaEcuatorial.UN.org.