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The people of Moribaya, 50 km from Conakry, have banded together to build a school for their children – one of the so-called ‘warehouse schools’ that provide elementary education to Guinean girls and boys, and are supported by UNICEF and the state government.

Although they may have different backgrounds, students who attend the UNICEF-supported Nafa non-formal education centre in Conakry share a common bond – they are all getting a second chance to attend school.

When the UN refugee agency wrapped up its Liberian refugee repatriation programme earlier this year it did not turn its back on an estimated 80,000 people who have stayed behind in West African host countries like Guinea.

Three food technology specialists from Kraft Foods, with logistical support from United Nations Volunteers (UNV), have flown to Guinea in West Africa to teach young women candy-making techniques to help finance their non-profit vocational school in the capital Conakry.

In addition to new agricultural techniques, basic business management and literacy skills, USAID-sponsored Adventist Relief and Development Agency (ADRA), a faith-based NGO, has been using micro-credit as an effective tool to help promote food security in Middle and Upper Guinea.

Guinea suffers from some of the worst health statistics in the world—life expectancy is just over 49 years, and infant mortality is 169 per 1,000 live births. The country also has what is called "food insecurity"—a critical situation in which people are only able to provide food for themselves and their families for a certain number of months out of the year.

The IRC has launched a program in eastern Guinea to provide vocational and literacy training to vulnerable adolescent girls in refugee camps and their host communities.