Danida-SP-ToC10-Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has made considerable progress in moving out of fragility since the end of the civil war, though critical challenges to democratic and accountable governance remain. On the 2016 Human Development Index Sierra Leone ranks 179 out of 188 countries, and is considered to be one of the most unequal countries. Patterns of inequality in access to services, gender, income level and ethnic identity all reinforce each other. Women continue to be under-represented in all areas of decision-making, and 60 percent of youth are structurally unemployed. Unemployment is often cited as a leading cause of conflicts. Moreover, Sierra Leone is a mineral rich country but with limited benefit from the many years of continuous mineral extraction, matching the characteristics of the ill-famed ‘resource curse’. The education situation is appalling. Before the Ebola epidemic it was estimated that 41% of youth aged 15-24 have not completed primary education. Approximately 19% of boys and 22% of girls of primary school age are out of school. Regardless of a public policy that stipulates free education parents bear an average of 18% of the cost of education. Overall objective: Contribute to a just, inclusive and equitable Sierra Leone, in which the citizens, especially women and youth, demand and acquire equal access to their rights, including the right to education, and enjoy the benefits from improved transparent and accountable management of the country’s abundant natural resources.