In late 2022, eight CFID members visited Sierra Leone as part of a social action trip inspired by Project Umubano, a Conservative Party initiative aimed at raising awareness of international development issues and the role of UK aid.
During the self-funded trip, volunteers supported sustainable livelihoods NGO Reseed in delivering a training programme to around sixty small businesses in Lunsar, within the Port Loko District of Sierra Leone. The programme’s aim is to create sustainable employment and empower individuals and communities to reach financial stability, whilst ensuring that the needs of the local community are met.
Training focus areas included marketing, customer service, accounting and administration designed to equip beneficiaries with the tools needed to place their enterprises’ on a more sustainable footing. CFID also supported Reseed’s microfinance project in Lunsar by donating a small microfinance grant to each beneficiary of the training programme. Beneficiaries included local bakers, fishmongers, bicycle sellers, second hand clothes sellers, foreign exchange traders and others.
CFID also had the opportunity to learn about how the NGO engages with agricultural communities and supports their crop yields through surveys, data collection and investment to develop organic compost and seed storage facilities.
During the trip, CFID carried out several other trips, including:
- Lunchbox: CFID provided funds for over 300 lunches to a local school in Kroo Bay through Lunchbox (lunchboxgift.com), a not-for-proft initiative established during the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
- Sierra Leone Education and Development Trust: CFID met with representatives from SLEDT to discuss their work providing scholarships for high achievers from poorer backgrounds to enable them to attend secondary school, as well as mobility equipment for differently abled children.
- UK Sierra Leone Pro Bono Network (UKSLPBN): We were pleased to meet with representatives from UKSLPBN to discuss their work supporting partners in Sierra Leone on legal issues.
- British High Commission in Sierra Leone: CFID volunteers heard from High Commissioner Lisa Chesney and other High Commission representatives about the UK’s work in Sierra Leone and the impact of UK aid.
More information
UK aid programmes in Sierra Leone (2020)
- 463k children supported to gain a good education
- 313k women and girls supported with modern methods of family planning
- 66k people reached with humanitarian assistance (food aid, cash and voucher transfers)
- 656k children under 5, women (of childbearing age) and adolescent girls reached by DFID through nutrition-related interventions
- 625k people with sustainable access to clean water and/or sanitation through DFID support.
Recent Conservative Party news related to Sierra Leone
- In November 2022, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly MP met with Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio to discuss UK-Sierra Leone relations.
- On 6th September 2022, James Cleverly MP, the first MP of Sierra Leonian descent (on his mother’s side) was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs.
- In May 2022, Vicky Ford MP, the former Minister for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and now Development Minister at FCDO visited Sierra Leone. Further information can be found here.
By Harvey Chandler