UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 26) Paramount in this drive is the improvement in women's healthcare issues through the implementation of a major health care policy, the Free Health Care (FHC) initiative for pregnant women [and] lactating mothers ...

Para 29) To address the causes of maternal mortality, the Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality (CARMMA) was launched in March 2010 with a threefold strategy; to prevent unwanted pregnancies, and to prevent and treat complications. Family planning was identified as a key strategy for reducing maternal mortality and was integrated into the FHC initiative and into district plans. It is provided free in all government health facilities. A substantial reduction in fatality rates has been recorded since the inception of the FHC.

Para 81) ... The first National Health Sector Strategic Plan (NHSSP) 2010-2015 was adopted to develop the country's health sector. The strategies contained in the plan especially focus on the Free Health Care (FHC) initiative for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children below five years of age ...

Para 83) A Performance Based Financing (PBF) Scheme was introduced at the PHU level in April 2011 and at the hospital level in April 2012. All public PHUs and some private clinics are currently eligible to receive PBFs. PBF for primary healthcare focuses on six key areas of reproductive and child health interventions which are assessed for performance adjustment, namely; family planning, antenatal consultations, safe deliveries, postnatal consultations ...

UN Compilation:
Para 62) The Human Rights Committee welcomed the introduction in 2010 of free health care for lactating mothers and young children.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 60) JS3 stated that the Government is still supporting the 2010 Free Health Care Initiative for children under five years, lactating mothers and pregnant women. WV stated that the scale and severity of the Ebola outbreak has significantly devastated Sierra Leone's health system which was ill-equipped and resourced to handle such an outbreak ...

National Report:
Para 27) The ban on pregnant girls in school that was introduced in 2015 was lifted on 30 March 2020. This is in conformity with recommendation of ending measures that excluded young pregnant girls from the mainstream educational system.
Para 33) GoSL plans to ratify several Optional Protocols in the coming years. An objective of the on-going constitutional review process is, inter alia, to also incorporate some of the principles of international human rights espoused by the said Optional Protocols into the new constitution and thus make them as part of the supreme laws of the land. The Government is seeking donor support to enable it to prepare and submit the outstanding reports. A timetable for the submission of the reports supra is to be drawn in 2021 which will guide the GoSL.
Para 39) Some of the recommendations by CRC, which are accepted include, … the criminalisation of FGM.
Para 44) Gender discrimination is largely a result of long-standing social and cultural norms and gender stereotyping that dictate relationships, roles, and responsibilities between men and women, as well as access to power, resources, and privileges. These are further reinforced by a range of discriminatory laws, including statutory and customary laws. Even when national laws are enacted to address these inequalities, effective enforcement has always been the major challenge for some sociological reasons.
Para 46) Sierra Leone signed the OP-CEDAW in September 2008 but has not ratified it. The Ebola Virus Disease in 2014 and the concurrent economic meltdown hampered the ratification process. With the election of a new government, came the Corona Virus pandemic. However, the Government has responded positively to the implementation of its contents.
Para 47) On 23 March 2017, the Government launched its new National Land Policy to address land-based discrimination, especially against women. The National Land Policy 2017 guarantees equal rights for both women and men, and the elimination of all forms of discriminations against women regarding equitable access and control over land resources. The policy calls for the amendment of the Sierra Leone Constitution to include provisions that ensure that women have the right to full and equal protection by the law and have the right not to be discriminated against based on their gender or marital status.
Para 57) On the 30 March 2020, the GoSL through its MBSSE lifted the ban on pregnant girls from participating in school education and this has been replaced by a new policy. The new policy of “radical inclusion and comprehensive safety” which under its treaty obligation under the ICESC article 2(1) encourages a progressive realisation of universal education for all children without any discrimination.
Para 58) Accordingly, the new policy “is building a radically inclusive Sierra Leone where all children – regardless of class, ethnicity, tribe, disability, location, gender reproductive or parental status – can live and learn in safety and dignity.’’ The Free Quality School Education (FQSE) framework lays out an overarching vision and holistic set of principles, towards a Sierra Leone where all children are entitled to meaningful and equitable opportunities to learn and prosper. This is an eloquent testament to the Government’s commitment to accessible and quality education (SDG 4), and gender equality (SDG 5).
Para 118) Some violations have always been inherent within the structures of the society for decades, predicated upon dubious traditional practices and beliefs. FGM, as a harmful practice on the girl child, is difficult to eliminate or legislate out of existence because of the traditional and cultural belief systems.

UN Compilation:
Para 7) The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations country team welcomed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2017, which provided transmission of citizenship also by mothers.
Para 20) The United Nations country team noted that traditional harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation, remained prevalent in Sierra Leone. While noting successful efforts to include practitioners of female genital mutilation in the fight against such mutilation, the Committee on the Rights of the Child was seriously concerned that female genital mutilation was still not prohibited in law for children.
Para 21) The United Nations country team regretted that, despite measures taken, secret societies continued to practise female genital mutilation, including on underage girls. It noted that in 2019, following reports of misuse of secret societies, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development had banned the activities of secret societies.
Para 52) The United Nations country team noted that Sierra Leone had ratified major international and regional treaties and conventions that upheld equality and prohibited discrimination based on gender. However, Sierra Leone was ranked 153rd out of 162 countries in the 2018 gender inequality index. Gender inequalities were exacerbated by discriminatory cultural norms that impinged on women’s access to power, resources and privileges. The prohibition of discrimination based on gender in the areas of marriage, divorce, adoption and devolution of property on death was established in the Constitution.
Para 54) The United Nations country team stated that, as a response to a decision of the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States, in 2019, Sierra Leone had established a sexual and reproductive health task force to advise on issues relating to the inclusion of adolescent girls and other vulnerable groups into the education system and on how to integrate comprehensive sexuality education into the basic education curriculum. In 2020, the ban on visibly pregnant girls attending schools had been lifted, and two policies, on radical inclusion and on comprehensive safety, for all children in the education system, had been developed. The United Nations country team commended Sierra Leone for the steps taken to facilitate the return of pregnant girls to school.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 23) CUMG-SL noted with satisfaction that the Citizens Act of 1973 was repealed in 2017 in order to recognize the right of women to transfer citizenship.
Para 24) JS3 regretted the lack of legislative reforms to guarantee the right of women to transmit citizenship to their foreign spouses on an equal basis with men.
Para 32) European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) was alarmed that, despite efforts deployed by the Government, Sierra Leone still had one of the highest rates of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the word, with an estimated 90% of women and girls having suffered mutilation. Plan International (PI) regretted the lack of legislation criminalizing FGM. According to JS2, CUMG-SL and ECLJ, Sierra Leone continued to face challenges in combating FGM because it is rooted in cultural and traditional practices. ECLJ emphasized the negative role of the Bondo society who encouraged and carried out FGM ceremonies, and noted that, while initiations are illegal, there was still not a law against the pervasive practice of FGM itself in force.
Para 37) JS8 regretted that women detained are not offered legal advise, and due to strong patriarchal cultures, they may lack the skills necessary to bring a complaint and enforces their rights.
Para 39) JS8 was concerned that petty offences, including “loitering” are enforced under outdated and vague laws that are incorrectly applied, which give the police wide discretion for enforcement. It regretted that women are disproportionally affected …
Para 50) NaCFoHRD was concerned that a very high number of people in Sierra Leone lack basic safe drinking water and food, and faced poor housing facilities, particularly women and children in rural areas.
Para 58) JS4 noted that according to a report of UNICEF, three out of every ten school girls are excluded from education as result of teenage pregnancy.
Para 59) CUMG-SL noted that payment of tuition fees was a major hindrance to school completion rate in the country, especially for girls …
Para 61) JS3 indicated that, as a response to the ban on 2015 on pregnant girls attending school, in a decision of December 2019, the ECOWAS Court of Justice found that the policy barring girls from attending school, amounted to discrimination and human rights violations. JS2 and JS3 noted, however that deep seated challenges still remain, including policy measures to reverse the societal attitudes that support discrimination against pregnant girls.

National Report:
Para 39) Some of the recommendations by CRC, which are accepted include, … the criminalisation of FGM.
Para 59) There is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government and the ‘Sowei’ Council is in place as a strategy to ending FGM, which calls for girls under the age of 18 years not to be circumcised. The Government is using the free quality school education as an entry point to sensitise girls of the harms of FGM and eventually eliminating its prevalence. The Government is also working closely with campaigners on ending FGM to engage the practitioners and to work towards finalisation of the National Strategy for Reduction of FGM. Despite the MoU that children should consent to initiation, the practice is on-going regardless.
Para 60) In this regard, much has been done through collaborative engagement between state and non-state actors with the MGCA taking the lead in reaching to the general public on the continuous promotion of awareness against FGM in the Country. Girls and women aged between 15–49 years who have undergone FGM dropped from 89% in 2011 to 86.1 % in 2019.
Para 118) Some violations have always been inherent within the structures of the society for decades, predicated upon dubious traditional practices and beliefs. FGM, as a harmful practice on the girl child, is difficult to eliminate or legislate out of existence because of the traditional and cultural belief systems.

UN Compilation:
Para 20) The United Nations country team noted that traditional harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation, remained prevalent in Sierra Leone. While noting successful efforts to include practitioners of female genital mutilation in the fight against such mutilation, the Committee on the Rights of the Child was seriously concerned that female genital mutilation was still not prohibited in law for children.
Para 21) The United Nations country team regretted that, despite measures taken, secret societies continued to practise female genital mutilation, including on underage girls. It noted that in 2019, following reports of misuse of secret societies, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development had banned the activities of secret societies.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 32) European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) was alarmed that, despite efforts deployed by the Government, Sierra Leone still had one of the highest rates of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the word, with an estimated 90% of women and girls having suffered mutilation. Plan International (PI) regretted the lack of legislation criminalizing FGM. According to JS2, CUMG-SL and ECLJ, Sierra Leone continued to face challenges in combating FGM because it is rooted in cultural and traditional practices. ECLJ emphasized the negative role of the Bondo society who encouraged and carried out FGM ceremonies, and noted that, while initiations are illegal, there was still not a law against the pervasive practice of FGM itself in force.

National Report:
Para 35) ... The Family Support Unit (FSU) deals with sexual and gender-based violence committed against women and children. The Moyamba Division has been the pilot division for the FSU, sponsored by the former Justice Sector Development Project (JSDP). All divisions now have a FSU. An MOU was signed with chiefs and the Family Support Unit (FSU) to report and assist carers of child abuse victims ...

National Report:
Para 35) Sierra Leone has signed the OP-CEDAW and is in the process of ratifying it; the MSWGCA had put the OP-CEDAW on its work plan to pursue its ratification by 2014. This deadline has been extended due to the EVD. However, the MSWGCA has set up local points for complaints regarding offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2012, which is in part a domestication of the CEDAW ...

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 3) The Commission noted that the Government was yet to ratify the OP-CEDAW ...