USAID celebrates 50 years of partnership with Guinea

Ambassador Patricia Moller, USAID Director Nancy Estes, and Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Koutoubou Moustapha Sano visiting stands of partners (USAID)

USAID celebrates 50 years of partnership with Guinea On January 19th 2012, USAID Guinea hosted a celebration fete to mark two birthdays: the creation of the USAID agency by President John F. Kennedy in November 1961 and 50 years of the agency’s partnership with Guinea. Guests at the event included keynote speaker Koutoub Moustapha Sano, the Minister of Cooperation, and Hadja Saran Daraba, the Executive Secretary of the Mano River Union. US Ambassador to Guinea, Patricia Moller, addressed over 200 invited guests, saying, “The United States values its relationship with Guinea. And USAID will continue its partnership to strengthen democratic processes and institutions, to fight corruption, to help units of national and local government to become more efficient and responsible to their constituents, and to build the capacity of civil society and the media.” USAID has been a pioneer of development activity in Guinea and has demonstrated unparalleled commitment to this country over the course of the last five decades. USAID works through partners and the occasion was also a celebration of this partnership. USAID Guinea Mission Director, Nancy Estes commented that, “USAID’s partners made a fabulous contribution to the event’s success with colorful stands full of information on their work, stories from beneficiaries, and explanations from technical experts. We were celebrating the history of our accomplishments in Guinea from educating thousands of Guineans in the U.S., bringing the internet to Guinea, instilling good governance practices in Guinean communities, to improving the health of millions of Guineans.” USAID Guinea currently works within three core program areas: Governing Justly and Democratically; Health; and Economic Growth. USAID development activity creates opportunity, and advances the principles of freedom and democracy.