Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is officially the worst place in the world for a child to be born. One in four children die before their fifth birthday. One in three under-fives are moderately or severely underweight. More women die in childbirth than in any other country and life expectancy is just 42. In addition, many children drop out of school and are at risk of abuse and exploitation.
- We’re protecting around 10,000 children from violence and abuse.
- We’re providing free healthcare for 57,733 children.
- We’re helping over 20,000 children get a better education.
285,000 children die in Africa every year simply because they can’t afford to pay to see a doctor or a nurse.
Cerebal malaria left Morie with brain damage. Desperate to find a cure, his parents spent all their savings and borrowed money to pay for his hospital fees.
Save the Children’s research shows that the lives of 285,000 children under 5 could be saved each year by abolishing healthcare fees.
Children, such as Lahai who is severely malnourished would then be able to be treated. His family can’t afford to take him to hospital.
Hospitals that provide free healthcare, like this NGO run one, are always full and provide a stark contrast to the government hospitals that are often empty.
Save the Children is asking world leaders to support countries in Africa to make healthcare free.
Watch Kadiatu's story:
Save the Children in Sierra Leone
Since returning to Sierra Leone in 1999 we’ve focused on protecting children from violence and abuse, providing free basic healthcare for women, children and young people, and improving access to primary education. Over the past year, our work directly benefited 78,316 children.
We’re helping children protect themselves
The legacy of the war has left many children vulnerable to exploitation, for example through sexual abuse or prostitution.
We’ve established 27 child welfare committees and children’s clubs, benefiting 3,100 children. We’re protecting children from violence and we’ve established a clear system for referring cases of abuse.
We’re saving lives and improving access to healthcare
We’re helping the poorest people get access to free healthcare and we’ve expanded our health work to 49 primary healthcare units, reaching 57,733 children.
We’re also training communities to screen and treat children with malaria, one of the biggest killers of under-fives.
We’re investing in maternal healthcare to prevent mothers dying during or shortly after childbirth and we're also lobbying the government to abolish user fees so that healthcare is free at the point of access for all.
We’re improving young people’s sexual health
High numbers of teenage pregnancies contribute to Sierra Leone’s high rates of maternal and infant mortality, while HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections are on the rise. We’re working with young people to increase their knowledge about sexual health and family planning.
We’re helping more children go to school
We’re working to address the high drop-out rates in Sierra Leone. We’re also helping primary school children in 30 schools get a good education as part of our Rewrite the Future campaign, by providing support to teachers and school management committees.
We’re training teachers on child-centred learning methods and making schools safer. In addition, we’ve been working on a national code of conduct for teachers based on zero tolerance of corporal punishment.
We’re making everyday life better in Kroo Bay
In Kroo Bay, most people live in shacks built on the rubbish. There’s no electricity, no running water and only one clinic between 6,000 people.
We’ve built a walkway over the filthy flood waters, benefiting 850 families. We’re also helping the community reinforce the river banks, providing basic education on health and hygiene and we’ve trained more than 200 volunteers to identify and treat cases of diarrhoea.
Find out more about Kroo Bay and what we’re doing there.Find out more
- Download our country brief (PDF 80KB).
- Visit Kroo Bay.
- Read about Hawa's experiences of living in Sierra Leone.
- Find out how we're helping mothers and babies in the toughest place in the world to be born.
- Read how Mohammad was helped by one of our Blue Flag volunteers.
Sierra Leone related articles
- Wednesday 19 September 2007 Africa under water: Children in 19 countries affected by floods
- Half a million children have been affected by widespread flooding across 19 countries in Africa. Torrential rains and floods have swept over east and west Africa in recent weeks, destroying homes and schools and washing away crops and livestock.
- Monday 14 September 2009 Too poor to pay: Over sixty organisations call on world leaders to make free healthcare a reality for millions
- Failure to provide free healthcare for poor means that millions of people are paying with their lives
