Strategic Priorities
Our Strategic Priorities
The strategic priorities set out the chosen areas of our focus, the changes we want to see in Sierra Leone and our contributions together with our allies and partners. By focusing on the following three areas in combination with our local presence, we aim to boost the effectiveness, scale and sustainability of our work across the country:
Strategic Priority 1
Animate citizens’ empowerment, build leadership and movements to inspire positive change and to demand public institutions to work in ways that are just, accountable and inclusive.
Why does it matter?
Sierra Leone has powerful institutions; local and national governments, the private sector and intergovernmental agencies. These institutions have the ability to serve citizens’ needs, but they can also become unaccountable, at the expense of vulnerable and marginalized groups. Without being accountable to poor communities, all bureaucracies lose touch with the wishes of those they exist to serve. In order for change to be sustainable, active citizens, including poor and marginalized women and men need to have a voice and be visible in their own society.
Citizens’ engagement, movements and dialogue with institutions can raise their understanding of their duty to be truly accountable and responsive to the needs of people living in poverty. Unaccountable institutions must shift their concerns from self-interest, or the short‑term interest towards serving the long-term needs of all their citizens – poor as well as rich. If poverty and inequality are to end, the voices of vulnerable and marginalized people need to be heard, and institutions must be held to account by all citizens on the basis of equality.
Strategic Priority 2
Strengthen civil society to effectively collaborate in representing and engaging on issues of public interests, justice and fairness.
Why does it matter?
There has been a rapid increase in the number of Civil Society Organizations in Sierra Leone. This increase has been driven by the need to respond to social and economic problems, increased funding opportunities and the enabling environment.
A country’s path to sustainable poverty reduction and economic prosperity depends on all actors: civil society, the private sector, and government. Civil society organizations have shown the courage to confront governments and businesses, and have changed the lives of millions in Sierra Leone. Civil society provides a vital counterweight and essential partner to the expanding power of the private sector at the expense of governments, and challenge to what is often corrupt or unaccountable governance. It creates the space for debate and decision-making and nurtures a sense of community and self-reliance. With healthy community roots, civil society groups can mobilize a frontline expertise that outsiders lack.
Strategic Priority 3
Promoting Inclusive, Responsive, Transparent and Accountable Democratic Governance at all levels and in all sectors of society.
Why does it matter?
Sierra Leone has made some strides on the governance front over the years. Sierra Leone has had successful elections and enacted laws for freedom of speech and association. However, the governance systems at both the national and local levels are weak and, often insufficiently accountable to citizens. Political participation by women and the non-elites is limited by the dominance of the two-political party system and the centralization of power in the executive branch. Women face numerous constraints as political actors, including time constraints associated with family and household responsibilities, lack of financial support, safety and transportation issues that constrain their attendance at political meetings and campaign events. The overarching challenge for Sierra Leone is better governance, i.e., decision-making around policies and resource allocation that leads to government responding to the rights of poor women and men. Ineffective management of public resources at all levels – local, executive and public institutions is caused in part by gaps in capability (including gaps in knowledge and skills) and accountability (including gaps in transparency, participation, and checks and balances). has occurred at varying paces across sectors and there is a need for improved coordination of decentralization within the central government and at the district level.