Peace Corps Guinea Country Director Steve Petersen has issued the following statement regarding the safety of volunteers during the general strike:
Due to the general strike that began on January 10th, all Peace Corps Volunteers are on Stand Fast. Under a Stand Fast order, Volunteers are asked to remain at their sites and maintain frequent communication with our in country Peace Corps offices. We currently have 105 Volunteers in Guinea, and we are in regular contact with all of them; at this time, they are all safe and accounted for.
As you've likely read or heard about already, there have been some incidences of violence in Conakry as a result of confrontations between the police and other peacekeeping forces and demonstrators, and there have been demonstrations in locations up country as well. No Americans have been targeted during the strike, nor do we see any sign they will be. In Guinea's active history of labor strikes, there has never been an incident involving harm to a Volunteer.
The Peace Corps office in Conakry remains open, as does the U.S. Embassy, and we continue to monitor the situation closely. We have an Emergency Action Plan designed for situations such as this, and all Volunteers have been trained on what to do during these events. We have also placed additional resources (fuel, vehicles, increased staffing, etc.) in our regional capitals to support Volunteers in the interior of the country
We are in constant communication with the Peace Corps staff in Washington, D.C. Please contact Peace Corps' Office of Special Services with any questions or concerns you may have. Special Services maintains a 24-hour a day, 7 days a week duty system and they are frequently updated on the situation in country. The telephone number during standard office hours is 1-800-424-8580, Extension 1470; the after hours number is 202-638-2574. The Office of Special Services can also be contacted via e-mail at ossdutyofficer@peacecorps.gov.
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