Africa

Debt Relief In September 2012, Guinea met the requirements necessary to complete the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and qualified for the Multilateral Debt Relief Initia- tive.28 As a result, the IMF and the World Bank's International Development Association decided to relieve US$2.1 billion in debt, representing a 66 percent reduction of Guinea's future external debt service over a forty-year period.29 E. Guinea Bissau Law No. 14/2010, enacting the statutory regime on Economic Interest Groups (EIGs), took effect in 20 1 2.30 Under the new statute, an individual or company can set up an EIG with or without its own capital, and it may include as part of its purpose the gain and sharing of profits.31 F. Liberia On February 4, 2012, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf signed into law the Children's Law of Liberia,32 which includes provisions requiring obligatory school attendance and bolsters regulations against child labor and sexual abuse.33 The law is based on the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, both of which have been ratified by Liberia.34 In August 2012, the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights con- demned a bill proposed in the Liberian Senate to penalize the encouragement and promo- tion of homosexuality.35 Under the bill, offenders would face a second-degree felony charge, a fine, and up to five years imprisonment.36 G.\n156 2.