Embassy Public Affaires Office

Women’s History Month

Outreach Builds a Network of Women Leaders in Guinea

In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Conakry organized a series of events to define the most important issues facing women in Guinea, target an audience, and plan a three day colloquium in collaboration with the Club de Femmes de Guinée.  The month’s activities began with a roundtable discussion with U.S. mission staff and the women’s group formed after a similar session during the 2006 Women’s History Month. From this round table a small executive committee was formed to plan the end of the month event. The executive committee chose the title "Women of Action" for the conference, in an effort to inspire women not only for the conference, but to follow up on the ideas generated there. The symposium attended by over 80 participants consisted of informative sessions led by experts in health, education, civil rights, and trafficking in persons. Women in Guinea face a number of barriers to empowerment: health issues due in large part to a lack of sufficient information and access to qualified medical personnel, a literacy rate approximately half that of men and a lack of political engagement.  The women's conference was intended not only to address these issues, but to bring women of influence together in a setting that would encourage dialogue and create a network that would allow them to build on the work that was started at the conference.

Celebration of Women's History Month