Background

Peace was restored in Sierra Leone in 2002 after over a decade of brutal civil war. The war has left the country with huge challenges in healing the rifts in society, and rebuilding both infrastructure and institutions for long-term peace.

Sierra Leone is second from bottom of the UNDP’s 2005 Human Development Index, with one of the lowest GDPs per capita in the world ($470), and the highest recorded rates of maternal, infant, and under-five mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa. Life expectancy is one of the lowest for any country, at an estimated 34 years.

The rising cost of living, and massive unemployment, swelled by over 70,000 young former fighters, are creating a general sense of discontent. This is further aggravated by gross inequalities in wealth distribution, with 20 per cent of the population holding over 60 per cent of the national wealth, and the persistence of widespread corruption.

Over two-thirds of the country’s population are non-literate. Women, young people, and rural communities are among the most marginalised, and many lack the power and education to have a say in decisions that affect their lives.

Oxfam in Sierra Leone

Oxfam GB 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, as a result of 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). The programme received funding from a variety of donors, including ECHO, DFID and UNHCR.

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.

Inspite of the widespread devastation, Sierra Leone is a country being rebuilt:

• returning refugees have brought with them new skills, ideas and confidence from the camps in Guinea and Liberia;
• control over basic services is being devolved to the local level where communities will have more say;
• and civil society has the chance to become a government partner in tackling poverty, while also monitoring the accountability and delivery of public services.

Oxfam’s programme supports war-affected communities in the east of the country to rebuild their livelihoods and improve their health and sanitation. At the same time, a strong focus on governance supports civil society, especially women, to bring about governance reforms to address the fundamental inequalities that keep people in poverty.

Gender work

With the return of peace in Sierra Leone, many projects have focused on addressing the practical needs of those most affected by war. At the same time, a strategic plan for long-term recovery is needed and women must play an equal part in this process.

For decades, women in Sierra Leone have been excluded from development and decision-making processes at local, regional and national level. Traditional gender roles in this West African country tend to place women in subordinate positions within the household and society, and they have little chance of getting an education or a job without the permission of husbands or fathers. Women’s heavy domestic workload also leaves them with very little spare time outside of their accepted roles.

Oxfam GB’s Gender Programme is founded on the belief that the voices and rights of women need to be understood equally to those of men if we are to effectively reduce poverty and suffering.

We work with local partners to improve understanding of the different concerns, experiences, capacities and needs of women and men, and to promote the full participation and empowerment of women and the promotion of women’s rights as human rights. Our two main activities focus on the issues of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, and Women in Leadership.

Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) is a problem that disproportionately affects women and girls. For example, a woman who is non-literate and has little chance of earning her own income is not only a target for exploitation, but lacks power to report violations to the relevant authorities.

Since 2004, Oxfam has been leading the Interagency Coordinating Committee for the prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CCSEA), which unites local and international NGOs, UN-agencies and some national government bodies in the fight against SEA. One of CCSEA's main activities is to train all relief and development workers about the need to prevent SEA, and to ensure that they have a common understanding of required standards of behaviour. Oxfam has trained over 1000 NGO and UN agency staff on SEA prevention.

Oxfam recently completed a Women in Leadership (WIL) project, successfully building women's leadership capacity in politics and in civil society in Sierra Leone.

WIL focused on providing expert training in financial management and accountability, strategic planning, participatory needs-assessment, advocacy and coalition building and fundraising to chosen local women's organisations.

By the end of the project, these organisations had significantly strengthened their organisational structure, improved their financial management and communication skills and are now stronger advocates for the promotion of women's empowerment.

Plans for 2006 - 2007

Upcoming Gender Programme activities include launching adult literacy activities for our Kailahun Tortorma Women’s Network, and the implementation of a national SEA prevalence survey.

Right to be Heard

Poor governance and endemic corruption were amongst the key drivers of over a decade of war in Sierra Leone. As the country starts the difficult process of rebuilding the state and non-state institutions destroyed in the conflict, the government and its international development partners are working to establish a culture of transparent democracy as a pillar of sustainable peace.

One of the government’s first steps to better governance was the completion of Sierra Leone’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in February 2005, and the re-introduction of local council elections in 2004 for the first time since local councils were dissolved in 1972.

We launched our Right to be Heard programme in Sierra Leone in the aim of supporting the most marginalised people to have an effective voice in decisions influencing their lives.

Since May 2003, we have played a key role in supporting the drive for genuine democracy, respect for human rights and the provision of basic services to all people in Sierra Leone.

Our two main activities focus on support to local ward committees in rural areas, and to promote the equal representation of women and men in political leadership and decision-making.

Ward Committees act as the official voice of communities to local councils. Oxfam works with the Decentralisation Secretariat to train committees with the skills needed to ensure that the needs of the rural poor are taken into account in decision-making, resource allocation and service provision.

Pilot testing of a training manual developed by Oxfam in collaboration with Care and GTZ last year, revealed that the training was the first time that many committee members had information on their role and responsibilities within the local council. In 2006, 540 Ward Committees will receive training and mentoring across two districts.

In collaboration with out local partner the 50/50 Group, Oxfam successfully promoted the participation of women candidates in the May 2004 local elections. 53 of the 58 women elected as councilors for the first time were amongst project beneficiaries.

Today, Oxfam is continuing to work jointly with the 50/50 group on a project to Promote A Culture of Equal Representation (PACER). The PACER project aims to support women as equal contestants to men for the upcoming parliamentary and council elections in 2007 and 2008, with a longer-term vision of motivating more women to contest in traditional male domains and become exemplary leaders in 2006-2010.

Post-conflict rehabilitation

Kailahun District, in the south-east of the country was at the centre of Sierra Leone’s 10-year civil war and one of the areas most devastated by it.

Basic services such as health, water supply, sanitation, and education were severely affected throughout Kailahun. Infrastructure was destroyed or neglected as the majority of the population was displaced. Levels of economic activity are low, under- and unemployment is high and the war has left a large number of woman-headed households and widows.

Agriculture has been disrupted, livestock populations reduced, and industries have yet to be re-established. Domestic violence, rape, early forced marriage, abandonment of older women in polygamous marriages, young single mothers without support, and exclusive male inheritance are among the main protection issues in Kailahun.

As returning refugees and ex-combatants swell population numbers and increase the strain on already scarce resources, new areas of concern are also emerging. As Sierra Leone makes the transition from a post-conflict to a development context, an integrated and far-sighted approach to this broad spectrum of poverty and disadvantage is called for.

We are concentrating our efforts on 50 communities affected by the war, supporting them to achieve tangible improvements in their health status and welfare, through increased basic public health services and knowledge, as well as the provision of clean water and sanitation services. We also help people towards greater understanding of rights issues (including women's and children's specific human rights), principal protection issues (including gender-based violence) and the capacity to address these through community actions while linking up with government authorities.

Work is also being carried out with the most marginalised members of the target communities to attain increased economic activities through income generation undertakings as well as savings schemes.

Last updated: April 06