Guinea

A central obstacle to development is the low level of education in Guinea – not even a third of the population can read and write. This figure is around 46% in the age group of 15- to 24-year olds. Due to ongoing political instability, a difficult economic environment and an administration struggling to implement the education strategy and policies, the country failed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2 (“Universal primary education”) and 3 (“Gender equality”), which were set to be achieved by 2015, and at best only limited progress has been made in poverty alleviation. The outbreak of the Ebola epidemic in 2014 and 2015 also adversely affected the entire economy and had a negative impact on the education sector. Schools had to be closed for several months.

There is still a considerable unmet need for school infrastructure in the primary education sector, and skilled and qualified teachers are lacking – especially in remote rural areas.

KfW Development Bank – on behalf of the German Federal Government – is supporting the Guinean government with the implementation of the national education program (Programme Sectoriel de l’Education), particularly with regard to improving access to primary education and the quality of teaching in the project regions of Faranah and Mamou. Currently, KfW Development Bank is financing the construction of primary schools, equipment for these schools, as well as teacher training via the Primary Education Programme Guinea, which is being implemented by the NGO Plan International in close coordination with the education ministry (MENA).

Project Information – Primary education in Guinea (PDF, 124 KB, non-accessible)

People in Guinea are more likely to be ill and die earlier than in other countries in the region. The average life expectancy is 60 years. Guinea also has high rates of maternal mortality (679 per 100,000 live births) and a high under-five-mortality (89 per 1,000 live births) even by regional standards. Guinea has failed to meet Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 (reducing child mortality and improving maternal health). The average number of children is 4.9 per woman, only 8% of Guinean women use modern family planning methods and about 11 % of women have already given birth at least once before the age of 15. Although female genital mutilation is illegal, it is still very widespread. The risk of pregnancy complications is significantly higher in very young women, and is also increased by late effects of female genital mutilation. The short intervals between births also lead to health risks.

The Ebola epidemic has further worsened the already inadequate provision of basic health services to the population and severely affected the population’s confidence in the public healthcare system.

On behalf of the German Federal Government, KfW Development Bank is supporting the Guinean government in the area of reproductive and family health. The new Reproductive and Family Health FC project was launched in December 2017. It focuses, in particular, on the rehabilitation, expansion and installation of healthcare infrastructure (especially in peripheral rural regions); the introduction of a new performance-based financing (PBF) mechanism for health services related to pregnancy and childbirth; and targeted communication and awareness-raising measures. The goal is to increase the use of high-quality reproductive health services.