On my first day as Secretary-General of the United Nations, one question weighs heavily on my heart. How can we help the millions of people caught up in conflict, suffering massively in wars with no end in sight? Civilians are pounded with deadly force. Women, children and men are killed and injured, forced from their...

'Leaving nobody behind' is the very foundation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, we are happy to be working on this important initiative - which will make sure that more people in Sierra Leone have access to finance - together with the Bank of Sierra Leone”- Sunil Saigal, Resident Coordinator, United...

Freetown November 28, 2016: The 2016 African Human Development Report (AHDR) launched today offers pathways to reducing the persistent gender inequality in Africa. The report titled “Accelerating Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Africa,” highlights deeply-rooted structural obstacles such as unequal...

Two of Sierra Leone’s Ebola hardest hit districts have benefitted from a new USD 1.5 million project to help improve their livelihood and basic services in rural communities on November 18, 2016.   The initiative, launched by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hon Maya Kaikai, is part of the...

Freetown, November 4, 2016:  Sierra Leone Vice-President Honourable Dr. Victor Bockarie-Foh has launched, a new USD 1.5 Million initiative aiming to revamp and transform the country’s prisons facilities to correctional services, in Freetown on November 3, 2016. The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law...

Makolerr village lies in the Koya Chiefdom of the Port Loko District in Sierra Leone, a two-hour drive from the capital Freetown. The district is well known for its charcoal production, which is an important source of livelihood for many of the local communities. It is estimated that 60% of household income in Makolerr...

The Newton Orphanage got its first improved pit latrine on Thursday, 13 October 2016 since it was established seven years ago in 2010. Imagine living in a house with at least 20 occupants and that too little girls and boys with no proper basic sanitary facilities such as a toilet.  What is more worrying is the...

When 17 year-old Samuel Elba and his colleagues got fed-up with the rampant electricity shortage in the Dwazark community, a hill top slum in the central of Freetown, they resorted to use local scrap to invent a wind- powered generator that is cheaper, healthier and environmentally friendly. The lack of affordable...

The Kallons are a brave family. They were all infected by the Ebola virus at the peak of the outbreak in Daru town, 36 miles from Kailahun, the eastern-most district of Sierra Leone. They fought courageously and emerged victorious against the disease. However, they encountered fresh battles from community...

Freetown, July 15 -The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and in collaboration with the Meteorological Department (MDSL) and Ministry of Water Resources, has last Friday finalized an assessment of weather stations around Sierra Leone.  The...

When torrential rains hit Sierra Leone last year small businesses like that of 42 year old Rugiatu Daniel were badly affected. The economic and social scars of those monsoon rains have still not healed for Rugiatu, who is the breadwinner of a family of six. “I still haven’t fully recovered from the September 17...

Thomas Vandi, a 14-year old pupil of Lumbebu International School in Kenema is excited about his future. Like many his age, Thomas was drawn to a certain career because of some family influence – one member of the family is in a particular field so they also choose that field. But Thomas thinks it is time to make a...

Freetown, 3 June 2016:  Director of Serious Organized Crimes Unit (SOCU), in the Office of National Security (ONS), Mr. Solomon Caulker, has said that an increase in transnational and organised crime in the border communities poses a major threat to peace and stability in the Mano River countries of Liberia, Guinea...

Freetown, April 14 2016: The Chief of the Standing Police Capacity (SPC) in the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), Ms. Maria Appelblom, said this week that Sierra Leone has made impressive gains in community policing and called for a broader police–public partnership. Ms. Appelblom, from Sweden,...

West Africa - The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have completed the Digital Financial Services (DFS) diagnostics in the three West African fragile states Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, also Least Developed Countries, recovering from the impact of Ebola. In Guinea and...

Freetown, March 17 2016:  The Honourable Chief Justice Abdulai Hamid Charm has said that the sentencing and bail instruments are “crucial for justice delivery in Sierra Leone” during his welcoming of U.S. Federal District Court Judges Ricardo H. Hinojosa and  Beryl A. Howell.  The two judges from the United States...

Freetown, 10 March 2016 – Minister of State for Finance and Economic Development, Alhaji F.B.L Mansaray has launched the 2015 Global Human Development Report (HDR) titled Work for Human Development in Freetown, Thursday March 10. The report shows that Sierra Leone continues to make steady progress in human...

The recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa was the worst of its kind in recorded history. Over 11 thousand people died, and over 3,900 were from Sierra Leone. Yet death and suffering are only part of the crisis. The epidemic, and emergency actions to stamp it out, have severely slowed economic growth. Thousands of...

New York, 15 July 2015 — UNDP and Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic Corporation have delivered a second batch of 3,000 solar lanterns to the three countries most affected by the Ebola epidemic. The lamps were distributed during the second week of July, based on the needs of each community.  The solar...

Freetown, Sierra Leone - Hundreds of hard-to-reach communities now get Ebola advice and independent news, through a new satellite link from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that boosts the reach of Sierra Leone’s sole, free radio network. The Independent Radio Network (IRN), with its 51 community...