EDUCATION For fourteen years, the IRC has provided a foundation of education for refugee students and adults in Guinea. Working in four refugee camps and two urban centers, the IRC provides essentials such as books and supplies, construction of school buildings, offers teacher trainings, and incorporates gender-based violence prevention and awareness into its curriculum. The education program also supports alternative education programs, such as health education, vocational training, peace education, and literacy training. Specific activities promoting female education are undertaken. Additionally, there is an adult education program which offers older refugees, especially females, an alternative to acquiring accredited high school education. Students take the standard West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) exam, providing them with the essential educational credential when returning to their home countries. Beyond academics, students have opportunities to form student clubs and engage in recreational activities.

COMMUNITY RENEWAL IRC’s Community Revitalization Program in Guinea aims to speed up social recovery and development by increasing refugee participation and cooperation in community revitalization activities. This objective is achieved through a number of interlinked activities including community mobilization, fostering inter-community dialogue, support for national and grassroots organizations, and capacity building. Multi-thematic community projects have been implemented by and between refugees and host communities. In partnership with local authorities and NGOs, the program also support peace building events focused on strengthening social cohesion and conflict prevention. The Community Renewal Program has trained the Community Committees and community mobilization officers on pertinent organizational skills, such as project management, data collection and documentation, team building, and how to establish effective community based organizations. Two community resource centers have been established; these facilities also offer computer training.

PROTECTION is always a fundamental aspect that weaves throughout IRC programs. To increase the protection and rights of refugees and other vulnerable persons within the country, the IRC has provided legal trainings to local authorities, lawyers, and other NGOs; many of these trainings have included gender and child related issues. Information campaigns have been actively promoted, which have provided key information to refugees in need of clear information. The IRC has reunified 4,000 unaccompanied minors and separated children in Guinea, since the inception of its Unaccompanied Minors Program. The majority of these children have been from Sierra Leone and Liberia. UAM staff monitor the welfare of the children, while working on documentation and tracing to find their parents or relatives. Numerous child protection committees exist which work with UAM staff in promoting awareness of child rights and training community members. The UAM program seeks durable solutions for the children who have not been able to be reunified with their family members and is working to establish clear legal status for the remaining unaccompanied minors.