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Guinea
>> Regional Overview >> Guinea Overview
Previous Years' Activities
2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997
Last updated: 20
THE DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE: Guinea continues to be of major significance to U.S. foreign policy interests as instability in the West Africa sub-region persists. Guinea has been a cornerstone of stability among the Mano River Union nations and has provided safe-haven to refugees fleeing conflict in the neighboring countries. In 2001, however, nearly 250,000 Guineans were displaced as a result of cross-border attacks by rebels from Sierra Leone and Liberia. As a result, there is a need to restore stability to these areas in Guinea and bolster the impact of Sierra Leone program activities. At the same time, changes to the Guinean Constitution in 2001 currently threaten to reverse the trend toward political decentralization, with negative implications for democratic participation. The United States will continue to work with Guinea to overcome these potential sources of instability by supporting Guinea's progress toward democracy. A democratic and well-governed Guinea is more likely to stay internally stable, which will strengthen the country's ability to respond to immediate humanitarian needs while regaining the momentum it had previously achieved in addressing the country's long-term development challenges. Assistance to Guinea supports the core U.S. values of mitigating conflict and human suffering, promoting democracy, and improving opportunities for free trade. Guinea's recent admission to the United Nations Security Council and its potential role as a moderate Muslim country in the global war against terrorism further heighten its importance to U.S. foreign policy interests.
GDP Per Capita $330; Population 7.2 million; GDP Growth Rate 3.3%; Infant Mortality is 96 per 1,000; Child Mortality is 167 per 1,000; Life Expectancy is 46 years; Literacy Rate 20%. In addressing Guinea's development challenges, USAID has the opportunity to help improve some of the country's development indicators, among the lowest in the world. USAID and other donor assistance, combined with Guinea's political will and capacity to improve the lives of its citizens, has helped the country rise from the lowest-ranked country on the United Nations Development Program's Human Development Index from 1991 to 1994 to 161 out of 174 countries in 1999. Despite structural changes made to the previously socialist economy, the country's potential to translate its substantial natural resource base into improved social and economic benefits for Guinea's 7.2 million citizens has yet to be reached. Instead, Guinea is characterized by a high population growth rate, low literacy levels, poor levels of school enrollment, and a burgeoning AIDS epidemic. The external security crisis has caused the government to divert resources and adjust its development plan at the expense of a new poverty reduction strategy to which it has committed. Significant opportunities to enhance economic growth resulting from the cancellation of Guinea's official debt under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Relief Initiative and its eligibility for the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) are potentially jeopardized by these unstable conditions.
THE USAID PROGRAM:
FY 2002 Estimate: $21.923 million FY 2003 Request: $24.166 million USAID's program will continue to support Guinea's development efforts through four strategic objectives-natural resource management, health, education, and democracy-and by reinforcing the intrinsic linkages between these sectors. USAID assists Guinea to (1) improve natural resource management through increased sustainable agricultural production and economic growth; (2) improve the health of the Guinean population; (3) build human capacity through basic education and training; and (4) improve local and national governance through active citizen participation and conflict mitigation.
USAID's program responds to the Agency's focus on conflict mitigation and to the three program pillars of Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade; Global Health; and Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance. Key activities to be implemented in FY 2002 include those that will significantly improve the economic well-being of thousands of small-scale farmers as a result of increased cash crop production, more efficient agricultural marketing, and more profitable rural enterprises. These economic incentives will also motivate the rural communities to invest more in the conservation of their natural resource base, especially the protection of Guinea's tropical forests. USAID plans to address the newly documented rapid rise in HIV/AIDS prevalence with a multi-sectoral program and strategy that raise Guinea's institutional capacity to battle this new threat to its security. Success in the eradication of polio will be consolidated to ensure that it does not reappear. In addition, the Expanded Program of Immunization against other preventable diseases will be significantly strengthened. Education sector activities that promote sustained school enrollment among girls and rural equity will be expanded into 11 new prefectures. The most critical and current source of conflict in Guinea will be addressed through the provision of support to four political parties so as to engage the opposition, the ruling party, and the administration in a dialogue that promotes transparency and non-violence in the upcoming legislative elections.
OTHER PROGRAM ELEMENTS: U.S. Government assistance to Guinea in FY 2001 focused on responding to the humanitarian crisis that erupted as a result of cross-border attacks sustained from September 2000 to March 2001. The USAID Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA) provided $8.6 million to support emergency agricultural programs, provide essential food and non-food items, and coordinate humanitarian efforts targeting refugees and Guineans displaced by the conflicts. The Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration provided $22.8 million that was channeled through U.N. agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and PVOs in order to respond to the humanitarian crisis. USAID's Education for Development and Democracy Initiative (EDDI) provides a scholarship fund to promote girls' enrollment in school. EDDI also will provide internet connectivity for the University of Kankan and the Guinean National Assembly, enabling both institutions access to technology and information. P.L. 480 Title II activities, with a total monetized value of $7.4 million, focussed on food security and sustainable agricultural production.
OTHER DONORS: The United States and France are Guinea's first and second largest bilateral partners. French development assistance focuses on natural resource management, fisheries, and education.
Other major bilateral donors and their principal areas of focus include Japan (health and natural resource management), Germany (education, health and NRM), Canada (NRM, health and education) and Kuwait. Multilateral donors include the United Nations agencies, the World Bank (social sector restructuring), and the European Union (infrastructure and NRM). The European Union focuses on NRM activities in the areas of Upper Niger and the Gambia River, and supports the development of a transnational park in the Fouta Djallon highlands and Upper Guinea. German assistance helps protect two large classified forests in Guinea's Forest Region. The World Bank, WHO and UNICEF are important health sector partners and contribute to improving the routine immunization program, to which Japan contributes all vaccines. The World Bank and German assistance provide health centers with equipment and pharmaceuticals for sexually transmitted infections, while Germany co-funds with USAID private- sector social-marketing activities. The World Bank, the European Union, Japan, Germany, the African Development Bank, and France support school construction programs, as well as programs promoting girls' enrollment in school; France, the World Bank, and Germany are also involved in supporting teacher training and curriculum development programs in the education sector.
In 2000, bilateral and multilateral donors contributed a total of $251,000,000 in development and humanitarian assistance to Guinea. Program Data Sheets
- 675-001 Increased Use of Sustainable Natural Resource Management Practices
- 675-002 Increased use of essential family planning, maternal and child health, and STI/HIV/AIDS prevention services and practices
- 675-003 Quality basic education provided to a greater percentage of Guinean children, with emphasis on girls and rural children
- 675-004 Improved Local & National Governance through Active Citizen Participation
Country Background Information Resources
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Last Updated on: May 29, 2002 |
