Mia Farrow Visits Vulnerable Children in Guinea

UNICEF correspondent Vivian Siu reports on Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow's visit to Guinea.

Mia Farrow Visits Vulnerable Children in Guinea Vivian Siu: You're watching UNICEF Television. UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and acclaimed actress Mia Farrow visited Guinea on a five-day mission to witness how children have been among the most seriously affected by political and economic turmoil in the country. In this school in Conakry, classrooms are overcrowded. Four children have to share a bench meant for two, and teachers give class to 85 children per classroom. Adama Sou: It’s really warm here, there are too many pupils, and it’s hard to write with 4 of us on the bench. Vivian Siu: Ms. Farrow witnessed how the lack of investment in the education sector in the past few years has led to a two percent drop in school enrollment. Mia Farrow: Unless something is done, there will be fewer and fewer children going to school, and those that are in school, more and more children per teacher. And then there is the problem of educating the teachers. Vivian Siu: But there are signs of hope. A major investment from the multi- donor fund Fast Track initiative will allow UNICEF to build a thousand schools and invest in teacher training. In Forrest Guinea, Ms. Farrow visited a model school being built by UNICEF and its partners where all is put in place to ensure a new method: active learning. Julien Harneis: We started with those 25 schools along the border as a test, and now we want to spread the method throughout the entire school system in Guinea. But we started here. Vivian Siu: Guinea is both in a precarious and promising transition with presidential elections due in June. In this context, Mia Farrow launched a project supported by the United Nations Peace Building Fund and implemented by UNICEF and the NGO ‘Search for Common Ground. Through learning about their rights and democratic change, the project aims to encourage young people to find peaceful ways to deal with adversarial situations. Quentin Kanyatsi: Now is a very suitable moment for all the manipulations towards young people who are very often approached to get involved in violence. Vivian Siu: Ms. Farrow delivered new medicine kits to the ministry of health as part of the UNICEF’s supported effort to ensure that essential drugs are available at primary healthcare centers. The future for children in Guinea will be dire if there is not more investment, and bigger efforts to respond to their needs. This is Vivian Siu reporting for UNICEF Television for more information go to UNICEF.org, Unite for Children.