This report documents the developmental journey taken by the Government of Sierra Leone (GSL) towards the protection, promotion and fulfilment of the rights of all of its children as protected by the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC). It briefly covers the first generation of post-war measures aimed at addressing the immediate needs of its most vulnerable children affected by the war, after which it describes the progressive emergence of the universal child welfare and development framework that underpins the current Agenda for Prosperity. The report charts the development of the GSL’s emerging holistic child protection system, a system which is grounded, first, on the fundamental recognition of the interdependence of children’s rights and, secondly, on the recognition that children’s protection and other rights depend on the elimination of the social and economic determinants of their vulnerability as well as the provision of services and support to nurture their survival and development to their full potential.
This report has drawn and built on the State’s most recent (2006 and 2012) periodic reports on the fulfilment of its obligations in terms of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC reports were developed through a consultative process which included extensive engagements with different line ministries and agencies, independent institutions, civil society organisations as well as children. The information provided in the CRC reports was supplemented with additional, updated information sourced from official and supporting documents as well as a number of interviews with representatives from various Ministries and development partners. (A full list of the additional stakeholders who provided supplementary information is attached in Annexure A.)
