Updated: March 2009
Sierra Leone
Overview | World Vision's history in Sierra Leone| World Vison in Sierra Leone today
OverviewSierra Leone, which literally means “Lion Mountains,” is located on the Atlantic coast of Africa between Guinea and Liberia. The country has mountains in the east, an upland plateau, a wooded hill country, and a coastal belt of mangrove swamps. The climate is tropical from May to November, when rainfall can be torrential. From December to April, conditions are very hot and dry with a dusty wind blowing in from the Sahara.Though English is the official language of Sierra Leone, its use is limited to the literate minority. Other languages include Mende, spoken primarily in the south, Temne, used mosttly in the north, and Krio—an English-based Creole spoken by descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who settled in Freetown. As many as 20 native tribal groups comprise 90 percent of the country’s population, including the Mende and Temne. The remaining 10 percent are Creole and small numbers of Europeans, Lebanese, Pakistanis, and Indians. The Sierra Leone region began capturing the interest of Europeans in 1495 when the Portuguese built a fort on the current site of Freetown, the country’s capital city. Used primarily as a location for trade, Freetown was ceded to English settlers in 1787 as a home for blacks discharged from the British armed forces as well as runaway slaves who had found asylum in London. In the late 1800s, Great Britain became the dominant force, declaring the area a crown colony and using it as a seat for governing its West Africa assets. Sierra Leone gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1961 and became a republic on April 19, 1971. A 10-year civil war that claimed an estimated 50,000 lives ended in 2002, amid pressure from the UN. The current government, headed by newly-elected president Ernest Bai Koroma, is categorized as a constitutional democracy. |  |
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| Sierra Leone’s natural resources include diamonds, titanium, bauxite, iron, and gold. Manufacturing is limited, and mining for anything but diamonds is nearly nonexistent. With their high value on both the open and illegal markets, diamond sales and smuggling provide the major source of hard currency. As governments, international agencies, and diamond merchants work to curtail illegal mining and sales —and the accompanying violence — it is hoped that a viable, non-diamond-based economy will evolve. Nearly two-thirds of Sierra Leoneans engage in subsistence farming. Agricultural products include rice, coffee, cocoa, palm oil, peanuts, poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs, and fish. However, deforestation, overgrazing of livestock, and slash-and-burn agriculture are all contributing to poor food production and limited economic benefits. One of the world’s poorest countries, nearly 75 percent of people earn less than two dollars a day. There are few opportunities for employment or to start a small business as economic and social systems are not well-developed. Health also is of primary concern; according to the United Nations, Sierra Leone has the world’s highest mortality rate of children under age five. HIV and AIDS has begun to take a toll on the lives of many Sierra Leoneans. There are nearly 48,000 people living with HIV and AIDS, and 31,000 children have been orphaned by the disease. The civil war between the government and the Revolutionary United Front in the 1990s, which stemmed from economic and ethnic conflicts, caused the displacement of more than 2 million people in Sierra Leone. The conflict was declared officially over in 2002. Since then, the government of Sierra Leone has slowly begun reestablishing its authority. In June 2007, three former rebel leaders were convicted of crimes against humanity by a UN-backed court. Found guilty of rape and enlisting child soldiers, it was the first time an international tribunal ruled on the recruitment of children under age 15 as soldiers. The fate of Sierra Leone’s economy depends on the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial foreign aid to help rebuild the infrastructure. The International Monetary Fund completed a program recently to help stabilize the economy and reduce inflation. Political stability has helped to reestablish some economic activity such as mining. Back to top World Vision’s history in Sierra LeoneWorld Vision’s initial involvement in Sierra Leone took place in 1978 with a one-time grant to improve rice production in the northern region. World Vision returned to Sierra Leone in 1996 with the launch of its Emergency Relief Project to provide food, shelter, and health care to internally displaced people who, as a result of the war, lived in various camps. Within the first year, war-affected families in the Bo, Bonthe, Pujehun, and Kono districts were receiving assistance. Emphasis was placed on solving problems associated with food distribution systems, the resettlement of displaced people, and the provision of seeds and tools. Health and nutritional services also were provided.As fighting and emergency aid projects continued throughout parts of Sierra Leone, World Vision began to establish longer-term development programs in more stable areas of the country. Projects included improving agriculture, health, child protection, commodities, and transition initiatives for community members. In 2001 World Vision was the first international aid agency to return to the rebel-held eastern district of Kono since violence forced the staff to leave in 1998. Projects responded to returning refugees and displaced people who were in need of food, shelter, health care, and agricultural assistance. Specifically, the Sierra Leone Agricultural Emergency Project provided 3,000 resettling families with rice and vegetable seeds, hoes, and machetes. World Vision also sent agricultural agents to offer technical information and to encourage formation of farmer groups to revive the food production systems, to help start a community seed bank, and to work on long-term solutions to area development and food security. Other U.S. Government-funded projects included emergency health, youth training of 83,000 war-affected youth, and food aid. Since 2002 the people of Sierra Leone have been attempting to recover from a decade-long civil war, five different heads of state, three coups, and three failed attempts at peace. These years of conflict and displacement have perilously undermined food stocks, the ability to produce crops, and the majority of all health and social services. Back to top World Vision in Sierra Leone todayWorld Vision is committed to partnering with the people of Sierra Leone to enhance their lives today and to help enact sustainable solutions for the future of their communities, families, and children. Currently, 14,500 children are registered in the World Vision sponsorship program. Several times this number of children and other family members benefit from World Vision activities. Of these registered children, many have World Vision sponsors in other countries. U.S. donors sponsor 4,300 girls and boys. In addition, World Vision operates nine development programs, two of which are supported by U.S. donors. Highlights of these efforts include the following:
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