Sierra Leone

SIERRA LEONE at a glance

 

6m

Sierra Leone's total population

23%

of 17 year old girls are in school

70%

of the population is under 30

70%

of Sierra Leone's youth are unemployed

44%

of the population is under 15

70%

live below the poverty line

Sierra Leone's recovery from brutal civil war over the last decade has been nothing short of remarkable. From 1991 to 2002, tens of thousands of civilians were killed or maimed. Over 2 million Sierra Leoneans - that's about a third of the total population - fled the violence and were displaced.

Yet today, citizens and foreigners alike travel the country freely. Powerful warlords have given way to credible, fairly contested elections in 2002 and 2007. But Sierra Leone remains extremely poor, and extremely fragile. The country stands at a crossroads in its development.

Click the pins for an overview of Restless Development in Sierra Leone.

 

 

DEVELOPMENT IN SIERRA LEONE

 

Despite Sierra Leone's evolution from the symbol of a failed State to what the UN Security Council has described as "a model country for overcoming old divisions and developing peace and democracy", no-one's under any illusions about the magnitude of the task still at hand. Although progress on several fronts has been encouraging, a political, social or economic shock could see it all unravel just as quickly.

The Sierra Leonean government's poverty reduction strategy, 'Agenda for Change', identifies the three major challenges to political, social and economic stability. At the top of the list is youth unemployment - which currently stands at 70%. Peace can't be consolidated, and development can't be stimulated - while such a large proportion of the country's couth remains jobless and without opportunities to build sustainable livelihoods. 

With citizens displaced by the war returning home, and increased mobility between rural and urban areas, vulnerability to HIV/AIDS remains high. It is young people who are the most severely affected, among whom knowledge of sexual and reproductive health issues among young people is still limited. According to the National AIDS Secretariat, infection rates are currently at 2% among young men and 1.3% among young women.

 Sierra Leone Strategic Plan

FIND OUT MORE

 

Download the Restless Development Sierra Leone Strategic Plan 2011-2015 and find out more about what we will achieve in Sierra Leone over the next five years, and how we will do it.