WFP has been present in Guinea since 1964. Current operations include a Country Programme and a Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation.
The relief and recovery operation targets food-insecure people in areas negatively impacted by the presence of refugees. The projects addresses post-conflict humanitarian needs in the Forest Guinea region, which has been significantly affected by the influx of 700,000 refugees and displaced populations over the last 20 years. Presently, WFP provides food and nutritional assistance to about 6,000 Ivoirian refugees hosted at Kouankan camp in Macenta prefecture in Forest Guinea. Activities include general food distributions for the refugees and targeted supplementary feeding for malnourished children aged 6-59 months, pregnant and lactating women, and food for work. The activities are implemented in close collaboration with the Guinean Government, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and partner national non-governmental organizations.
Through the Country Programme for the period 2013-2017, WFP seeks to assist 437,000 beneficiaries through activities that support primary education, nutrition of vulnerable groups, and enhancing resilience in fragile communities. The support to education aims to improve the attendance rate for elementary student, particularly the promotion of girls' education through provision of hot meals to 100,000 primary school students throughout the school year in targeted prefectures. Take-home rations are provided for girls enrolled in the final grade as an incentive to encourage school attendance and retention for the girl child.
Life-saving nutritional assistance is provided to children under five, pregnant and lactating women, people living with HIV/AIDS and their families and patients with tuberculosis who are treated in Community Health centers. The goal is to prevent and reduce maternal malnutrition and the rate of low birth weight, prevent and reduce malnutrition among children under five years, increase the success rate of treatment of TB, and reduce the death rate of HIV positive people by improving their food security and increasing their adherence to treatment. WFP works with select NGO partners to ensure implementation of health and nutrition interventions in the field, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene.
To enhance resilience in fragile communities, WFP seeks to support community-based supplies for school feeding programmes. The activity seeks to increase food diversity and to encourage communities to provide increasing supplies of home-grown food to local school canteens. It also seeks to strengthen the capacities of the Government, particularly the National Humanitarian Action Service (SENAH), and vulnerable village communities to respond effectively to emergency situations.
In order to ensure effective implementation of the activities, WFP maintains a close collaboration with different Ministries (Education, Health, Agriculture, and Environment), as well as sister UN agencies like (UNICEF, FAO, UNFPA, UNDP, UNIDO, UNHCR, UNAIDS, WHO, UNFPA) and International and National NGOs.