1. On October 9, the Government of Japan decided to extend Emergency Grant Aid of approximately 500,000 US dollars (60 million yen) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to provide equipment such as ballot boxes, with a view to supporting smooth implementation of the presidential election scheduled to be held this month in the Republic of Guinea.

2. The Republic of Guinea has made steady progress in the process of democratization since the incumbent President Condé was democratically elected in 2010 and the subsequent National Assembly election in 2013 was also successfully held. However, Guinea now faces severe social and economic challenges due to the Ebola virus disease outbreak since March 2014.

3. Through this grand aid, the Government of Japan hopes that the forthcoming presidential election will be implemented in a fair and smooth manner, which can give a boost to the improvement of security of entire West African region as well as the prompt recovery from the Ebola outbreak. This assistance will contribute to “Consolidating Peace, Stability, Democracy and Good Governance” (PDF)Open a New Window, which has been promoted through the TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) process, one of the pillars of Japan’s diplomacy towards Africa.