At a glance: Sierra Leone
Newsline
Mothers join the campaign to scale up girls’ education in Sierra Leone
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 4 November 2008 – Aminata Mansaray, 16, was born in Mankneh, a small community in the Bombali district of northern Sierra Leone. She is the third of five children – three boys and two girls – and for much of her young life she was not enrolled in school.
Villagers build latrines for better hygiene and child survival in Sierra Leone
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 28 October 2008 – Mahmud Konneh recently finished building a latrine in his village, Tilorma, in the Kenema District of eastern Sierra Leone. It is one of the 30 new latrines that have been constructed by Tilorma villagers under the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach.
Goodwill Ambassador Angélique Kidjo urges girls to 'change the face of Africa'
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 11 September 2008 – West African singer and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angélique Kidjo recently visited a UNICEF-supported girls’ education project in Sierra Leone, where she called for stronger actions to help educate girls and lift them out of poverty.
‘Voice of Children’ becomes a national fixture in Sierra Leonean radio
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 20 August 2008 – At its launch in 2003, the UNICEF-supported ‘Voice of Children’ project in Sierra Leone was the first post-conflict radio programme of its kind. Its success has served as a template for a similar programme in Liberia, as well as efforts in other countries emerging from conflict.
Manchester United stars and UNICEF team up against AIDS in Sierra Leone
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 26 June 2008 – Sierra Leone’s Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Dr. Minkailu Bah, has launched a Manchester United-supported HIV/AIDS awareness campaign at the National Stadium in Freetown, the capital.
Executive Director says stability is bringing progress for children in Sierra Leone
FREETOWN/MAKENI, Sierra Leone, 29 February 2008 – As she wrapped up a three-day official visit here yesterday, UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said Sierra Leone’s stability was bringing progress for children after a decade of conflict.
Reporter’s notebook: David Beckham surprises local footballers in Sierra Leone
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone 18 January 2008 – A group of Sierra Leonean football players received the surprise of their lives recently, when football star and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham joined their informal game at a roadside pitch.
Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham visits child survival programmes in Sierra Leone
BOMBALI DISTRICT, Sierra Leone, 22 January 2008 – Football star and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham recently completed a visit to Sierra Leone, where he travelled with UNICEF representatives to focus attention on the issue of child survival.
Children call for youth focus in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Sierra Leone
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 9 January 2007 – About 355 children from communities across Sierra Leone called on national leaders to make children a priority in the response to HIV and AIDS during the recent Conference on Children and AIDS, held in Freetown.
On CRC anniversary, Ishmael Beah appointed UNICEF Advocate for Children Affected by War
NEW YORK, USA, 20 November 2007 – UNICEF’s first Advocate for Children Affected by War, Ishmael Beah, has pledged to give a voice and hope to children whose lives have been scarred by violence.
Therapeutic feeding centres tackle malnutrition and save lives in Sierra Leone
LUNSAR, Sierra Leone, 21 June 2007 - Ahmed Fornah plays on his mother’s lap as they wait for his daily nutritional ration and medical check-up at Mabesseneh Hospital. At 15 months of age, Ahmed had one of the most severe cases of malnutrition the doctors said they have ever seen.
Improved, child-friendly schools offer girls a better future in Sierra Leone
KABUICHA, Sierra Leone, 11 June 2007 – Tapping the numbers on the blackboard with a bamboo cane, four-year-old Aster Kamara confidently counts from 1 to 15. It is an impressive performance and she is deservedly applauded by her classmates as she returns to her seat.
Hip-hop documentary brings home clear-cut truths about ‘blood diamonds’
NEW YORK, USA, 2 May 2007 – There’s no end to clichés about diamonds. They’re forever. They’re a girl’s best friend. And recently, the term ‘blood diamonds’ has become commonplace, representing the fact that many armed conflicts in Africa have been funded by the sale of diamonds.
For children in Sierra Leone, poverty and malaria are a deadly combination
MAKENI, Sierra Leone, 25 April 2007 – Lying motionless on her tiny hospital bed, Rachel Fornah, 3, is barely breathing. Her unfocussed eyes appear to see nothing – not the nurse injecting more medicine into the tube attached to her head, nor her mother anxiously stroking her outstretched hand.
UNICEF hosts book launch for Ishmael Beah, former child soldier
NEW YORK, USA, 16 February 2006 – Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier from Sierra Leone, is no stranger to talking before an audience. He has travelled the world speaking out and galvanizing international efforts to rehabilitate children caught in conflict.
At Paris conference, a former child soldier demands help for children in armed conflict
PARIS, France, 5 February 2007 – A former child soldier from Sierra Leone today implored delegates at an international conference on children and armed conflict to help rehabilitate young people like him.
First children’s newspaper launched in Sierra Leone
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 18 December 2006 – In an effort to further promote child participation and ensure that the voices of children are heard in national discourse, UNICEF has helped launched ‘Pikin News’ (which translates as ‘Children’s News’), a newspaper developed and produced exclusively by children.
West African children take to the airwaves to make their voices heard
MONROVIA, Liberia and FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 18 December 2006 – This year’s ICDB on 10 December served as clarion call for broadcasters in Liberia and Sierra Leone to engage the voices of young people, providing them with a platform to air their views on reversing the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Measles and malaria campaign in Sierra Leone reaches 800,000-plus
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 28 November 2006 – A national measles and malaria campaign has been successfully carried out in Sierra Leone. An estimated 800,000 children under five have benefited from life-saving interventions during this major nationwide health initiative.
Baby pageant in Sierra Leone: A new strategy to encourage breastfeeding
KONO, Sierra Leone, 2 August 2006 – Proud mothers jealously compare their babies’ layers of firm flesh, holding them up for the midwives and chiefs like prize bulls.
Sierra Leone targets child and maternal mortality
BOMBALI DISTRICT, Sierra Leone, 11 July 2006 – Sinnah Kamara is a young mother in Binkolo, located in northern Sierra Leone’s Bombali district. Although she has two healthy children, she knows how fragile the survival chances of children are in her country.
Nane Annan meets vulnerable girls in Freetown
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 3 July 2006 – Accompanying her husband, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, on his third visit to Sierra Leone, Nane Annan visited a UNICEF-supported centre for vulnerable girls.
Coping with a legacy of violence in Sierra Leone
MAKENI, Sierra Leone, 15 June 2006 – The decade-long war in Sierra Leone, which left 50,000 dead, was one of Africa’s most brutal. Atrocities against women and children were commonplace. The war turned children into drugged killing machines, giving them power beyond their age.
Fatu’s story: Orphaned by AIDS in Sierra Leone, teenage girl cares for her family
ALLEN TOWN, Sierra Leone, 28 March 2006 – Many of the 35,000 orphans in Sierra Leone live in households headed by elderly people, children or adult relatives who are terminally ill. A large number live in dire poverty.
Sierra Leone: Children’s forum takes on trafficking and other concerns
MAKENI, Sierra Leone, 6 March 2006 – In the impoverished town of Makeni, in northern Sierra Leone, teenagers recently engaged in a lively discussion with UNICEF Representative for Sierra Leone Geert Cappelaere. Topping the agenda: the issue of child trafficking.
Taking community schools to children in rural Sierra Leone
BOMBALI DISTRICT, Sierra Leone, 30 December 2005 – The 11-year civil war in Sierra Leone destroyed much of the country’s education infrastructure and denied an overwhelming number the rights of education during the conflict. After the war ended, these children – now over-aged - have enrolled in school, leaving no room for the younger ones.
Dedication is paying off for Sierra Leone’s polio programmes
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 12 December 2005 – Sierra Leone is within reach of meeting its goal of being certified polio free, having just completed the final round of immunizations for this calendar year.
Bringing community schools to children in rural Sierra Leone
MAKENI, Sierra Leone, 28 July 2005 – Children in the village of Makondo recite their lessons in a cramped makeshift schoolroom. They seek shelter from the white heat of the mid-day sun under plastic sheeting, which is held up by wooden poles. Lessons are staggered so they can accommodate the 175 students enrolled – but even so there is barely enough room on the wooden benches.
First ever ‘Truth and Reconciliation’ report for children launched
NEW YORK, 27 October 2004 – The first-ever version of a ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ report intended specifically to be accessible by children was officially launched today at United Nations headquarters.
