Achievements

Core Achievements in the last 35 years

Despite the several challenges that we faced in the last 35 years, particularly in the formative years when the democratic and civic spaces were land mines for civic activists, we made significant progress towards the realization of the goals we set ourselves in the beginning. We have disaggregated these achievements into different thematic areas:

  • Prior to the end of the civil war in 2002 and the immediate period thereafter, we mobilized and organized youth into strong groups and coalitions with democratically–­‐elected leaderships in the eastern region in response to the situations youth found themselves in at the time, which led them to play different roles in the 11 years civil war (both as victims and as perpetrators).
  • We trained youth in 2005/6 and facilitated them to participate in the development processes of their communities in collaboration with local authorities i.e., undertaking feeder roads construction in Fiama, Gbense and Kamara chiefdoms in Kono district, Simbaru, Kanduleppiama, Gorahun and Tunkia chiefdoms in Kenema district among others.
  • Supported youth in 2014/15 to embark on farming/food production e.g., the Youth Farmers Association of Blama in Small Bo chiefdom produced over 600 bushels of rice in the first year of their engagement in rice farming.
  • We trained youth in leadership in 2011/12 and supported them to contest for elective positions in the local councils and the House of Parliament: 23 councilors were elected (11 in Kenema district and 12 in Kono district including the then Mayor of Kono New Sembehun City Council), six MPs (3 in Kono district and 3 in Kenema district), 38 youth were elected into the Ward Development Committees, etc.
  • We animated local communities and equipped them with the necessary skills and tools to hold policy makers and service providers in their communities accountable for their actions and inactions. We facilitated the establishment of Village Development Committees (VDC) to serve as agents of social change and to lead the accountability actions e.g. At Kpanguma in Kakua chiefdom, the primary school head teacher was misusing the government subsidies whilst the school infrastructure was in a bad state. The VDC took up this matter with the highest authorities in the southern region. The head teacher was subsequently removed from the school. In the same chiefdom also, a contract was awarded for the construction of a bridge linking Borbu and Kpanguma communities. The VDC members monitored the process right through; and when they realized the contractor wanted to deviate from the agreed specifications so as to narrow the bridge, they stopped him from continuing the work and reported the matter to the regional engineer who awarded him the The contractor eventually reverted to the original specifications.
  • We facilitated the establishment of Independent Monitoring Teams in the Western Area and in Bombali district to monitor social service delivery. These Teams monitored the free healthcare policy and successfully held some healthcare workers that were found culpable accountable; some of them even lost their jobs.
  • We facilitated and supported the holding of quarterly district and chiefdom accountability sessions, bringing together chiefs, councilors, MPs, service providers, societal heads and other citizens; these sessions increased citizens participation in governance and ensured quality service delivery.
  • We contributed towards transforming people’s personal lives in the communities that we worked through training, mentoring and coaching e.g., Batu Bangalie became a community health volunteer, Christiana Johnbull became Chairlady for World Vision Micro Credit Project, Joseph Sawyer became Paralegal Officer with TIMAP for Justice and Morie Squire became a teacher after serving as STAR Circle facilitator, etc all in the southern region. Going through our trainings and other capacity enhancement programmes, these people acquired increased knowledge, skills and confidence that made them to assume these new roles.
  • Through the US Ambassadors Girls Scholarship Programme, we supported a total of 1500 highly-‐deprived girls in Kono district in 2015 with tuition, books, uniforms and feeding to complete primary school and enter secondary school in Kono District. The seven-year programme was exclusively for girls.
  • We are a founding member of the Community Radio Network (CORNET), established in April 2002 to raise awareness about the relevance of community radio in governance and national development and to promote and support community radio broadcasting in the country. With support from OSIWA, CORNET facilitated the establishment of community radio stations in many districts across the country.
  • With support from the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace in Canada and Bread for the World in Germany, we facilitated the establishment and running of the Eastern Community Radio covering all the three districts in the Eastern Region in 2005.
  • We collaborated with Partnership Africa Canada in 2000 to raise awareness nationally and internationally about the connections between diamonds and the civil conflicts in Sierra Leone. We did this through the research whose report titled: “The Heart of the Matter – Sierra Leone, Diamonds and Human Security” was simultaneously launched in Sierra Leone and Canada in January 2000. In order to create a platform through which civil society can engage and collectively take forward the recommendations of the report in Sierra Leone, we facilitated the formation of the Campaign for Just Mining. The Campaign for Just Mining, in turn, worked with NMJD and facilitated the formation of other civil society advocacy platforms such as the Association of Journalists on Mining and Extractives, Affected Property Owners Association and Schools Clubs on Mining and Extractives.
  • We commissioned a comprehensive study in 2001 to analyze and critique the then existing mining–related laws and policies in the country, to identify the gaps and challenges and make concrete recommendations. This triggered public discussions on the legal framework covering diamond mining in Sierra Leone, which eventually resulted in the enactment of the Mines and Minerals Act of 2009.
  • We undertook a comprehensive study of the Diamond Area Community Development Fund (disbursement, management, utilization, community participation, etc.) and proffered concrete recommendations to the government and local communities to ensure the affected communities derived maximum benefits from the Fund.
  • We have done several studies and published several reports on wide ranging issues in the natural resource sector, including Annual Reports on Diamond Mining in Sierra Leone, Focus on Mining Companies (London Mining and African Minerals), Costs-‐Benefits Analysis, etc. and campaign for the domestication of the African Mining Vision (AMV) in Sierra Leone.
  • We supported farmers in Gorama Kono Chiefdom in Kono district immediately after the war ended in 2002 with seed rice, farming tools, food for work, goats and sheep as part of our support towards the immediate post-war resettlement and reconstruction process to the communities we worked with.
  • In 2009, we supported farmers in 17 chiefdoms in Bo, Pujehun, Kenema, Kono and Kailahun districts with Nerica and Pakiamp seed rice, groundnut seeds, hoes and cutlasses, food for work and extension services. Additionally, we organized the farmers into farmers groups and supported these farming communities to construct drying floors and grain stores. This was part of our engagements on food security.
  • In 200also, we supported some local communities in Kenema district to develop fish ponds with the aim of helping these communities toincreasetheintakeoffishprotein.
  • With support from the UNDP Office in Sierra Leone, we held district–­‐level public awareness raising sessions on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers across the country and this helped to increase citizens’ participation in developing the SL–­‐PRSP in 2002.
  • We are a founding and Strategic Management Committee member of the National Elections Watch, established in 2002 to monitor and observe all public elections in Sierra Leone.
  • We participated in the production of a handbook on local governance prior to the re–­introduction of local government in Sierra Leone in 2004.
  • In collaboration with other civic groups, we organized the protest to the residence of the RUF rebel leader, Corporal Foday Sankoh, in May 2000, which turned out to be a watershed in the peace process in Sierra Leone.
  • We participated in the Lome Peace Accord in Togo in 1999 representing civil society.
  • We organized a national post–­‐elections strategic reflection for civil society groups after the 2007 elections (looking at the processes, structures and roles of stakeholders such as NEC, PPRC, ONS, Media, NEW, etc.
  • In collaboration with CCYA, we hosted the West African Civil Society Elections Monitoring Team supported by OSIWA in 2007.
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