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2020-04-20
West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI);
On April 11, the Republic of Sierra Leone marked the start of a fourteen days inter-district lockdown (from 11 to 24 April 2020) to combat the spread of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic in the country.The fourteen days inter-district lockdown is a significant milestone. It refers to the incubation period – 14 days – of the virus, as stipulated by the World Health Organization. If Sierra Leoneans show the maximum compliance to all social distancing regulations, it will be a remarkable turnaround for the Republic of Sierra Leone and a testament to the bravery and dedication of health workers, some of whom have been infected with the virus while treating the sick.Sierra Leone as of Friday, 17 April 2020 has recorded 26 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with a total of 531 in mandatory quarantine homes. This number keeps rising. The very first Coronavirus case was documented in Sierra Leone on 31 March and it involved a 37-year-old man who arrived in the country from France on an Air Brussels flight on the 16 March. Once she tested positive, she was immediately put into quarantine. It is prudent that the government has introduced social-distancing rules of varying strictness to combat the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, but, the question of how long these measures should remain in place has sparked vigorous debate. Many economists and psychologists have warned that a lengthy period of de facto home detention will damage people's financial and mental health, while epidemiologists argue that maintaining lockdowns will help to flatten the contagion curve more quickly. Policymakers designing measures to inform the countries' response to COVID-19 would have to take both views into account – a challenging dilemma and dire reality!
2021-03-22
Fund for Global Human Rights;
For nearly twenty years, the Fund for Global Human Rights has been a vocal champion of participatory philanthropy. We provide flexible general support that allows local groups to define and lead their own agendas. Fund grantees identify their priorities and approach and collaborate with program staff on defining measures of progress toward their intended outcomes.To us, participatory grant-making—which empowers affected communities to decide what and who to fund—is a further step in shifting power to grantees and movements.In 2019, the Fund partnered with Purposeful, a feminist movement-building hub for adolescent girls, to pilot a participatory grant-making initiative in Sierra Leone aimed at promoting youth leadership and amplifying the voices of young people.As our first foray into realizing the potential of participatory grant-making, this experience taught us many valuable lessons about how to foster genuine participation of children and young people.A targeted and intentional approach to reach a diverse group of children and youth is essential. This helps prevent a participatory process that only benefits young people in urban areas and those from higher socio-economic backgrounds.We also learned that true participation requires letting go of power while ensuring that young people have what they need to make meaningful and informed decisions. Support to child and youth-led groups should go beyond grant money to include a comprehensive package of grantee-led learning and accompaniment.The biggest lesson is about the need to be open and flexible throughout the process. Being willing to adapt as we went along allowed us to respond and make changes (almost) in real time. It also allowed us to learn from the young people about what it means to use your voice and make yourself heard in ways far beyond what we could have anticipated.
2013-02-01
Pro Victimis Foundation;
An independent study conducted by a French NGO in Sierra Leone at the end of 2010 surveyed all existing water access points across three districts, documenting in detail the quality of the 2,859 structures identified. Only 30% of the structures in place were found to be capable of delivering access to safe water throughout the year. Analysis of the results indicate that the low level of functionality reflects a supply-driven approach, a decrease in the quality of construction and an absence of attention to socio-organisational factors long known to be absolutely essential to the proper functioning of the systems. Given the critical importance of access to safe drinking water and the disparity between the stated intentions of donor organisations and the realities on the ground, the survey provides a telling picture that could be used as a basis for change and increased effectiveness.
2005-03-22
Eastern Kentucky University;
The purpose of this paper is to provide snapshots of observations, interventions, and processes in the day to day working of a child charity in Sierra Leone.
2015-06-17
Plan International;
Nearly half the population of Sierra Leone is under the age of 18 years, and the impact of the Ebola crisis on their lives now and on their future opportunities has been far-reaching: no school; loss of family members and friends to the virus; and changing roles and responsibilities in the home and the community.To date, there has not been a formal process for children to outline their own priorities for recovery to decision-makers. In mid-March 2015, child-centred agencies conducted a Children's Ebola Recovery Assessment (CERA) in nine districts across Sierra Leone to create a mechanism for more than 1,100 boys and girls, to discuss issues of concern; assess the impact of the crisis on their roles, responsibilities and future opportunities; and to formulate their recommendations for recovery.The findings of the CERA powerfully demonstrate the diverse and interconnected impact of the outbreak for children living through the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone. Children identified four issues of concern:The impact of school closure on their learning, social interaction and protection and their desire to return to education;The many and varied direct impacts Ebola has had on their lives, including grief, fear and anxiety;Limited access to healthcare for common health problems; andThe wider economic impact of the crisis on their families and communities, including access to food and family livelihoods.
2013-12-05
Oxfam GB;
This report presents the findings of an effectiveness review carried out on Oxfam's response to the 2012 cholera response in Sierra Leone that was undertaken through the application of Oxfam's Humanitarian Indicator Tool. Overall the response scored 87% and met or almost met nine of the 10 standards that were relevant to the response. This provides a measure of a high quality response, clearly exceeding the 60% cut-off point. This was based on deploying experienced specialist emergency staff from the global pool in good time, applying Oxfam's cholera response guidelines effectively and building on the core programme's profile and experience. The relationships with community-based structures, the Government and UN that had been developed through this work enabled greater efficiency and speed. Identified weaknesses in preparedness measures which slowed the initial response have been rectified, developing an updated cholera contingency plan with clear triggers aligned to the cholera guidelines and reinforcing the importance of cholera preparedness central to the urban WASH programme.
2014-02-12
Oxfam GB;
The 'Strengthening and Linking Women-Led Efforts to Promote Women's Property and Literacy Rights in Sierra Leone' project was carried out by Oxfam and partners in two districts of Sierra Leone from 2010 to 2013.The project had two aims. First, to strengthen the capacity of and improve networking between community-based groups and national women's networks to raise awareness of women's property and literacy rights. Second, to advocate for greater participation of women in decision making on property ownership and for a more enabling environment for women to exercise their property and literacy rights.These reports document the findings of a quasi-experimental evaluation carried out in March 2013 that sought to assess the impact of the activities of this project.
2011-01-14
Oxfam GB;
The health, empowerment and livelihoods programme [HELP], Kailahun, ran from 2004 to 2007. Its overall objectives were: consolidation of peace and stability; establishment of efficient links between relief, rehabilitation and long term development interventions; economic recovery; and sustainable economic and social development. This final evaluation aims to answer four key questions: To what extent have goals and objectives been met? Do beneficiaries now have a better quality of life? What has been learnt to inform future programmes? And how relevant was the programme design?
2011-01-14
Oxfam GB;
Oxfam's Women in Leadership (WIL) Project (2003-2006) aimed to improve the status and role of women in the development of Sierra Leone. It sought to do this by building women's leadership capacity in politics and civil society. It has sought to do this by building women's leadership capacity in politics and civil society with a two-fold remit: to provide support for female candidates in the 2004 local council elections; and to build the capacity of women's civil society organisations. This mid-term review aims to: review progress against objectives and aw out lesson learnt to inform future planned activity; provide recommendations for possible areas of support by DFID to upcoming elections; and function as Oxfam's end of project evaluation for the institutional strengthening component of the project.
2011-01-14
Akijul;
PACER is a five year project between Oxfam GB and the 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone (a local women's NGO). It aims to support the government to reduce poverty and vulnerability by promoting the equal participation of women and men in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of poverty reduction and development initiatives. The mid-term evaluation takes a participatory approach, aiming for reflection and common learning amongst those involved in the project. The rationale is to obtain perspectives on impact and lessons learned, in addition to assessing what has worked, what has not, and why. Resulting recommendations will then feed into the process of developing strategies for the remaining part of the project.
2013-06-14
Oxfam GB;
Cholera strikes indiscriminately of sex, age, and social status. However, these are factors that may contribute to individuals' vulnerability to cholera, by dictating social roles and behaviours. In a society that adheres to strict gender roles, cholera transmission routes are more likely to be sex and age-specific. Despite this, the linkages between gender and vulnerability to cholera are not well understood and there is little literature on the topic. This research analyses the roles socially ascribed to boys, girls, men and women in specific environmental, economic and socio-cultural contexts to highlight groups that may be more vulnerable to cholera in Sierra Leone.|Cholera strikes indiscriminately of sex, age, and social status. However, these are factors that may contribute to individuals' vulnerability to cholera, by dictating social roles and behaviours. In a society that adheres to strict gender roles, cholera transmission routes are more likely to be sex and age-specific. Despite this, the linkages between gender and vulnerability to cholera are not well understood and there is little literature on the topic. This research analyses the roles socially ascribed to boys, girls, men and women in specific environmental, economic and socio-cultural contexts to highlight groups that may be more vulnerable to cholera in Sierra Leone.
2011-03-08
Amnesty International;
Fighting began in Sierra Leone in March 1991, when a small number of rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) crossed the border from Liberia and began attacking civilians. By the time the war was declared over, tens of thousands had been killed out of a population of five million, thousands had been mutilated or raped, and an estimated 10,000 children had been abducted to be child soldiers. Up to two-thirds of the population had been displaced from their homes, and another 600,000 had fled the country. The deep roots of Sierra Leone's 11 years of war went back decades, involving corrupt governments that alienated the country's youth and all but destroyed basic institutions, including parliament, the police, and the civil service. This dissatisfaction led to support for the rebels in the early years of the war. Inadequate government control of the armed forces permitted coups and allowed government soldiers to switch from one side to the other. Another major source of fuel for the conflict was the support that the RUF rebels received from Charles Taylor, then president of Liberia, who had wider ambitions for power in West Africa. However, there was one factor that underpinned all of the others in sustaining the violence, and that was the continued supply of weapons, many of them paid for by the illegal sale of diamonds. Sierra Leone does not manufacture weapons. The outside world had to be prepared to supply them, and supply them it did. During all these years, both the countries that provided the weapons, and the countries through which they were shipped, failed to stop the flow of arms and ammunition to the rebels in Sierra Leone. The even wider failure is that of the international community at large which, even after these atrocities and others elsewhere, has failed to take the necessary measures to control the international arms trade. The rest of the world must take responsibility for the arms it supplies. To do that, governments should agree a new international Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
