The United Nations has on Monday 11 April 2022 released their annual report for Sierra Leone with progress made in the areas of sustainable agriculture, transformational governance, access to basic services, and protection and empowerment of the most vulnerable.

The forward of the report written by the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Sierra Leone, Babatunde A. Ahonsi stated that midway into its implementation, the report card, which is their stock-taking of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2020-2023), speaks to the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), adding that Sierra Leone’s development advances in 2021, notwithstanding the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic impact and other challenges.

“As UN Resident Coordinator, with 18 resident and non-resident UN agencies, funds and programmes contributing to the national development priorities and strategies of the Government of Sierra Leone as established in the Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) 2019-2023, I am pleased to present to you the 2021 UN Country Annual Results Report for Sierra Leone,” he stated.

Ahonsi added that, “As the roadmap of our collective development programmes in the country towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda, the UNSDCF outlines four strategic priority areas. I encourage you to pay attention to how UN Agencies, Funds and programmes have delivered on these outcome areas:

Sustainable Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security, and Climate Resilience, where the country has witnessed improved agricultural practices and reduction of vulnerability due to food insecurity.

Transformational Governance, where access to justice improved, especially for vulnerable populations including children, women, and migrants through development and review of legal and policy frameworks, strengthening and establishment of local service centres, and providing direct support to survivors of violence.

Access to Basic Services, where more children in Sierra Leone have enrolled in school with improved and meaningful learning outcomes, where WASH services have improved the wellbeing of the population and reduced disease burden, and where efforts have been strengthened towards the achievement of Universal Health Coverage.

Protection and Empowerment of the Most Vulnerable, where key actions were taken towards changing community behaviour and understanding of the rights of women, children, and people living with disabilities, and the promotion and protection of these rights.”

The UN Resident Coordinator further stated that as one of the first countries to implement the Cooperation Framework under the UN development system reform, the UNCT in Sierra Leone was able to deliver coherent, efficient, and effective programmatic and operational activities against the four outcomes of the UNSDCF in 2021.

“This could not have been done without our co-travellers on this journey, the Government of Sierra Leone, its people, and the development partners. The collaboration with the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED), as co-chair of the UNSDCF Joint Steering Committee and in the Ministerial Development Partnership Committee (DEPAC), in addition to its efforts on the delivery of the Voluntary National Review (VNR) process and the Country Common Analysis (CCA) updates, has enhanced the UNCT’s capability in delivering as one and in ensuring that no one is left behind in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of sustainable development activities,” he noted.

He added that, “Looking forward to 2022, the UN Country Team will continue to focus on implementing the UNSDCF, including the activities adopted from the UN COVID- 19 Socioeconomic Response Plan. Our efforts on collective partnerships and resource mobilization would be reinvigorated. Innovative funding streams and catalytic partnerships would also be better explored, including South-South cooperation and non-financial partnerships.”