Release number IFAD/41/07

Rome, 4 October 2007 - Poor rural families in Guinea will get better access to schooling, healthcare and drinking water under a development project supported by a US$10 million grant from IFAD.

The project will also improve rural producers’ access to markets and strengthen local government institutions to enable communities to plan and manage their own services.

The grant agreement for the Village Communities Support Project – Phase II was signed at IFAD’s headquarters in Rome today by IFAD President Lennart Båge and the Republic of Guinea’s Minister of Economy, Finance and Planning, Ousmane Doré. Guinea’s Ambassador to Italy, Thierno M. Cellou Diallo, and the co-ordinator for the project, Alhassane Touré, were also present during the signing.

IFAD will work with several partners on the US$56 million project. The Government of Guinea will contribute US$1.5 million and communities in the project area will provide US$5.5 million. The International Development Association will contribute US$17 million, the Agence Française de Développment will provide US$12 million and the Global Environment Facility will contribute US$10 million.

Guinea is classified as a highly vulnerable, indebted country and is eligible for 100 per cent grant assistance under IFAD’s newly-approved debt sustainability framework.

This project will build on the success of IFAD’s Village Communities Support Project – Phase I, which led to a significant change in the relationship between communities’ government-appointed officials and locally-elected officials. This strengthened locally elected officials’ involvement in rural and local development, including the construction of community schools, roads, clinics and other basic socio-economic services.

The project will support the government’s National Programme for Decentralized Rural Development to promote economic and social empowerment in rural areas. It will focus on the 303 communities supported by the programme, especially on women, young people and marginalized groups.

The project will continue to strengthen local governance in rural areas by providing training and assistance to community leaders and locally-elected officials. It will enable local government officials to contract community artisans and service providers to plan and build more schools and clinics, and drill boreholes.

The National Programme for Decentralized Rural Development uses various approaches to decentralizing rural development, including local development plans drawn up with communities and local financial services. Representatives of IFAD’s Village Communities Support Project – Phase II will take part in discussions at national level with the government, people’s representatives and other donors to exchange ideas and experiences gained from these different approaches.

“The project’s long-term goal is for communities and their local governments to be able to identify, plan, prioritize, build and manage their own infrastructure and service needs,” said IFAD’s country programme manager for Guinea, Luyaku Nsimpasi. “With better access to schools and health facilities and the increased capacity of local government leaders, Guinea’s rural people will be able to increase their incomes and to support development in their communities.”

IFAD loans and grants totalling US$141 million have helped finance 12 programmes and projects in Guinea.

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IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, IFAD develops and finances programmes and projects that enable poor rural people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 191 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, worth a total of US$6.6 billion. IFAD has invested US$3.1 billion, with cofinancing provided by partners including governments, project participants, multilateral and bilateral donors. These initiatives will help about 82 million poor rural women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$9.8 billion in 751 programmes and projects that have reached more than 310 million poor rural women and men. Governments and other financing sources in recipient countries, including project participants, contributed US$9.2 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors provided another US$7.2 billion in cofinancing.