Sierra Leone: programs & priorities

ChildFund Australia's affiliate organisation in Sierre Leone has been working in the country since 1985 and is helping communities return to a state of normalcy after more than a decade of civil war. ChildFund in Sierra Leone is currently assisting over 400,000 children and family members.

ChildFund in Sierra Leone is implementing skills development programs to help children and youth since they had very limited education. The categories of children and youth include: children of adult amputees, unaccompanied and internally displaced children, pregnant girls and teenage mothers (many of whom had been abducted by fighting forces), and boys.

ChildFund in Sierra Leone is also providing non-formal education for children who must work to support themselves and their families

In order to improve food security, ChildFund in Sierra Leone has provided youth groups with food processing skills, established a pig-rearing project, fishing projects and supplied planting materials for community groups.

Development in progress

One of the key features of ChildFund in Sierra Leone's development work is the community reintegration of ex-combatants and formerly abducted and sexually abused girls. The goal of both programs is to help ex-combatants, and abducted girls and children associated with fighting forces win acceptance back into their communities and become productive citizens. ChildFund in Sierra Leone's reintegration efforts include the implementation of skills training and small business programs for youth including ex-child soldiers.

ChildFund in Sierra Leone's community reintegration program for abducted and sexually abused girls works with communities to help them understand what has happened to the girls. The program reintegrates the girls into their communities by incorporating traditional healing practices with modern psychosocial interventions. They receive skills training, small business loans and opportunities to go back to school.