SIERRA LEONE GENERAL INFORMATION.
Sierra Leone is a country found
in the West coast of Africa. She gained her independence from Britain on the 27thApril 1961. Sierra Leone is covered by 71,740 km2 which is 27,699 square mile
with a total population according to 2012 estimate by statistic Sierra Leone to
be 5,485,998 with a density of 205.6 square mile. The Gross domestic
product (GDP) was estimated in 2012 totaling $5,093 billion with per capital
income of $849. The currency that is in use is the Leones (Le)
Sierra Leone is bordered by
Guinea to the Northeast and Liberia to the Southwest. Sierra Leone has riches
in mining, especially diamonds for its economic base. The country is among the
major producer of Gold and the world’s largest deposits of Rutile which is yet
to be exploited into fully capacity.
Sierra Leone is a predominantly
Muslim with an influential Christian minority and it is ranked as one of the
most religious tolerant nations in the world. The population of Sierra Leone
comprises about sixteen ethnic groups each with its own language and costume.
The most influential tribes are the Temne and the Mende.
However, English (Official, regular
use limited to literate minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south),
Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-base which is the
primary communication among Sierra Leone different ethnic groups which
constitute to about 95% country population.
SIERRA LEONE CIVIL WAR ( 23 March, 1991 to 16 January,
2002)
Sierra Leone war
triggered a lot of issues like the breakdown of the production capacity in
almost every sector, intertwined with immense destruction of properties,
disregards and disrespects for human rights, its dignity and loss of human
lives. Culminating with the privatizations of violence in the mad rush to fill
the vacuum left by a diminished state security, massive displacements of the
population and additional poverty. Sierra Leone has seen some of the worse
violations of human rights, under the most humiliating laws law in the world
during our terrible ten-year war.
One of the most distressing trends in the armed conflict
in Sierra Leone is the forceful participation of children and youths as child
soldiers trained partially forced into the battlefield, of terror. Whether the
fighters were using them as sex slaves or gatekeepers, children have become the
first and earliest victims in the unwinnable conflict, since the first rounds
of bullets were fired at Bomaru and Sienga in the Kailahun, where five children
were killed among the First 14 victims.
These situations are of human origin and have created an
unclear future and hindering the hope of children and youth in the country.
At the end of the war in January 18th 2002
there was a demobilization of all the fighting forces and ex-combatants after
they were disarmed. National and international agencies facilitated a peaceful
return of civilians to their different homes, rules and most people/ with the
growing tide of freedom to participate in all socio-economic, political,
intellectual, cultural and traditional events in their communities without
hindrance, yet it’s still difficult for children’s and youth. Since then to
this moment, Considering and therefore the heavier scale of atrocities committed
during the war, this was quite challenging and demanded a high degree of
sensitivity from both within and outside our geographical demarcation to help
alleviate and advance the situations of the post War weary children.
