It is in the city of Labé, just over 400 kilometres from the Guinean capital, that the SWEDD project was launched on 20 May 2022. After a little over 3 years’ preparation, the starting signal for field activities was given during this launch in the presence of beneficiaries, financial and technical partners, as well as members of the government, led by Prime Minister Mohamed BÉAVOGUI .
The Women's Empowerment and Demographic Dividend in the Sahel project is an initiative of nine countries that Guinea and Cameroon have just joined. Recalling the objectives of the project, the Minister of Economy, Finance and Planning stated that the project will be built on three components, namely “the empowerment of women and girls, boosting national capacities for the provision of reproductive health products, and the development of policies related to the demographic dividend”. Doctor Lancinet Condé, undertook to “spare no effort to achieve the expected results, with a view to improving the living conditions of Guinean populations in general, and women and girls in particular”. This project is funded by the World Bank with technical support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the West African Health Organisation (WAHO). It is implemented in 3 regions - Labé, Faranah and Kankan, and will benefit 153 communes.
Just over 300 guests, including 200 young girls and women, direct project beneficiaries in the Kankan and Faranah regions, took part in the launch of the coupled project. Based on this perspective of making populations agents of their own change, Nestor Koffi, the World Bank’s Resident Representative in Guinea, stated that “Africa must consider the demographic question not as a fatality but as an asset”. Welcoming the leadership of the authorities and the work done by the Management Unit of the SWEED project, the World Bank Representative reaffirmed the commitment of his institution to providing support to ensure success in the challenge of empowering the women and girls in the project areas.
The commitment to support Guinea in this initiative was also reaffirmed by Dr. Olga Sankara, UNFPA’s Acting Representative in Guinea, on behalf of UNFPA’s Regional Director, Argentina Matavel PICCINI. “UNFPA is ready to support Guinea in the path it has chosen, to succeed in reducing inequalities and vulnerabilities for the transformation of the lives of women, young girls and communities in the regions of Labé, Faranah and Kankan, which constitute 37% of the Guinean population”.
UNFPA, the traditional partner for the technical assistance of the SWEDD project in all the beneficiary countries including Guinea, aligns itself with the vision of the government to give women and girls the opportunities necessary for their empowerment.
For the Prime Minister, Mohamed Béavogui, “the SWEDD project is an expression of the commitment of African States to investment in the human capital of their countries and in strategic partnerships that will empower girls and women, as essential factors for growth and development”. He underlined the importance of SWEDD for the Government, which places women at the heart of its concerns, and he recalled that before coming to Labé, he had signed cheques for women's groups that made good on the commitments made by the Had of State. Mohamed Béavogui, invited all the partners and actors in charge of this project “ to remain mobilised to ensure the success of the project”.
