Across The Globe
Email Sign-up
Matching Gift
Your donation could go up to 4 times further.
Find Out How
Sponsor a Child
Through child sponsorship, two lives are changed forever: yours and the life of your sponsored child.
This Valentine's Day, Help Break the Cycle of Poverty. Get your limited-edition Valentine's Day cards and support our work in the U.S.
Read More
Guinea
Numbers at a Glance
Facts and Statistics
Sources: CIA World Factbook, World Bank, UNDP Support Save the ChildrenCharitable contributions from people like you make it possible for us to support programs in Guinea, and so much more. Please support our mission and work around the world with a gift to our Global Action Fund. You can count on us to be good stewards of your generous donation, helping vulnerable children where the need is greatest with whatever they need the most. You can help make a difference by supporting all the work that Save the Children does to help children in need in the U.S. and around the world.
Save the Children has worked in Guinea since 1997. Our programs focus on the availability and quality of formal and informal education, improving health services for children and mothers and child protection. We also incorporate HIV/AIDS information into our health and education initiatives. Community participation is a driving force behind our work, which reaches some 570 communities and benefits hundreds of thousands of Guineans as well as thousands of refugees from neighboring countries.
Challenges for ChildrenGuinea' children p activities.< illegal or work sexual commercial situations, labor exploitative to vulnerable extremely in involved are many and structure, support family without own, their on living youth refugee 10,000 estimated an there Guinea, southern located community a N?Zérékoré, Today, challenges. development the with competes war by caused suffering status. The epidemic reach will unchecked, if and, years recent rapidly increased has AIDS HIV children, its country facing problems addition In Africa. West poorest among people s> Our ResponseEducationWe build primary schools, improve community participation in all aspects of school management, and encourage gender and urban/rural equity in primary education. The introduction of school libraries has also become a significant program activity. We have created school libraries in some 40 villages to increase reading among children and encourage them to read with their parents. Literacy is an important issue in Guinea – less than one adult in three is literate and this rate drops to about one in five for females. In 2007, 50,734 children benefitted from our school activities.
HealthIn collaboration with the Guinean government, Save the Children is increasing the quality and use of essential family planning and maternal-child health services. We deliver school-based health and nutrition activities to help children be healthier and stay in school. HIV/AIDS information is incorporated into our health and education initiatives. Projects have included organizing village health committees to promote health care for children under 5 and pregnant women, creating social insurance projects to support emergency obstetrical care and training traditional birth attendants. This is especially important as traditional birth attendants are often the only health workers in rural areas available to identify and treat children’s and women’s illnesses.
Child ProtectionSave the Children continues to work with refugees in southern Guinea. While thousands have repatriated, our focus is on helping vulnerable refugee children and youth living in and around N'Zérékoré, a community in southern Guinea. Our staff and programs provide essential outreach to help protect those at risk. The activities encourage youths’ interaction with their peers, promote eventual reintegration into communities and prepare them to return to their homes in Liberia through skills training, apprenticeship programs and educational development. Last year, 700 at-risk youth were identified and trained in French, English and computer skills; 100 girls were trained in income generating activities.
Plans for the Future: Looking Forward for ChildrenSave the Children will focus on three sectors: child protection, basic education and health. We will continue to work with refugees from neighboring nations, with special attention focused on children and youth who have left camps to live in urban settings in southern Guinea and at-risk refugee youths in N'Zérékoré. And, we will continue to build libraries in village schools. 
Life in Guinea: Kokulo's StoryKokulo was just a baby when rebels attacked his family in Liberia in 2000. Both his parents were killed and he suffered serious head injuries. After the attack, Kokulo's aunt fled to Guinea with Kokulo. They arrived in Brebezou, where Kokulo was treated by a local herbalist. After three months they relocated to N'Zérékoré, seeking better treatment and living conditions. There, the boy was taken to a mental health clinic where staff conducted interviews and psychological examinations. The staff concluded that although Kokulo was healthy physically there were some psychological and development concerns. Our program partner — Today's Women International Network — has provided him with education at its daycare center and Save the Children has included him in its psychosocial activities program. Our field staff, who monitor Kokulo regularly, report that he is improving and doing well. Last Updated on October 2011 |
