A decade-long civil war that ended in 2002 left Sierra Leone’s 5.4 million people among the poorest in Africa. Since United Nations peacekeepers departed in 2005, Sierra Leone’s military has maintained a fragile peace, while shunning any direct political role. The current government’s priorities include economic development, job creation and anti-corruption, which offers the hope of progress for this small West African nation.
Between 1998 and 2008, International Medical Corps provided a broad range of emergency health care services to victims of the civil war in Sierra Leone and refugees fleeing a similar conflict in neighbouring Liberia. Our work included primary health care, mental health and HIV/AIDS programmes. Following a two-year absence, International Medical Corps launched an ambitious five year food security programme in 2010 to prevent malnutrition in children under two years of age.
