Plan Sierra Leone Annual Progress Report 2009

WESTERN SAHARA (OCCUPIED BY MOROCCO)

A YEAR IN

SIERRA E LEON09 SUMMARY REPORT

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GOOD REASONS why Plan works in Sierra Leone

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• The price of rice and other staple foods have er risen Nigdramatically since 2007 making it harder for the poorest ni people to feed their families

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Students collect new school supplies.

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• 27% of children die before reaching age of five

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• Helping to ensure children have access to a COTE D'IVOIRE quality education

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SIERRA LEONE Country Office Plan Programme

• Improving job opportunities for young people with vocational training • Promoting child rights and supporting vulnerable children like orphans or street children

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• Working to reduce the immediate and longterm impact of disasters on children, families and communities

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• Protecting the health of mothers and young children

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Our priorities in Sierra Leone

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SIERRA LEONE FACTS Capital: Freetown Population: 5.7 million Language: English (official).

Climate: The climate is tropical, with two seasons determining the agricultural cycle: the rainy season from May to November, and a dry season from December to May, which includes Harmattan the cool, dry wind that blows in off the

Sahara Desert. The nighttime temperature can be as low as 16 °C The average temperature is 26 °C and varies from around 26 °C to 36 °C during the year.

Economy: Sierra Leone is slowly emerging from a protracted civil war and is showing signs of a successful transition to a more stable economy. Rich in minerals, Sierra Leone has relied on mining, especially diamonds,

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for its economic base. The country is among the top 10 diamond producing nations in the world. Mineral exports remain the main foreign currency earner. Sierra Leone is a major producer of gem-quality diamonds.

Though rich in diamonds, it has historically struggled to manage their exploitation and export. About two-thirds of the population engages in subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 52.5% of

“We will stay focussed and better involved with child rights, youth and community empowerment so that Plan will continue to be a recognised voice Lake Volta for young people in Sierra Leone” BENIN

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• 40% of young men aged 15 to 24 – the fathers of tomorrow – are illiterate

national income. Despite its successes and development, the Sierra Leone economy still faces significant challenges. There is high unemployment, particularly among the youth and excombatants.

A semi-permanent school supported by Plan.

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– Fadimata Alainchar, Plan’s Country Director

A YEAR IN

SIERRA LEONE 09 SUMMARY REPORT

FOCUS ON: MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH Sierra Leone has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world.

Plan’s maternal and child health programme aims to ensure mothers have healthy pregnancies and safe deliveries, and their children not only survive but have the best start in life.

To achieve this, we’re giving more women access to good antenatal care. We try to ensure that young children where we work receive a birth certificate.

We’re improving mothers’ knowledge of preventable diseases including malaria and HIV/AIDS and working to reduce the number of malnourished children.

LAST CHANCE FOR AMINATA

A

minata had more reason than most to be apprehensive when she found out she was pregnant.

Teachers discuss their approach to learning in Sierra Leone

The Bigger Picture

Plan is working with children, families and whole communities to address the problems that Sierra Leone faces. This report can only tell a small part of that story. As a further insight, last year we also: • Protected children from HIV/AIDS by running awareness campaigns for mothers and other carers • Raised the standard of children’s education by providing textbooks, school supplies, furniture and leisure materials to children and schools • Gave young people the opportunity for economic independence by piloting training and financial services for youths in 27 communities • Organised debates, drawing and essay competitions for children to help them share their views on the International Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse (19 November).

Your support as a sponsor is crucial to achieving these positive results. So on behalf of the communities, partner organisations, and most of all the children we work with – thank you!

“During my last pregnancy, my husband sent me away and threatened me with a divorce” To learn more about Plan’s work in Sierra Leone visit plan.org.au/ourwork/westafrica/sierraleone

Produced for Sierra Leone by the Australian National Office.

Over the past six years, she has given birth to five children, three of whom died within five months of being born.

“It all started with a fever which was usually treated with traditional herbs,” says Aminata. “I was accused of witchcraft and faced exclusion from my husband’s family over the death of the children.

During my last pregnancy, my husband sent me away and threatened me with a divorce.”

Aminata lives in Gbeworbu, a village in Moyamba, southern Sierra Leone. Between 2005 and 2007, eight children in the community died of the fever she describes. Only the cause wasn’t witchcraft, but malaria.

Malaria kills around a fifth of children under five in Sierra Leone. Yet simple prevention measures, like sleeping under a bed net treated with insecticide, can keep a child safe.

But in poor rural villages like Gbeworbu, mothers like Aminata are often unaware that the sickness decimating their families is carried by mosquitoes and that it can be controlled.

Advice and treatment Reducing the number of childhood deaths from malaria is one of Plan’s priorities in Sierra Leone.

We’re working with the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) to ensure families and health practitioners are given the information and resources they need to protect children’s health.

Plan’s malaria programme was a lifeline for Aminata when her baby was born. She knew her marriage and her status depended on her keeping alive the baby she loved.

“I knew I was not a witch but I had lost three children in rapid succession,” she recalls. “I had to express my fears to a friend who advised me to attend the nearby clinic with her new-born baby.”

“Spreading the word is a crucial element of Plan’s malaria work”

Backed by Plan and the NMCP, the clinic offers mothers free health advice and treatment for malaria as part of a range of services to keep young children healthy.

When Aminata recounted her experiences to the community health workers, they talked to her about childhood diseases, particularly malaria, and gave her bed nets for her children.

“I began to put into practice all I learned at the health centre,” says Aminata. “I started sleeping with my other children under the bed nets. I took all of them to the clinic regularly and fed them with the right food.”

Prevention messages When Aminata’s baby won the clinic’s competition for “best growing child”, she felt relieved: “I came to realise that I will not lose this child and I am determined to break the myth and ignorance surrounding infant mortality.”

She began to teach other women how to recognise the danger signs of malaria, urging them to use bed nets and seek treatment quickly if their child falls ill.

Spreading the word like this is a crucial element of Plan’s malaria work, and children and young people are a major focus.

We’ve provided schools with information on malaria and trained young people on its prevention. They too are getting the message out to their peers and communities, using activities like street theatre.

Hygiene is another focus.

Aminata and her community make sure that drains are cleared and water is not left standing in containers, depriving the mosquitoes of places to breed.

Aminata credits the health centre for saving her marriage, and more importantly, her children’s lives.

“If we are aware of the issues and have the proper knowledge to take action on them, it will help us to prevent this dreadful disease.”

Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy purposes.

plan.org.au