Plan Sierra Leone Annual Program Report 2007

146.5mm FLAP

148.5mm BACK

Challenge and change in Sierra Leone

Real progress

Sierra Leone is facing the challenge of reconstruction after ten years of war destroyed social and economic systems, caused high unemployment and left most parents unable to provide for their children’s basic needs. Essential services are still very limited.

With the support of Plan, children and adults in Sierra Leone are working together to develop their communities and claim their right to a better future. And real progress is being made.

Last year, our work included:

In addition, children’s rights suffered greatly in the war: many children lost their homes, fought as child soldiers, or were orphaned. Abuses such as child labour, child trafficking and female genital cutting are widespread.

Plan concentrates on education, health, water and sanitation and increasing incomes.

We also promote children’s rights through children’s media projects, creative contests, and celebrating the Day of the African Child. There’s work to train communities on child protection, too.

Fadimata Alainchar, Plan’s Country Director, says: “Our programmes have made significant progress and impact in improving the well-being of children in Sierra Leone.”

Children’s media projects like radio can spread the word about children’s rights

In this Country Progress Report, we look at some of the successes that Plan is having in improving levels of health among poor communities in Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone country facts Population: 5.1 million

Primary-age children in school: 41%

Capital: Freetown

Children aged 5 to 14 involved in child labour: 59%

UN Human Development Index ranking: 176th (of 177 countries)

• Running workshops on peace education for 54 communities, 126 school peace clubs, and trauma counselling for 200 communities and 60 schools

volunteer teachers (there is a severe shortage of qualified teachers) and training 414 school management committees

• Building 48 schools, and constructing or upgrading latrines in 42 schools and water systems in 40 schools.

So on behalf of the children and communities we work with, thank you to all our sponsors!

Plan UK Registered Charity No: 276035

SLE

Any enquiries please contact: Nick Burton. e: nick@bright-uk.com m: 07884 367567. d: 020 7620 8150 Size (Prod)

Colours(Prod)

Art (A/D)

Copy (C/W)

Content (Acc.)

Sierra Leone

Plan’s greatest successes come from a joint effort combining the hard work and determination of communities, children, volunteers, staff, and partner organisations. The ongoing support of our sponsors is a vital ingredient, too. It’s their generosity and commitment that allows us to continue to help children in 49 of the poorest countries in the world.

(Sources: the UN, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office)

0407 100647 PLAN 0407_Sierra Leone 28.11.07 210x443.5mm FOLD TO A5 3 Client proof: 2

Sports are one simple wa y of bringing in the wake of youth together the conflict

• Providing training for 1,485 professional and

Adults who can read and write: 35%

Admagic No: Bright No: Client name: File name: Date: Size: Studio proof:

148.5mm FRONT

Country Progress Report 2007

146.5mm FLAP

148.5mm BACK

Challenge and change in Sierra Leone

Real progress

Sierra Leone is facing the challenge of reconstruction after ten years of war destroyed social and economic systems, caused high unemployment and left most parents unable to provide for their children’s basic needs. Essential services are still very limited.

With the support of Plan, children and adults in Sierra Leone are working together to develop their communities and claim their right to a better future. And real progress is being made.

Last year, our work included:

In addition, children’s rights suffered greatly in the war: many children lost their homes, fought as child soldiers, or were orphaned. Abuses such as child labour, child trafficking and female genital cutting are widespread.

Plan concentrates on education, health, water and sanitation and increasing incomes.

We also promote children’s rights through children’s media projects, creative contests, and celebrating the Day of the African Child. There’s work to train communities on child protection, too.

Fadimata Alainchar, Plan’s Country Director, says: “Our programmes have made significant progress and impact in improving the well-being of children in Sierra Leone.”

Children’s media projects like radio can spread the word about children’s rights

In this Country Progress Report, we look at some of the successes that Plan is having in improving levels of health among poor communities in Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone country facts Population: 5.1 million

Primary-age children in school: 41%

Capital: Freetown

Children aged 5 to 14 involved in child labour: 59%

UN Human Development Index ranking: 176th (of 177 countries)

• Running workshops on peace education for 54 communities, 126 school peace clubs, and trauma counselling for 200 communities and 60 schools

volunteer teachers (there is a severe shortage of qualified teachers) and training 414 school management committees

• Building 48 schools, and constructing or upgrading latrines in 42 schools and water systems in 40 schools.

So on behalf of the children and communities we work with, thank you to all our sponsors!

Plan UK Registered Charity No: 276035

SLE

Any enquiries please contact: Nick Burton. e: nick@bright-uk.com m: 07884 367567. d: 020 7620 8150 Size (Prod)

Colours(Prod)

Art (A/D)

Copy (C/W)

Content (Acc.)

Sierra Leone

Plan’s greatest successes come from a joint effort combining the hard work and determination of communities, children, volunteers, staff, and partner organisations. The ongoing support of our sponsors is a vital ingredient, too. It’s their generosity and commitment that allows us to continue to help children in 49 of the poorest countries in the world.

(Sources: the UN, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office)

0407 100647 PLAN 0407_Sierra Leone 28.11.07 210x443.5mm FOLD TO A5 3 Client proof: 2

Sports are one simple wa y of bringing in the wake of youth together the conflict

• Providing training for 1,485 professional and

Adults who can read and write: 35%

Admagic No: Bright No: Client name: File name: Date: Size: Studio proof:

148.5mm FRONT

Country Progress Report 2007

148.5mm INSIDE

148.5mm INSIDE

Changing the face of a village Sierra Leone’s healthcare system was badly damaged during the Civil War, so it’s not surprising that the country has one of the highest rates in the world of children who die before their fifth birthday: a shocking 28%.

And it’s not only children who suffer: women’s lifetime risk of dying as a result of pregnancy or childbirth is one in six – again, one of the world’s highest.

Repairing the damage caused to health services by ten years of war is a longterm and costly task, but there are signs of hope for the future. For example, with Plan’s help, the village of Mabayo now has a new health centre that will give children and their families a better chance in life through access to basic medical care.

The health centre will serve the small village of Mabayo and the surrounding area. Its priorities will be healthcare for children and pregnant women, and fighting preventable diseases like malaria, diarrhoea and tuberculosis, which account for high numbers of deaths among very young children.

The health centre has a well with clean water, latrines, a kitchen and an incinerator.

The newly built Mabayo health

centre

Total change “This clinic has totally changed the face of our village!” says Alie, a young man from Mabayo. He carries on: “With our own efforts, this clinic will be fully utilised. It will change the lives of our people, especially women and children, as much as it has already changed the face of our community. The people of Mabayo are extremely pleased!”

Mothers are particularly looking forward to having reliable care for their children. “I won’t have to walk seven miles to take my child to the nearest health clinic when he is sick,” says Fatmata, one enthusiastic young mother. “With this clinic, now our children can receive urgent medical attention whenever they are sick.”

Plan always encourages communities to take full responsibility for issues that affect them, because this is vital to make sure that projects can carry on in the long term. Mabayo Health Centre is no exception: community members have been very involved throughout, from taking part in designing the centre to providing land, sand and stones for construction. Plan is training a 12-strong health committee, made up of community members, which will be involved in managing the centre, evaluating its work and planning for the future.

The value of awareness Working with communities to set up health centres is only part of Plan’s remit. Equipping people with essential information about health is equally important because in Sierra Leone there are on average only seven doctors per

100,000 people, and even basic care is often not available.

Plan gets children involved, giving them the knowledge to take action on their own and their families’ health. This has enormous benefits for children’s confidence and the way that adults see them, which in turn helps support children’s rights.

“With this clinic, now our children can receive urgent medical attention whenever they are sick.”

Sometimes this information can mean the difference between life and death.

Eleven year old Kadiatu may have saved her brother’s life when he had a serious attack of diarrhoea. She is a member of a children’s health club trained on health and hygiene by Plan volunteers, and acts as a peer educator in disease prevention and response.

146.5mm INSIDE

rehydration therapy as a first aid treatment. I boiled water, allowed it to cool, measured three pints of the water, added eight teaspoons of sugar and one teaspoon of salt and mixed them thoroughly. My sick brother drank this mixture throughout the night and by the morning his health had improved.”

The story of Kadiatu’s quick thinking in a crisis has impressed others and given her confidence, as well as new status.

“Everybody was happy with me for the ideas I shared and I felt proud,” says Kadiatu. “Since then, I’ve been teaching my classmates as well as adults how to make the rehydration mixture.”

“Everybody was happy with me for the ideas I shared and I felt proud.”

Getting children like Kadiatu and communities like Mabayo involved in their own healthcare, something that is so important to them, is a way to give them back a little of the control over their lives that was lost during the war, as well as some hope for a better future.

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

“It was late in the evening and we couldn’t take him to the health centre, four miles away,” she remembers. “I was worried and so was my mum, because a recent outbreak of diarrhoea had claimed the lives of many children.”

“With my knowledge from the health club, I told my mum we needed

Child-to-child training is a really effective way of teaching childr en how to protect their health

148.5mm INSIDE

148.5mm INSIDE

Changing the face of a village Sierra Leone’s healthcare system was badly damaged during the Civil War, so it’s not surprising that the country has one of the highest rates in the world of children who die before their fifth birthday: a shocking 28%.

And it’s not only children who suffer: women’s lifetime risk of dying as a result of pregnancy or childbirth is one in six – again, one of the world’s highest.

Repairing the damage caused to health services by ten years of war is a longterm and costly task, but there are signs of hope for the future. For example, with Plan’s help, the village of Mabayo now has a new health centre that will give children and their families a better chance in life through access to basic medical care.

The health centre will serve the small village of Mabayo and the surrounding area. Its priorities will be healthcare for children and pregnant women, and fighting preventable diseases like malaria, diarrhoea and tuberculosis, which account for high numbers of deaths among very young children.

The health centre has a well with clean water, latrines, a kitchen and an incinerator.

The newly built Mabayo health

centre

Total change “This clinic has totally changed the face of our village!” says Alie, a young man from Mabayo. He carries on: “With our own efforts, this clinic will be fully utilised. It will change the lives of our people, especially women and children, as much as it has already changed the face of our community. The people of Mabayo are extremely pleased!”

Mothers are particularly looking forward to having reliable care for their children. “I won’t have to walk seven miles to take my child to the nearest health clinic when he is sick,” says Fatmata, one enthusiastic young mother. “With this clinic, now our children can receive urgent medical attention whenever they are sick.”

Plan always encourages communities to take full responsibility for issues that affect them, because this is vital to make sure that projects can carry on in the long term. Mabayo Health Centre is no exception: community members have been very involved throughout, from taking part in designing the centre to providing land, sand and stones for construction. Plan is training a 12-strong health committee, made up of community members, which will be involved in managing the centre, evaluating its work and planning for the future.

The value of awareness Working with communities to set up health centres is only part of Plan’s remit. Equipping people with essential information about health is equally important because in Sierra Leone there are on average only seven doctors per

100,000 people, and even basic care is often not available.

Plan gets children involved, giving them the knowledge to take action on their own and their families’ health. This has enormous benefits for children’s confidence and the way that adults see them, which in turn helps support children’s rights.

“With this clinic, now our children can receive urgent medical attention whenever they are sick.”

Sometimes this information can mean the difference between life and death.

Eleven year old Kadiatu may have saved her brother’s life when he had a serious attack of diarrhoea. She is a member of a children’s health club trained on health and hygiene by Plan volunteers, and acts as a peer educator in disease prevention and response.

146.5mm INSIDE

rehydration therapy as a first aid treatment. I boiled water, allowed it to cool, measured three pints of the water, added eight teaspoons of sugar and one teaspoon of salt and mixed them thoroughly. My sick brother drank this mixture throughout the night and by the morning his health had improved.”

The story of Kadiatu’s quick thinking in a crisis has impressed others and given her confidence, as well as new status.

“Everybody was happy with me for the ideas I shared and I felt proud,” says Kadiatu. “Since then, I’ve been teaching my classmates as well as adults how to make the rehydration mixture.”

“Everybody was happy with me for the ideas I shared and I felt proud.”

Getting children like Kadiatu and communities like Mabayo involved in their own healthcare, something that is so important to them, is a way to give them back a little of the control over their lives that was lost during the war, as well as some hope for a better future.

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

“It was late in the evening and we couldn’t take him to the health centre, four miles away,” she remembers. “I was worried and so was my mum, because a recent outbreak of diarrhoea had claimed the lives of many children.”

“With my knowledge from the health club, I told my mum we needed

Child-to-child training is a really effective way of teaching childr en how to protect their health

148.5mm INSIDE

148.5mm INSIDE

Changing the face of a village Sierra Leone’s healthcare system was badly damaged during the Civil War, so it’s not surprising that the country has one of the highest rates in the world of children who die before their fifth birthday: a shocking 28%.

And it’s not only children who suffer: women’s lifetime risk of dying as a result of pregnancy or childbirth is one in six – again, one of the world’s highest.

Repairing the damage caused to health services by ten years of war is a longterm and costly task, but there are signs of hope for the future. For example, with Plan’s help, the village of Mabayo now has a new health centre that will give children and their families a better chance in life through access to basic medical care.

The health centre will serve the small village of Mabayo and the surrounding area. Its priorities will be healthcare for children and pregnant women, and fighting preventable diseases like malaria, diarrhoea and tuberculosis, which account for high numbers of deaths among very young children.

The health centre has a well with clean water, latrines, a kitchen and an incinerator.

The newly built Mabayo health

centre

Total change “This clinic has totally changed the face of our village!” says Alie, a young man from Mabayo. He carries on: “With our own efforts, this clinic will be fully utilised. It will change the lives of our people, especially women and children, as much as it has already changed the face of our community. The people of Mabayo are extremely pleased!”

Mothers are particularly looking forward to having reliable care for their children. “I won’t have to walk seven miles to take my child to the nearest health clinic when he is sick,” says Fatmata, one enthusiastic young mother. “With this clinic, now our children can receive urgent medical attention whenever they are sick.”

Plan always encourages communities to take full responsibility for issues that affect them, because this is vital to make sure that projects can carry on in the long term. Mabayo Health Centre is no exception: community members have been very involved throughout, from taking part in designing the centre to providing land, sand and stones for construction. Plan is training a 12-strong health committee, made up of community members, which will be involved in managing the centre, evaluating its work and planning for the future.

The value of awareness Working with communities to set up health centres is only part of Plan’s remit. Equipping people with essential information about health is equally important because in Sierra Leone there are on average only seven doctors per

100,000 people, and even basic care is often not available.

Plan gets children involved, giving them the knowledge to take action on their own and their families’ health. This has enormous benefits for children’s confidence and the way that adults see them, which in turn helps support children’s rights.

“With this clinic, now our children can receive urgent medical attention whenever they are sick.”

Sometimes this information can mean the difference between life and death.

Eleven year old Kadiatu may have saved her brother’s life when he had a serious attack of diarrhoea. She is a member of a children’s health club trained on health and hygiene by Plan volunteers, and acts as a peer educator in disease prevention and response.

146.5mm INSIDE

rehydration therapy as a first aid treatment. I boiled water, allowed it to cool, measured three pints of the water, added eight teaspoons of sugar and one teaspoon of salt and mixed them thoroughly. My sick brother drank this mixture throughout the night and by the morning his health had improved.”

The story of Kadiatu’s quick thinking in a crisis has impressed others and given her confidence, as well as new status.

“Everybody was happy with me for the ideas I shared and I felt proud,” says Kadiatu. “Since then, I’ve been teaching my classmates as well as adults how to make the rehydration mixture.”

“Everybody was happy with me for the ideas I shared and I felt proud.”

Getting children like Kadiatu and communities like Mabayo involved in their own healthcare, something that is so important to them, is a way to give them back a little of the control over their lives that was lost during the war, as well as some hope for a better future.

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

“It was late in the evening and we couldn’t take him to the health centre, four miles away,” she remembers. “I was worried and so was my mum, because a recent outbreak of diarrhoea had claimed the lives of many children.”

“With my knowledge from the health club, I told my mum we needed

Child-to-child training is a really effective way of teaching childr en how to protect their health

146.5mm FLAP

148.5mm BACK

Challenge and change in Sierra Leone

Real progress

Sierra Leone is facing the challenge of reconstruction after ten years of war destroyed social and economic systems, caused high unemployment and left most parents unable to provide for their children’s basic needs. Essential services are still very limited.

With the support of Plan, children and adults in Sierra Leone are working together to develop their communities and claim their right to a better future. And real progress is being made.

Last year, our work included:

In addition, children’s rights suffered greatly in the war: many children lost their homes, fought as child soldiers, or were orphaned. Abuses such as child labour, child trafficking and female genital cutting are widespread.

Plan concentrates on education, health, water and sanitation and increasing incomes.

We also promote children’s rights through children’s media projects, creative contests, and celebrating the Day of the African Child. There’s work to train communities on child protection, too.

Fadimata Alainchar, Plan’s Country Director, says: “Our programmes have made significant progress and impact in improving the well-being of children in Sierra Leone.”

Children’s media projects like radio can spread the word about children’s rights

In this Country Progress Report, we look at some of the successes that Plan is having in improving levels of health among poor communities in Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone country facts Population: 5.1 million

Primary-age children in school: 41%

Capital: Freetown

Children aged 5 to 14 involved in child labour: 59%

UN Human Development Index ranking: 176th (of 177 countries)

• Running workshops on peace education for 54 communities, 126 school peace clubs, and trauma counselling for 200 communities and 60 schools

volunteer teachers (there is a severe shortage of qualified teachers) and training 414 school management committees

• Building 48 schools, and constructing or upgrading latrines in 42 schools and water systems in 40 schools.

So on behalf of the children and communities we work with, thank you to all our sponsors!

Plan UK Registered Charity No: 276035

SLE

Any enquiries please contact: Nick Burton. e: nick@bright-uk.com m: 07884 367567. d: 020 7620 8150 Size (Prod)

Colours(Prod)

Art (A/D)

Copy (C/W)

Content (Acc.)

Sierra Leone

Plan’s greatest successes come from a joint effort combining the hard work and determination of communities, children, volunteers, staff, and partner organisations. The ongoing support of our sponsors is a vital ingredient, too. It’s their generosity and commitment that allows us to continue to help children in 49 of the poorest countries in the world.

(Sources: the UN, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office)

0407 100647 PLAN 0407_Sierra Leone 28.11.07 210x443.5mm FOLD TO A5 3 Client proof: 2

Sports are one simple wa y of bringing in the wake of youth together the conflict

• Providing training for 1,485 professional and

Adults who can read and write: 35%

Admagic No: Bright No: Client name: File name: Date: Size: Studio proof:

148.5mm FRONT

Country Progress Report 2007