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sierra leone
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81 total results foundAuthor: United Nations Population Fund. Technical Support Division Title: Gender-based Violence in Sierra Leone: A Case Study Summary: This case study is part of a multi-country initiative to assess the progress made in field-based efforts to address gender-based violence since the adoption and implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325. The case study focuses on the prevalence of gender-based violence in Sierra Leone, on programming efforts and on gaps in programming. It concludes with recommendations for improving the nation's capacity to address gender-based violence. Details: New York: United Nations Population Fund Source: Internet Resource Year: 0 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Violence Against Women Shelf Number: 113794 |
Author: International Human Rights Clinic Title: Digging in the Dirt: Child Miners in Sierra Leone's Diamond Industry Summary: Based on the experiences of child miners interviewed in over two dozen artisanal diamond mining sites, this report describes how the rights of child laborers are grossly violated while working in these mines. Drawing from over 200 interviews with diamond diggers, mining actors, local chiefs, mine union representatives, community leaders and members of mining communities, the report seeks to deepen understandings of the practice of child mining and inform immediate responses that are necessary to eliminate this exploitative practice. Details: Cambridge, MA: International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School, 2009. 77p. Source: Year: 2009 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Child Labor (Sierra Leone) Shelf Number: 118337 |
Author: Chikwanha, Annie Barbara Title: A Survey of Crime Victims in Sierra Leone: May to June 2008 Summary: This survey presents information on the prevalence of crime in this post-conflict country, as well as an assessment of the criminal justice system in general. Details: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Institute for Security Studies, 2008. 16p. Source: Year: 2008 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Crime Statistics (Sierra Leone) Shelf Number: 115834 |
Author: Audet, Ashley Title: Beyond the Law: Assessing the Realities of Juvenile Justice in Sierra Leone Summary: As future leaders, children have a critical role to play in the successful and sustained development of post-conflict societies. As Sierra Leone rebuilds from a decade of civil war, children’s rights and juvenile justice have gained increasing attention. This enhanced focus on children is evidenced in recent legislation and policies such as the National Child Justice Strategy 2006 and the Child Rights Act 2007. Despite these initiatives, however, the number of children in conflict with the law continues to rise. As a result, DCI-SL identified a need for research addressing not only the gaps between international and domestic legal standards, but also exploring the realities of juvenile justice administration in practice. The purpose of the completed report is to encourage stakeholders to acknowledge systemic strengths and weaknesses in the hopes of promoting coordinated efforts for future progress. Details: Freetown, Sierra Leone: Defence for Children International - Sierra Leone, 2010. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 18, 2011 at: http://www.juvenilejusticepanel.org/resource/items/D/C/DCIJJAssessment%20SierraLeone10_EN.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Juvenile Justice Systems (Sierra Leone) Shelf Number: 120827 |
Author: Del Vecchio, Jennifer Title: Continuing Uncertainties: Forced Marriage as a Crime Against Humanity Summary: On 22 February 2008, the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) delivered its judgment in the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) case. This decision stands out as unique for setting significant precedent in the development of gender-based crimes in international criminal law by holding forced marriage to be a crime against humanity under the “other inhumane acts” category contained in Article 2(i) of the Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Although this recognition of forced marriage signifies the SCSL’s commitment to actively prosecute gender-based crimes, and may further set persuasive precedent for other international adjudicative bodies, there remain certain elements of this crime that, despite the Appeals Chamber’s decision, are unsettled and unclear. The purpose of this paper is to raise, explore, and assess these pressing questions. In the first part of the paper, the author raises three questions concerning the technical elements of the crime of forced marriage. Namely, the author asks: whether forced marriage violates the principle, nullem crimen sine lege; whether forced marriage is an adequately specific and distinct crime to be prosecuted separately from previously enumerated crimes; and finally, whether the definition of forced marriage requires a nexus to armed conflict. The second part of the paper raises questions relating to the implications of defining this crime using the label, marriage. Specifically, the author asks whether this label invokes existing connotations in relation to culture, gender, sexual orientation, and age, and whether these connotations may affect the application of this crime to new contexts. The author concludes that, without addressing these continuing uncertainties in the definition of forced marriage, the force of the precedent provided by the AFRC case is potentially insufficient to prosecute future instances of forced marriages in contexts outside of Sierra Leone, thereby failing to provide justice for all victims of forced marriage worldwide. Details: Austin, TX: Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice, University of Texas at Austin School of Law, 2011. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper Series, 3/2011: Accessed March 15, 2011 at: http://blogs.utexas.edu/rapoportcenterwps/files/2010/12/3-2011-Del-Vecchio-ContinuingUncertainties.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Forced Marriage (Sierra Leone) Shelf Number: 121013 |
Author: Moore, Marianne Title: Justice for Girls? Girls in Conflict with the Law and Sexual Exploitation in Sierra Leone Summary: This report gives a voice to girls in conflict with the law and those involved in sexual exploitation in Sierra Leone. The research was carried out by Justice Studio in collaboration with three NGOs: AdvocAid; the African Prisons Project (APP); and Defence for Children International Sierra Leone (DCI – SL) during November and December 2010. Interviews were carried out with 24 girls between the ages of 13 and 18 across Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children‟s Affairs (MSWGCA) and other key stakeholders and NGOs such as the Justice Sector Development Programme (JSDP). The majority of girls in conflict with the law and girls who are sexually exploited have experienced neglect, abuse and abandonment. The girls, and the organisations interviewed, highlight that it is almost impossible to distinguish a girl as in need of care and protection from one who is in conflict with the law. The majority were estranged from their families and living on the streets or had moved away from guardians or „aunties‟. One girl explained how she had become pregnant and so „my aunty drove me away. She said I have put myself in trouble and should go to the man.‟ Of the 24 interviewed: 12 were living on the streets or in street/slum accommodation; three were living with their guardian “aunty”; two were living with their boyfriends; and seven were orphans. Although these children fit the category of being „in need of care and protection‟ under the Sierra Leone Child Rights Act 2007, the main agency that deals with these children is the police, and their involvement often leads to criminalisation rather than protection. Details: London: Justice Studio, 2011. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 1, 2011 at: http://justicestudio.org/Justice_for_Girls_June_2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Child Sexual Exploitation (Sierra Leone) Shelf Number: 122239 |
Author: Charley, Joseph P. Chris Title: Becoming and Remaining a ‘Force for Good’: Reforming the Police in Post-conflict Sierra Leone Summary: The Sierra Leone Police Force has its origins in the British colonial administration of the country. After Independence and with the consolidation of one-party rule the force slid into disrepute. The outbreak of civil conflict in 1991 largely decimated the force but the gradual restoration of peace provided an opportunity for police reform. This research report covers the aspects of the political and institutional environment that helped engender change, as well as constraints faced by the reform agenda. It considers how the officers actually carried out the task at hand, and shares lessons as to what reform tactics worked and which were less successful. While several challenges remain, the reform programme, centred around local needs policing has been largely successful, hinging on – among other factors – the appointment of a British Inspector General of Police, perceived to be neutral and above political machinations, supported by a core of reformminded officers; long-term external technical and financial assistance; and a conducive political environment for change. Details: London: Institute of Development Studies, 2011. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report No. 70: Accessed October 18, 2011 at: http://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/rr70.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Police Administration Shelf Number: 123041 |
Author: Dana, Shahram Title: Blood Diamonds and Mass Atrocities: Cutting a New Paradigm from Coarse Jurisprudence Summary: 150,000 human beings dead; 200,000 women raped; thousands of limbs amputated; countless children forced to kill their own parents, forced into sexual slavery, and forced into the battlefields; and 2.6 million persons displaced. These are just some of the facts and figures of the 10 year war in Sierra Leone. There is another number of significance: Nine. That is the number of individuals held criminally responsible for these atrocities. After more than 10 years and 300 million dollars, the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) convicted and sentenced just nine men. With the work of the court near complete, we are afforded an opportunity to evaluate its work and legacy. While writers have reviewed the work of international tribunals from a variety of perspectives, an examination of their sentencing legacy has been largely ignored or discounted. This article fills that lacuna in scholarship by advancing an innovative sentencing framework for international trials and articulating a new theory on atrocity sentencing that is both explanatory and instructive. My theory and framework both have general applicability to all international criminal tribunals, including the International Criminal Court (ICC). The article also contributes to the development of international law and legal scholarship in other ways. It is the first law review article to provide a comprehensive critique of all sentencing judgments of the SCSL. In addition to filling that gap, this article goes further to systematize the sentencing jurisprudence, identify key contributions, provide a normative assessment, link sentencing narratives to broader ones about the Sierra Leone conflict and atrocities, and advance an original theory and legal framework that breaks new ground on international sentencing and punishment. Consequentially, the article has immediate legal significance because, inter alia, the theory advanced herein speaks to punishing and sentencing Heads of State, an issue currently on appeal. Beyond its immediate impact, the article makes an enduring contribution by, inter alia, its legal and normative analysis that orders and illuminates ICL and develops a sentencing framework of general applicability. Parts II and III provide, respectively, a background to the Sierra Leona decade long war and a legal analysis of the cases and sentencing jurisprudence. Part IV offers an assessment of the SCSL's sentencing legacy by identifying its key contributions to the ICL sentencing law and linking its sentencing discourse to narratives about the conflict, just war, legitimacy, justice, and Sierra Leonean society. Part V develops a normative assessment of the court's judgments and sentencing practice. I argue that the judges at the SCSL have adopted punitive model for international criminal justice and that this reorientation is a positive development. I also criticize the court's failure to develop a sentencing framework capable of implementing the punitive model. Part VI contributes an original theory and sentencing framework to international law and ICL scholarship. Here, I also re-conceptualize concepts at the heart of ICL and its sentencing practice, such as gravity, modes of liability, and the role of the accused. My theory pulls together these three major outcome determinative sentence variables to effectuate their harmonized consideration for the purpose of sentence allocations and just distribution of punishment among actors responsible for atrocity crimes. l call this theory "enabler responsibility" or "enabling atrocity." I argue that enabler responsibility influences the sentence, especially of atrocity perpetrators at the very top of the hierarchy, even if unarticulated as a factor. The "enabler responsibility" theory closes the explanatory gap in sentencing judgments, including Charles Taylor's punishment. Details: Unpublished paper, 2014. 78p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2014 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2244391 Year: 2014 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Blood Diamonds Shelf Number: 132198 |
Author: Albrecht, Peter Title: Community Policing in Sierra Leone - Local Policing Partnership Boards Summary: This report was produced in 2012-2013 in support of the Access to Security and Justice Programme (ASJP) in Sierra Leone, funded by the United Kingdom (UK) Department for International Development (DFID) and implemented by Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI). Its findings have been used to inform the program's activities as they relate to the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) community policing model, which is built up around the Local Policing Partnership Boards (LPPBs). From this point of departure, the report serves two purposes. First, it is a source of how the SLP has applied its community policing in Sierra Leone, and specifically how LPPBs operate across the country. Second, the report provides insight into the approach taken by the ASJP in support of the SLP community policing model. (For this reason, recommendations as they were formulated in 2013 have not been deleted from the report). As soon as the war in Sierra Leone officially came to an end (2002), the process of establishing LPPBs in Local Command Units (LCU) (police divisions) across Sierra Leone began. They were instituted to ensure stakeholder participation in the process of policing, signifying a perceived need within the police and among international partners to rebuild relations with local communities. They are expected to investigate and resolve conflict between members of the community, and increase the level of interaction between the police and the local communities. What this has meant in practice is under scrutiny in this report. The report analyses how community policing is organized in 17 of Sierra Leone's 33 LCUs by looking at the role and responsibilities of LPPBs in: a. Establishing linkages between local communities and the SLP; b. Enforcing local security; and c. Setting priorities of the SLP. Conclusions are based upon on-site observations and comprehensive interviews of police officers and LPPB members. The report reveals a number of reasons why the LPPBs are an important element of the SLP's policing model, but also where there is room for improvement. Details: Copenhagen: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), 2014. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: DIIS Report 2014:16: Accessed August 13, 2014 at: http://en.diis.dk/files/publications/Reports2014/diisreport2014-16_forweb.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Community Policing (Sierra Leone) Shelf Number: 133026 |
Author: Denney, Lisa Title: Violence against women in Sierra Leone: How women seek redress Summary: This paper presents the findings of a short case study in Sierra Leone considering violence against women. An objective of the study is to contribute to an emerging body of research on the merits of using political economy analysis to reflect on the kinds of factors policymakers and practitioners should consider in developing interventions to address particular policy problems. Against this background, this study focuses principally on understanding the nature of the problem of VAW, and then works up through the different options women may (or may not) have for seeking redress along the justice chains in Sierra Leone. Details: London: Overseas Development Institute, 2012. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 25, 2014 at: http://www.odi.org/publications/7184-violence-against-women-sierra-leone-women-seek-redress Year: 2012 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Domestic Violence Shelf Number: 133144 |
Author: Dari, Elisa Title: Embedded Violence and Youth: The Transmission and Perpetuation of Violence in Post-War Sierra Leone Summary: War exerts an undeniably significant influence on the values, norms, behaviour and attitudes which constitute the shared culture of the society. During prolonged armed conflicts, the exposure to extreme violence creates a 'culture of violence' in which violence becomes embedded in the values system of the society and is therefore permitted and condoned, making violence resilient to peace-building efforts and therefore likely to recur. In order to understand how a 'culture of violence' persists long after the official end of war, it is necessary to understand how it is transmitted to younger generations and through them is carried over into peace time. This thesis aims to explore and understand the phenomenon of transmission of a 'culture of violence' focusing on youths as carriers of such transmission. To analyse the phenomenon, an integrative and comprehensive analytical framework was developed and a case study was chosen to which to apply the framework. The case study is Sierra Leone. The analytical framework is constituted by four 'spaces' of transmission which have emerged from the preliminary research. The four 'spaces' are: poverty, family, peers and social groups. The analytical framework was then utilised during the fieldwork stage of the project in order to identify the relevance of each 'space' as well as the interactions at work among the various 'spaces'. From the material collected during fieldwork, poverty and family emerged as structural factors of the process of transmission while peers and social groups emerged as immediate factors. As a result of the fieldwork political factionalism was added to the analytical framework as a fifth 'space'. The analysis of the fieldwork material revealed how the different 'spaces are inextricably connected with one another and how they support each other while creating a network of forces that supports and perpetuates the transmission of a 'culture of violence'. Details: St. Andrews, Scotland: St. Andrews University, 2011. 172p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed July 23, 2016 at: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/1891 Year: 2011 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: At-risk Youth Shelf Number: 139813 |
Author: Prison Watch Sierra Leone Title: Children and Juveniles in Detention: Study on compliance with international standards in Sierra Leone Summary: Protection and promotion of the rights of the child, as all other human rights, is the primary responsibility of the State. States are generally obligated to ensure the progress of juveniles, including the fostering and ensuring of personal development and education as free from crime and delinquency as possible. The UNCRC and other international standards relating to juveniles in detention are clear on that children should only be detained as a means of last resort. Protecting the best interests of the child entails that the traditional objectives of the criminal justice system, such as repression and retribution must give way to rehabilitation and restorative justice when dealing with juvenile offenders. This means that receiving a sentence as a juvenile offender should not be a punishment; instead the deprivation of liberty should foster an environment that can support the child in reforming themselves, including enabling them to resume education or finding an apprenticeship or work. The substance of what constitutes rehabilitation and restoration will be further explained in the study. Sierra Leone has ratified the UNCRC on 18 June 1990 and has partially incorporated the UNCRC into domestic law through the adoption of the Child Rights Act (2007) (CRA). However adoption of legislation does not necessarily ensure implementation in practice. For example, the Sierra Leonean juvenile justice system is currently far from rehabilitative and restorative despite legislative efforts on alternative approaches included in the CRA. Further, in the concluding observations of the CRC on Sierra Leone in 2008 the Committee among other things emphasised its concerns regarding the fact that juvenile detention facilities were understaffed, ill‐equipped, with little or no security, poor learning facilities, little recreation and limited food supplies. This study builds on the knowledge and experience of Prison Watch Sierra Leone (PWSL) which has been obtained during its monitoring of and regular presence in juvenile detention facilities since 1996, through encounters with suspected child offenders in police detentions as well as through its linking and tracing interventions connecting parents and relatives with children in detention. Through these activities PWSL has gained a unique insight into the dire situation of juveniles in detention in Sierra Leone. Details: Copenhagen, DK: DIGNITY - Danish Institute Against Torture, 2013. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 7, 2016 at: https://dignityinstitute.org/media/2065757/pubseries_no4_children-and-juveniles-in-detention.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Juvenile Detention Shelf Number: 147901 |
Author: Timap for Justice Title: The Socioeconomic Impact of Pretrial Detention in Sierra Leone Summary: In 2011, two Sierra Leonean nongovernmental organizations - Prison Watch Sierra Leone and Timap for Justice, in collaboration with the Global Campaign for Pretrial Justice and UNDP - measured the socioeconomic costs of excessive pretrial detention in Sierra Leone. They randomly surveyed 128 adult pretrial detainees, in three prisons, one in the capital Freetown, and two in the provinces, seeking information on how their detention affected their socioeconomic position. The results, contained in this report, quantify the pernicious and wide-ranging effects of excessive pretrial detention and show how severely pretrial detention damages the socioeconomic development of detainees, their families, and communities Details: New York: Open Society Foundations, 2013. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 17, 2016 at: https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/ptd-snapshot-sierra-leone-05232013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Pretrial Detention Shelf Number: 147289 |
Author: Hunter, Marcena Title: Follow the Money: Financial Flows Linked to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Sierra Leone: A Case Study Summary: Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has largely been dismissed as an economically insignificant, subsistence based activity in Sierra Leone. This is in sharp contrast to the artisanal diamond sector, which has historically been seen as a much more significant livelihood option. As one Mining Ministry agent stated: it's different with diamonds, you understand. If you are in diamonds, you want the license, because it's worth so much. But with gold, not so much: it's small and quick and just for survival. However, an investigation into the sector reveals that Sierra Leone's ASGM sector is not only active and vibrant, but also generating significant economic value. Despite government and civil society efforts at formalisation, Sierra Leone's ASGM remains largely in the informal sector. Investigations reveal most of Sierra Leone's gold never enters the formal supply chains within its borders. Rather, gold is mined, bought, sold and exported through informal networks that only occasionally and selectively intersect with formal supply and value chains prior to crossing the border. Consequently, the country records minimal gold exports and the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) reaps little benefit from the gold sector through formal channels of taxation. This is not to say the sector is not benefitting the people of Sierra Leone. ASGM is providing rural communities a critical livelihood option across Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone registers some of the most challenging development and poverty statistics in the entire world, ranking 181 out of 188 countries on the Human Development Index. The Ebola crisis (2014 - 2016) seriously exacerbated these challenges, extracting a massive socio-economic toll on the country. ASGM has evolved in this context as a strong economic magnet, drawing in old stakeholders and new entrants alike. In addition, ASGM plays a vital economic function in many communities, providing investment opportunities, an economic social safety net, an avenue to social mobility, and contributing to local economic growth. While a number of positive attributes can be linked to ASGM in Sierra Leone, the informality of the sector also results in undesirable outputs and impacts including: value from the ASGM sector is not equitably distributed; evidence of bribery and corruption of traditional and government officials; negligible protections against environmental degradation; and opportunity for money laundering and criminal exploitation. In turn, while there are a number of short-term benefits to informality, persistent informality has the potential to undermine long-term development and governance aims. The informality of Sierra Leone's gold sector is perpetuated and exacerbated by downstream illicit financial flows (IFFs). Defined as 'money illegally earned, transferred or used', IFFs are paradoxically dualistic. On the one hand, IFFs linked to ASGM serve a critical economic function, fuelling an informal sector which plays an important role in poverty alleviation and economic development in Sierra Leone. On the other hand, IFFs are facilitating complicated layers of exploitation and victimisation by opportunistic actors along the value chain. In the Sierra Leonean context, many upstream financial transactions (i.e. those which take place at the mine site) are better characterised as informal transactions, while those that take place further downstream (i.e. the buying and selling of smuggled gold) are IFFs. Upstream actors who engage in IFFs tend to reinvest profits back into the ASGM sector, thus perpetuating supply chains and financial relationships reliant on informal and illicit activity at all levels. In turn, IFFs are a bulwark against ASGM sector formalisation efforts in Sierra Leone. Any attempt must acknowledge the complex nature and impacts of IFFs if they are to hope to be successful without further marginalizing vulnerable populations. Without appreciating the extent and efficiency of ASGM and related IFFs to meet local economic needs, formalisation efforts will fail to replace them, and at worst could have devastating consequences. As a government agent stated, gold mining is a livelihood activity, so it is difficult to strongly enforce laws that are perceived to be harmful to local people (GOV080716c). Details: Geneva: Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, 2017. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 8, 2017 at: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/sierra-leone_06.03.17.compressed.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Financial Crimes Shelf Number: 146411 |
Author: Allouche, Jeremy Title: Undercurrents of Violence Why Sierra Leone's Political Settlement is not Working Summary: Debates over violence, security, humanitarian and development imperatives have long been polarised. However, as seen in Syria and Mali, the question is not simply whether one should intervene but rather how and for whose benefit. In this context, a closer look at the case of Sierra Leone - touted in many circles as a success story - yields interesting insights into the limits of its political settlement. Pro-poor development outcomes need to be at the heart of any negotiated political settlement. Failure to address fundamental issues around access to power, accountability regarding control of natural resources, and extreme poverty itself has resulted in marginalisation and disenfranchisement, and new forms of violence. The way in which elite-coalition political settlements are shaping patterns and processes of economic development is central to developing an understanding about building peaceful states and societies. This is not a question of trade-off between peaceful states (traditional security concerns) and peaceful societies (human security concerns) but rather of the extent to which negotiated political settlement will enable state-society relations to evolve into an acceptable and sustainable solution both for the elites and for society. Considering that there is always a real possibility of relapse into, or the continuation of, violence in other forms after the end of an internal armed conflict, violence-mitigation efforts should focus on adopting a longer-term approach to transforming the political settlement into pro-development state-society relations, geared towards implementing far-reaching governance and other political and socioeconomic reforms. This will necessarily be a gradual, difficult and open-ended process, which is contingent on the capacity and willingness of dominant domestic elites and their international partners to advance it. However, the case of Sierra Leone highlights the fact that the international community has no clear pathways for transforming a political settlement that is geared towards stability and control towards more inclusive state-society relations based on liberal governance and inclusive participation. More often than not, the activities of international peacebuilders around political settlement have contributed to an order where coercion, inequality and violence remain central. To mitigate the growing intensity and frequency of violence in Sierra Leone, international donors and the Government of Sierra Leone should: 1. focus on the proliferation of small arms by: investing in programmes to develop the capacity to control and limit the possession, trading and use of small arms; and developing alternative livelihood initiatives as incentives for artisan blacksmiths to stop producing small arms; 2. enforce codes of practice for resource extraction (such as the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative), make multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in Sierra Leone accountable for their business ethics and support the creation of domestic natural resource-governance initiatives with a view to promoting transparency, accountability and fair use and allocation of proceeds from natural resources; 3. emphasise, as a key priority for their poverty-reduction strategies, the reintegration into economic and social life of demobilised militants in peri-urban and rural areas, with a particular focus on job creation and vocational training for youth. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2014. 4p. Source: Internet Resource: IDS Policy Briefing 48: Accessed June 13, 2017 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/3322/PB48.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2014 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Economic Development and Violence Shelf Number: 146076 |
Author: Mills, Elizabeth Title: 'They Call Me Warrior': The Legacy of Conflict and the Struggle to End Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Sierra Leone Summary: A relatively small country with just over 6 million people, Sierra Leone has been the focus of considerable public and policy attention because of the recent Ebola epidemic and, before that, the decade-long civil war. Given the concern with finding ways to 'build Sierra Leone differently' in the post-Ebola context, this paper considers some of the legacies of the country's history. It focuses on gender and the emergence of a dynamic network of actors that reveal not only the country's history of violence but also its capacity for 'rebuilding differently' to foster resilience and create long-term social transformation. During the war, from 1991 to 2002, an estimated 50,000 people were killed and more than 500,000 were forced to flee their homes to escape violence. Statistics can never sufficiently capture the horror of the war, but they can indicate the extent to which multiple forms of violence permeated people's lives. The legacy of violence is equally difficult to quantify but, as we found in our fieldwork in Sierra Leone from 2014 to 2015, it is woven into people's everyday lives, and particularly in their sense of trust in each other and in formal and informal institutions. This report focuses on one particularly pernicious form of violence - sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) - as it is, and was, experienced by men and women. The impact of the war and the country's transition to democracy surfaces in lesser known ways too; in this paper we describe how networks of actors emerged in refugee camps and coalesced around a shared struggle to transform harmful gender relations and end violence. Based on fieldwork with these actors, we outline some of the social, economic and infrastructural challenges they face in their work to collectively foster gender equality and end SGBV. According to the activists we engaged with in Sierra Leone, the challenge of addressing SGBV has sometimes been exacerbated by a limited conception of development, which too often assumes that models for social and economic 'progress' can be imported and implanted into highly complex contexts. Far greater attention therefore needs to be paid to local specificity, to the effects of sexual and gender violence on all genders, and to the recommendations made by those people and organisations working to create sustained and positive change in these complex contexts. The findings of this study speak to this complexity and are organised, first, around the factors that underpin SGBV and, second, around the key actors working to transform harmful gender dynamics through collective action. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies (IDS), 2015. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Evidence Report no. 155: Accessed August 26, 2017 at: https://www.ids.ac.uk/publication/they-call-me-warrior-the-legacy-of-conflict-and-the-struggle-to-end-sexual-and-gender-based-violence-in-sierra-leone Year: 2015 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Gender-Based Violence Shelf Number: 137053 |
Author: Nesbitt-Ahmed, Zahrah Title: Engaging Men and Boys to End Sexual to End Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Sierra Leone: A Stakeholder Mapping Report, June 2014 Summary: Increasingly, engaging with men and boys has emerged as a vital strategy adopted by non-governmental organisations, national governments, women's organisations, and international agencies for ending sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and achieving gender equality, including in refugee and post-conflict settings (Barker and Ricardo 2005; Dworkin, Colvin, Hatcher and Peacock 2012). While SGBV is a global problem, recent research in West Africa suggests that this problem becomes particularly acute in post-conflict countries. In Sierra Leone, the focus of this report, it is widely estimated that during its civil war from 1991-2002, up to 250,000 women and girls were subjected to some form of SGBV (Amnesty International 2007: 4). Rape, largely but not solely by men against women, was used systematically by all factions and, although peace was declared in 2002, the trauma of war and its violent tactics has left scars that run through the fabric of households, families and communities. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the role of men and boys in addressing SGBV, in June 2014 IDS and MAGE-SL held two stakeholder workshops and a series of interviews in Sierra Leone. This report begins with a brief overview of the workshops, which form part of a larger research study on collective action and the role of men and boys in addressing SGBV in Sierra Leone. Section 4 details five of the key themes drawn from the workshops. These are: (1) the civil war as catalyst for critical awareness; (2) the economic basis of inequality in households; (3) law and policy reform; (4) inadequate support for those engaged in work to address SGBV; and (5) knowledge sharing. Section 5 maps the various stakeholders in Sierra Leone whose interests either overlap with, intersect with, or impede the work of those engaging with men and boys against SGBV; it also highlights the opportunities and challenges. Drawing from the workshop findings, Section 6 suggests why it is important to engage with men and boys to address SGBV, and Section 7 provides a concluding summary. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2015. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: IDS Evidence Report No. 110: Accessed September 9, 2017 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/5780/ER110_EngagingMenandBoystoEndSexualandGenderBasedViolenceinSierraLeoneAStakeholderMappingReportJune2014.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2015 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Abusive Men Shelf Number: 147200 |
Author: Manning, Ryann Elizabeth Title: Exploitation of Poor Communities in Sierra Leone: False Promises in Reconstruction and Development Summary: ABSTRACT Exploitation of poor villagers by fraudulent development practitioners is a startlingly common occurrence in postwar Sierra Leone. Research conducted by the World Bank's justice for the poor and understanding processes of change in local governance project found that virtually every rural community visited by the research team could recount an experience (and often several) in which individuals or organizations promised to deliver development projects and other benefits, collected money from community members under the guise of registration fees or beneficiary contributions, and then disappeared. Some cases may have been legitimate projects that were never realized for one reason or another or the visitors were misunderstood to be making promises that they never intended to make. At the extreme, organizations might exist simply to write proposals and receive funds without ever delivering any benefits, and may need a community presence to do so. Details: Washington, DC: The World Bank Group, 2009. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 11, 2019 at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/758341468299074387/Exploitation-of-poor-communities-in-Sierra-Leone-false-promises-in-reconstruction-and-development Year: 2009 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Development Assistance Shelf Number: 154111 |
Author: Engwicht, Nina Title: After Blood Diamonds: The Moral Economy of Illegality in the Sierra Leonean Diamond Market Summary: Abstract While the role of illegal markets in contemporary inner-state wars has drawn considerable attention from both researchers and policy makers, very little is known about the fate of these "war economies" after the end of violent conflict. This paper aims to contribute to an understanding of the functioning of illegal markets under the condition of limited statehood by examining what has become of a notorious war economy: the illegal diamond market in Sierra Leone. Drawing on extensive field research, this analysis of the social order of the illegal diamond market in post-conflict Sierra Leone shows that while illegal activities are still widespread, the illegal diamond economy has largely been peacefully integrated into the social and economic order of the post-conflict society. In contrast to the violent and conflict-fueling war economy, the post-conflict illegal diamond economy is surprisingly benign. I argue that the illegal Sierra Leonean diamond market today can be understood as a moral economy of illegality, since economic action in this market is decisively shaped and regulated by widely held social norms about legitimate and illegitimate practices. It is highly interwoven with both the state and the legal markets, and has thus become part of the "peace economy." Details: Cologne, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Society, 2016. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 16, 2019 at: https://www.mpifg.de/pu/mpifg_dp/dp16-9.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Sierra Leone Keywords: Conflict Diamonds Shelf Number: 154191 |