Oxfam's work in Sierra Leone in depth

In Sierra Leone, Oxfam's focus is on gender equality, health, sustainable livelihoods, and helping people have a say in the decisions that affect them.

The context

Sierra Leone emerged from a ten-year civil war in 2002. Since then, the government, citizens, donor community, private sector, and civil society have been working on maintaining peace and “building back better” the infrastructure that previously existed. However, life expectancy in Sierra Leone is still only 40.9 years and the country has the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world, with only 7% of the rural population able to access safe sanitation facilities.

The country is ranked lowest on the UNDP's Human Development Index (2008) and income poverty and food insecurity are huge problems. 70 % of Sierra Leone's population live on less than a dollar a day and Sierra Leone is ranked 134th out of 136 for the Gender-related Development Index. 

In terms of political development, in August 2007, Sierra Leone held its second election since the end of the war, and the first since the departure of the UN peace-keeping force. Ernest Bai Koroma was elected and observers rated the elections to be free and fair

How is Oxfam helping?

Oxfam began working through partner organisations in Sierra Leone in 1961. In 1998 direct operations were set up in the country in response to increasing numbers of internally displaced people due to the escalating conflict. During the emergency period, Oxfam’s work focused on the delivery of water and sanitation services in the north and west (Freetown, Koya rural, and Port Loko) and the south-east (Bo, Kenema and Kailahun).

Since early 2004, the programme has been moving away from emergency relief towards a more development-orientated approach that aims to seize some of the opportunities of the post-war context. Oxfam’s work  focuses on three key thematic priorities:

• To promote good governance by developing a culture of gender equality in all positions of political leadership and supporting an emerging civil society to assist the government and hold it to account
• To support the development of appropriate pro-poor water and sanitation policy and decentralised implementation through modelling good practice in Kailahun district
• To facilitate gender equality and women’s economic empowerment through internal gender mainstreaming, external promotion of the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, and community-based women’s economic empowerment

Good governance

The Governance Programme in Sierra Leone was established in May 2003. It aims to improve the functioning of local and national government, with increased participation of citizens and civil society in the decentralisation and democratisation process.

‘Promoting A Culture of Equal Representation’ and ‘Strengthening Governance’ are two of our key projects. Taking the ‘Strengthening Governance’ project as an example, this project seeks to strengthen democratic governance through capacity building staff, civil society and local councils to enhance the access to, and supply of good governance for all citizens. An objective is to enhance equal representation of men and women in decision-making and support decentralisation by enabling local community participation in local governance. 

Some of the activities being implemented include:

• Training ward committees (the most local level of government)
• Conducting needs assessments for the Council of Female Councillors
• Providing training and support to monitor and analyse the 2007 elections
• Developing a strategic plan for the Global Call against Poverty Coalition
• Supporting advocacy and lobbying activities at the national and local levels. Networking and coalition building of allies in support of decentralisation and democratisation
• Developing a governance programme strategy

Water and sanitation

Lack of safe water and sanitation is a major public health challenge in Sierra Leone. Despite plentiful water resources, almost half the population does not have access to safe drinking water, whilst more than 60% have no access to sanitation.

There are strong disparities between rural and urban areas: only 7% of the rural population has access to safe sanitation facilities and, for example, 76% of the population in Kailahun District relies on unprotected water sources.

Oxfam has been running public health and water and sanitation programmes in rural Kailahun District since 2002. We are now entering into a new phase within Sierra Leone in terms of public health provision. This involves shifting from direct service delivery to working through local partners, and placing a far greater emphasis on championing change with the government.

Our main objective is to contribute to the reduction of poverty and improvement of residents' health in Kailahun district and to strengthen the decentralisation process of water and sanitation service delivery in Sierra Leone. 

 

Last updated: December 2009