Displaying 11 - 20 of 52
Abstract
Although international attention has focused mostly on boys as child soldiers and youth affected by armed conflict, girls account for more than 40 % of this population globally. Primarily recruited and abducted into armed conflict to serve as “wives” and sexual slaves for commanders and other soldiers, girls experienced high rates of rape and sexual abuse. Using data from a longitudinal study conducted in collaboration with a major international Non-Government Organization (NGO) in Sierra Leone, this study examined the contributions of potentially stigmatizing war violence…
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…
This Strategic Plan for the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children Affairs (MSWGCA) covers a five-year period 2014 – 2018. Its preparation process was highly participatory, and aligned with the Government’s Agenda for Prosperity 2013 - 2018. A three-day strategic planning workshop was conducted facilitated by consultants. Through various exercises involving the ministry’s personnel and representatives from partners, outputs were produced and incorporated into the final strategic plan. Prior to the workshop, the consultants reviewed a number of background documents provided by…
Abstract
Background
Despite the building evidence on violence against children globally, almost nothing is known about the violence children with disabilities in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) experience. The prevalence of violence against children with disabilities can be expected to be higher in LMICs where there are greater stigmas associated with having a child with a disability, less resources for families who have children with disabilities, and wider acceptance of the use of corporal punishment to discipline children. This study explores violence experienced by children…
ABSTRACT
Using inter-agency action research in Sierra Leone, this chapter provides a case study on how a highly collaborative approach can enable child protection research to achieve a significant national impact. The chapter describes how the inter-agency research facilitated a communitydriven approach to addressing teenage pregnancy. The promising results obtained before the Ebola crisis helped shape a new Child and Family Welfare Policy that featured the role of families and communities rather than formal structures. Then it examines how the social process of the research enabled it to…
The Child Rights Act of 2007 provides for the promotion of the rights of the child compatible with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 20th November, 1989, and its Optional Protocol of 8th September, 2000, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and for other related matters. The Act includes a section on the right of children to grow up with parents, among others.
This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Comittee's recommendations on the issues relevant to children's care are highlighted, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.
In Sierra Leone, as in conflict and postconflict settings around the world, youth are coping with their exposure to violence during conflict as well as the poverty and displacement that follow war and the stigma that can persist long after involvement with armed groups has ended. Both contextual and individual factors influence whether youth overcome these barriers successfully and resume positive life trajectories, or struggle to reintegrate into their families and communities. This study reviews findings from the 14-year Longitudinal Study of War-Affected Youth in Sierra Leone and a recent…
This brief is part of a series of country briefs which aim to provide an analysis of children’s living and care arrangements according to the latest available data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) or Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys (MICS) at the time of publication.
This country brief provides an overview of data on children’s living arrangements in Sierra Leone, extracted from the 2013 DHS survey. The brief presents data on who…
This study by UNICEF sought to identify key determinants of vulnerability among children –including those affected by HIV and AIDS – that can contribute to developing an improved global measure of vulnerable children in the context of HIV and AIDS. Data from the most recent available household surveys at the time of analysis was used from 11 countries – Cambodia, Central African Republic, Haiti, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe – were pooled.
Based on the results of the pooled analysis, the key indicators of vulnerability for…