Sierra Leone was one of the first areas in West Africa to have contact with Europeans and it quickly became a hub for the slave trade. Slaves were taken mainly to plantations in South Carolina and Georgia in the US, where they were sought after for their knowledge of rice farming.

In 1787, the British helped freed slaves from Nova Scotia, Canada and Britain return to Sierra Leone, then called Province of Freedom. Despite threats from disease and local tribes, by 1792 more returnees had arrived and the city of Freetown was established as the first British colony in West Africa. It became a base for fighting the slave trade and the British patrolled the coastal shores of Freetown for illegal slave ships.

The British expanded their territory, despite heavy resistance by indigenous tribes, and by 1896 Britain declared a protectorate over the country.
Sierra Leone gained independence in 1961, opting for British parliamentary-style rule with a prime minister as head of state. The first elections were held the following year and Sir Milton Margai won but died mid-term and was replaced by his half-brother.

The elections of 1967 were marred by contested polls and violence, and after three successive coups Siaka Stevens became prime minister in 1968. He made the country a republic in 1971 and amended the constitution in 1978 to ban all parties except his own, the All Peoples Congress (APC).

In 1985 Stevens stepped down and chose his own successor, General Joseph Momoh, who ruled with an increasingly firm hand.

In 1991 the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) began attacking villages near the Liberian border in the south, taking over diamond mines in the Kono district and destabilising the country. The rebels sold diamonds illegally to buy weapons and became notorious for chopping off the limbs of their victims.

A military coup in 1992 sent Momoh into exile and brought Captain Valentine Strasser to power. He hired mercenaries to repel the RUF who had taken over much of the country.

A brief return to civilian rule in 1996 was quickly interrupted by another coup that was eventually repelled by the West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, led by troops from Nigeria. The RUF continued its brutal advance and fighting reached Freetown before a peace agreement was signed in 1999, incorporating RUF leaders into the government.

That year, the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) arrived but the RUF took members of the mission hostage and confiscated their arms and ammunition. The situation continued to deteriorate and violence resumed.

Fighting did not end until 2002 with the aid of international forces, including 200 British troops, who helped to disarm rebels.

An estimated 50,000 people died during the war. The country is now trying to rebuild itself. The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone and a Truth and Reconciliation Commission were set up in 2002 to consolidate peace.

The Special Court has indicted several of those allegedly involved in the civil war on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who is accused of backing rebel groups, and RUF leader Foday Sankoh, who died of a heart attack in custody.

Peace and security

In December 2005, peacekeepers withdrew from Sierra Leone and UNAMSIL was replaced by the UN Integrated Office for Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) ,whose mandate is to assist in peace-building.

More than 70,000 combatants have been disarmed and put through vocational or educational programmes, but widespread unemployment has made it difficult for many youths to reintegrate into society. Observers say they could contribute to continuing instability in the Mano River region, which includes Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released in 2005 found that several Sierra Leonean ex-combatants said they had been asked to join fighting 'missions' in Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire. The report concluded that there was an inextricable link between the level of economic deprivation and the continuing cycle of war crimes throughout the region.

The Vice-President of Sierra Leone, Solomon Berewa, reiterated this point in October 2006 while addressing the Peacebuilding Commission of the United Nations. He stressed that the problem of youth unemployment and marginalisation was the most immediate threat to the country's fragile stability.

In recent months, there have been student demonstrations over the deplorable conditions of schools. The protests have turned violent and destructive, and according to UNIOSIL, placed strains on an already limited police force.

Efforts to build a new police force are under way, and as of December 2006, about 9,500 police had been trained, constituting a full force. The army, however, has been downsized and is now made up of 10,300 military personnel.

A border dispute between Guinea and Sierra Leone has been ongoing since the late 1990s when Guinean troops took over the Yenga region, thought to be rich in diamonds. In 2004, Guinea agreed to hand back the territory but as recently as April 2006 there were reports in the Sierra Leonean press that locals were kidnapped by Guinean troops.

Sierra Leone's security agencies, the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and Liberian security agencies continue to conduct patrols in the areas along the border between Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The successful conduct of the 2007 elections and the wide acceptance of the outcome will be important indicators of the sustainability of peace and stability in the country.

Refugees

The many years of conflict at one stage created more than 450,000 refugees and 670,000 internally displaced people. Most fled to Guinea, but some also went to the United States, the Gambia, Britain and the Netherlands.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 270,000 refugees have returned to Sierra Leone since 2001. Efforts have been concentrated on rebuilding communities to which refugees have been returning, but the UNHCR is slowly disengaging from reintegration efforts and has shifted its focus to the repatriation of the remaining Liberian refugees in Sierra Leone and integrating those who have chosen to stay.
About 20,000 Liberians were repatriated in 2005, but another 30,000 urban and camp-based refugees remain and require assistance.

The UNHCR also planned to consolidate its eight refugee camps into four, which requires the transfer of 12,000 refugees.

The government of Sierra Leone will assume greater responsibility for asylum applications and handling of refugee matters once the Refugee Protection Act is passed.

Democracy and governance

President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah came to power in 1996 when Sierra Leone held multi-party elections after four years of military rule. Within a year, however, Kabbah was ousted by a coalition of army officers led by General Johnny Paul Koroma in support of RUF rebels.

ECOMOG forces from Nigeria helped Kabbah regain the presidency, but fighting persisted, including in the capital, Freetown, which left 5,000 dead.

In 1999, a peace agreement was signed in Lomé, Togo, incorporating RUF rebels into government posts. Soon after, RUF members began to violate the agreement and fighting resumed. UN and British troops intervened and began to disarm rebels. The 11-year civil war was declared over in January 2002.

Elections were held in May 2002, and Kabbah won by a landslide. The elections were considered fair but there were some irregularities. By law, this was Kabbah's final mandate.
The next elections held in July 2007 was won by Ernest Bai Koroma.

Media

The media in Sierra Leone is under pressure from many sides. Journalists can be arrested and jailed for libelling public officials and there have been cases of journalists being arrested  and maltreated for criticizing the government in their writings.

According to Reporters Without Borders, President Kabbah said in October 2005 that he was ready to reform the press law, which would improve press freedom in the country.

Despite this restrictive atmosphere, dozens of independent newspapers are published in Freetown. They face other challenges, however, including an unreliable power supply and lack of advertising.

UNIOSIL also runs a radio station. It broadcasts 60 hours of programming per week, ranging from news bulletins to interactive panel discussions on many critical issues, such as sexual exploitation and abuse, women in politics, national security and accountability of the government.

Economy

The civil war has left the country among the poorest in the world with a large population of unemployed and demobilised soldiers. Economic recovery is slowly under way thanks mainly to outside assistance.

The country is rich in minerals and has agricultural and fishing resources. Sierra Leone has one of the world's largest deposits of rutile, a titanium ore used for paint pigment and welding rod coatings, and it has substantial bauxite deposits. Commercial extraction of both minerals was restored in 2006.

Sierra Leone is also a major producer of gem-quality diamonds, although the country has had difficulty regulating the sector and the illegal diamond trade is thought to have fuelled the civil war. A UN-approved diamond export certification system was implemented in 2000 and has helped to manage exports. Legal exports went from US$1.2 million in 1999 during the civil war to $142 million in 2005.

According to the US State Department, full economic recovery will require hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding. In addition, the government will have to successfully fight corruption, which many feel was a primary cause for the civil war. A key indicator will be the management of the diamond sector.

At the end of 2005, the external debt of Sierra Leone, including arrears, was $1.69 billion. Interim external debt relief from March 2002 to October 2005 amounted to $131.3 million, including unconditional delivery of debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.

Population

The population of Sierra Leone is 5.3 million and the growth rate is 2.3 percent. On average, women give birth to 6.5 children.

The country has about 20 ethnic groups, which make up 90 percent of the population. The main ethnic groups are the Temne and the Mende.

The Creoles, descendants of freed slaves, make up 10 percent of the population. The thousands of slaves who were returned to or liberated in Freetown came from all parts of Africa. Disconnected from their culture and traditions by being sent abroad to work on plantations, they assimilated some aspects of British culture upon their return. They also speak their own language, called Krio, an English-based Creole that is understood by 95 percent of the population.

Islam is practised by 45 percent of the population, 40 percent hold indigenous beliefs and the balance are Christian.

Development indicators

Sierra Leone is still recovering from the 11-year civil war. The disarmament of more than 70,000 soldiers created a huge number of unemployed youths and much of the country's infrastructure was destroyed.
Despite rich mineral resources, including diamonds, Sierra Leone is ranked 176 out of 177 countries on the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Index.

According to UNDP, life expectancy at birth is 41 years.

The percentage of children under-five who are underweight is 27 percent and 43 percent of the population is without access to an improved water source.

The combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio is 74 percent and 65 percent of the population is illiterate.

Education

During the civil war, many schools were looted and destroyed. According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), about 50 percent of primary schools are now functioning but in very poor condition.

Although primary school attendance is compulsory, enrolment levels remain low at 41 percent. Informal and formal school fees have kept education out of reach for many children.

UNICEF reported that enrolment is increasing by the year, but the gender gap is widening. As of 2005, the net primary school attendance ratio was 43 percent for boys and 39 percent for girls. At the secondary level, it was 14 percent for both boys and girls.

UNHCR reported that 8,300 children at refugee camps were registered at the primary level, but only 58 percent successfully completed the academic year.

The adult literacy rate is 46.9 percent for men and 24.4 percent for women.

Children

The war worsened the plight of children in the country. In 2003, the UN Special Representative to the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara A Otunnu, remarked on the growing numbers of street children and an increase in child prostitution, both aggravated by the war and pervasive poverty. Child soldiers, including girls, were widely used during the war.

UNIOSIL reported that since the disarmament, demobilisation and reunification programme (DDR) had been completed, there had not been any child abductions by armed forces and that many children registered as 'separated' had been reunited with their families.

Girls who were not demobilised remain highly vulnerable since they have not been able to access services and have been ostracised by their families and communities.

Sexual violence, particularly against girls, has been widespread. Human rights groups say the judicial response to sexual violence is usually inadequate.

A study by the International Confederation of Trade Unions on core labour standards in Sierra Leone found that 71.6 percent of children between five and 14 were involved in paid or unpaid labour. It noted that many former child soldiers had been forced into mining activities, including several thousand children working in diamond mines. They are mainly boys and work in an environment akin to slave labour.

The study also found that many girls are kept in slavery for sexual exploitation. Furthermore, conflicts in neighbouring countries had led to the re-recruitment of former child soldiers.

There are 340,000 orphans in the country, creating another highly vulnerable group.

Sierra Leone also has the second highest under-five mortality rate in the world. According to UNICEF, one in four children will die before the age of five. Malaria, acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea and malnutrition account for most deaths.

Work is under way on preparing a child rights bill. It has been approved by Cabinet and is expected to be passed by Parliament by the end of the year. It will be a landmark document, representing the country's compliance with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified in 1990.

Health

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) , health services have improved their capacity to provide care from an estimated 5 to 10 percent during the conflict to 40 to 50 percent at present. But these improvements have yet to make a significant impact on morbidity and mortality.

Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world with 1,800 women out of 100,000 dying during childbirth. According to UNICEF, this number shows no sign of diminishing; furthermore, 86 percent of pregnant women suffered from anaemia.

There are only three doctors for every 100,000 people and only 41.7 percent of live births are assisted by a skilled attendant.

Malaria, acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea and malnutrition accounted for the majority of consultations at peripheral health units, and a study by the Ministry of Health found that 42 percent of child deaths in hospitals were attributed to malaria. The same study showed that 11 percent of nursing mothers who died in hospital also succumbed to the disease.

UNICEF reports that 27 percent of children are underweight and 34 percent are stunted.

The full immunisation coverage for children younger than one year has increased, showing a positive trend countrywide, but it is still very low in certain regions. There is a similar pattern for tetanus coverage, which is 47 percent nationwide but only 35 percent in the north and east.

According to UNICEF, 57 percent of the population used improved drinking water sources, and 39 percent of the population used adequate sanitation facilities.

HIV/AIDS

According to the UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS in Sierra Leone is 1.6 percent among adults aged 15 to 49. It is higher in Freetown, at 2.3 percent.

Data on HIV/AIDS in Sierra Leone is limited and slightly out-of-date. Surveillance data from antenatal clinics indicated that the HIV epidemic is worsening. In 1989, fewer than 1 percent of pregnant women tested positive for the virus and by 1996, 7 percent were infected.

A 1995 survey of sex workers in 1995 found that 27 percent tested positive for HIV. A 1997 survey revealed that in some unspecified locales outside major urban areas, 70 percent of sex workers tested positive, 12 percent of security forces and 9 percent of police officers.

Sierra Leone has announced plans to launch a nationwide HIV/AIDS survey following widespread indications that the real rate of HIV prevalence is four to five times greater than the official estimates.

Food security

Sierra Leone has substantial agricultural potential but it is still recovering from the war. The return of displaced farmers to their land has helped agriculture to recover.

The government reported that in 2005 the country was only 69 percent self-sufficient in rice but over-sufficient in cassava and sweet potato production.

Despite these resources, malnutrition remains high due to endemic poverty. One-quarter of infants are born with a low birth weight, and 34 percent of children under five suffer from severe to moderate stunting.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said potential threats to food security in Sierra Leone include high unemployment, limited income, low productivity, lack of irrigation structures, deforestation and soil exhaustion, lack of substantial foreign aid for agriculture, lack of farming resources, and inadequate access to food markets because of poor infrastructure.

Schoolchildren are served one hot meal daily in school under WFP's school feeding programme.

Gender issues

Sexual violence was used as a weapon of war during the 11-year conflict. As a consequence, a culture of impunity related to rape and other forms of sexual abuse persists.

According to a 2003 HRW report, as many as 257,000 Sierra Leonean women and girls may have been raped during the civil war. Another report released by Physicians for Human Rights found that half of those who came into contact with RUF forces experienced sexual violence.

In 2000, the government established the Family Support Unit to help deal with gender-based violence and since then the number of cases reported, particularly those involving children, has increased. The International Rescue Committee, which runs counselling and treatment centres for rape victims, found that although 90 percent of women chose to go to court, their cases rarely went to trial due to judicial inefficiencies. Another obstacle is that victims require a medical report to file charges, but the cost of the exam is prohibitive for most.

The US State Department also reported that some women and girls who were abducted during the war still remain with their captors due to intimidation and lack of economic options.

In an advance towards accountability for atrocities and recognising women's rights, the Special Court for Sierra Leone considered rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, and forced pregnancy to be crimes against humanity. A three-day hearing of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was devoted to the effects of the war on women and girls.

However, women's rights are limited by customary law, which takes precedence in rural areas. HRW found that war widows, as female household heads, were stigmatised and denied property rights under tribal law except through their sons.
Customary law also allows men to chastise their wives under certain circumstances making domestic violence widely tolerated and underreported. The US State Department reported that women suspected of marital infidelity were often subjected to beatings by their husbands because the husband could receive a monetary payment from the alleged partners of the wife.

Physicians for Human Rights found that although 80 percent of women surveyed expressed support for legal protection of women's rights, more than half the women said their husbands had the right to beat them and that it was the wife's duty to have sex with her husband even if she did not want to.

Excision is practised by all ethnic groups in the interior and there is no law against it. Sierra Leone's information minister in 2006 denounced a ruling by the British House of Lords that granted a teenager asylum because she feared being subjected to female genital mutilation. UNICEF estimates that 90 percent of all women in Sierra Leone have undergone excision.

According to UNIOSIL, three new bills have been prepared to address practices affecting women's rights, including the Devolution of Estates Act 2006, the Registration of Customary Marriage and Divorce Act 2006 and the Domestic Violence Act 2006. The enactment of these bills will require concerted advocacy, as they seek to legislate issues that touch on a number of deeply entrenched traditional and cultural practices.

There are concerted efforts to involve women in the political process. UNIOSIL is developing a strategy to increase women's representation and participation in the upcoming election.

In 2005, there were 16 women in parliament, three women in cabinet, and the first female commissioner was elected in Freetown. There were also four female judges out of a total of seven on the high court, and three female judges out of six on the court of appeals.

Human rights

Widespread human rights abuses were committed during the civil war. To deal with these abuses and promote reconciliation, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission were established.

The Commission released its final report in 2004, raising awareness about human rights and making key recommendations that included the abolition of the death penalty, a moratorium on executions pending abolition, and commuting of death sentences.

The Special Court was created through an agreement between the UN and the government, and represented a new model for international justice. Its mandate is to bring to justice those who bear the greatest responsibility for grave crimes committed from November 1996 onwards including war crimes, crimes against humanity, other serious violations of international humanitarian law and certain violations of Sierra Leonean law.

The Court has indicted 13 people from all sides in the civil war. Former Liberian leader Charles Taylor was charged on 16 March 2006 with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He is accused of supporting rebel forces, who carried out killings, mutilations and sexual violence, and the recruitment of child soldiers during the civil war.

Although human rights abuses have decreased substantially since the end of the war, there has been little progress in addressing other factors contributing to human rights violations.
Poverty is still widespread, there is severe youth unemployment and a lack of basic services.
The judiciary also continues to suffer from capacity constraints. Prolonged pre-trial detentions, large case backlogs and excessive remand of cases continue in courts around the country, and the corrections system still suffers from poor conditions.

A National Human Rights Commission was established in October 2006.

Humanitarian needs

Sierra Leone's humanitarian needs are centred on post-war rehabilitation. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), priority needs include the delivery of relief assistance to Liberian refugees and repatriated Sierra Leonean refugees.

Initiatives should be launched to rebuild communities, to restore and strengthen community health services, to increase access to safe water and sanitation, to expand educational access in vulnerable communities and to restore civil administration and protection of basic rights at the community level.

Addressing the needs of vulnerable groups in the years ahead is a challenge for the government and international community if Sierra Leone is to continue towards stability and recovery, according to OCHA.

Doctors Without Borders has identified three ways to improve the health situation in the country. It recommends the use of Artemesin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) to treat malaria and fight resistance to anti-malarial medications. It also suggests creating waiting houses attached to district hospitals where expecting women can pass their last few weeks of pregnancy and be near a hospital in case of emergency. Lastly, it noted that charging medical fees discouraged patients from going to local health centres. It found that only one out of three households used the nearest healthcentre when ill.

HRW noted that the upcoming trial of Charles Taylor also pointed to the need for robust funding for the Special Court of Sierra Leone, which now depends on voluntary contributions from the international community. The court, which is expected to close in mid-2007, faces a funding crisis.

CREDIT : IRIN - United Nations Office – Humanitarian Country Profile