In 2006, the Danish Refugee Council expanded its West Africa operation to include the Guinée Foréstière region in southern Guinea, which borders Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire. The programme focuses on protection, return and reintegration of refugees, internally displaced persons and ex-combatants as well as contributing to a general recovery in Guinea.
Theatre of displacement
Over a twenty-year period, conflicts in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire have resulted in large flows of refugees into Guinée Foréstière, exacerbating political instability and adding to pressure created by the movement of Guineans internally displaced due to internal upheaval insecurity.
After a period of political volatility in the wake of a coup that placed a military junta in power from 2008, the situation in Guinea was stabilised with the 2010 inauguration of Alpha Condé as the country’s first democratically elected president. However, an attempted coup in July 2011 showed that the political situation is still volatile, and a number of asylum seekers have been crossing into Liberia. Southern Guinea is extremely poor and harbours numerous former combatants, creating a very insecure environment.
Although the majority of displaced people have returned by now, the size and duration of these forced displacements contributed to infrastructure damage and food insecurity throughout the region. The area still hosts Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees and around 2,500 Ivorian refugees that fled to Guinea during the crisis in 2011.
DRC’s work in Guinea
DRC’s activities in Guinea include construction and improvements to small-scale infrastructure, such as clinics, markets, roads and bridges; improving income generation skills; working with farmers to rehabilitate and improve agriculture with a particular focus on women; and providing training on human rights. Recently, DRC has partnered with UNICEF to support the rehabiltation and reintegration of former child soldiers.
As of January 2012, DRC’s operations in Guinea receive funding from Danida, EC, UNICEF, and Alwaleed bin Talal Foundation.
