Overview
Concern's work in Sierra Leone
After the war (2002 – 2006) Concern’s operations became much more focused on rehabilitation and development activities in cooperation with other agencies, in Tonkolili district and Western Area (the area where Freetown is located).
Concern now has a permanent field office in Magburaka where Concern implements primary education, primary health care and livelihood security programmes in six chiefdoms within the district.
Health
In Western Area Concern supported two primary healthcare centres in Kent and Mabella.
This health intervention has recently been expanded to address wider community health and environmental issues in six urban slum locations.
Education
The current phase of Concern’s primary education programme (in Tonkolili) aims to promote the right to education and to strengthen primary education by focusing on quality education by training teachers; providing school materials and sports equipment.
Concern also provides support school management committees by providing training so that they can take greater responsibility and ownership in the long-term management of community schools.
Concern also aims at providing learning environment by constructing and equipping nine schools.
Livelihoods
The livelihoods programme works with extremely poor households to achieve adequate and sustainable access to and control over their resources to meet their basic livelihood requirements.
In conjunction with the communities Concern focuses on enhancing food production through the distribution of seeds and tools to the most ‘vulnerable’ of households, some of which are headed by children.
The aid agency is promoting farmer field schools, where farmers can learn new techniques for producing essential food crops.
Concern is also developing inland valley swamps for the production of rice, the staple in Sierra Leone and also for use as fish ponds.
Concern aims also to improve market access by building roads, culverts and bridges.
Health
The primary health care programme operates in Tonkolili and Freetown and again in conjunction with the community and local health ministries Concern is promoting sustainable primary healthcare.
The agency looks at ways of improving access to primary healthcare by supporting awareness and knowledge through community health clubs, provision of medicines and equipment and training of clinic staff in community health centres.
The promotion of better ante natal care is important in Sierra Leone and as such Concern trains Traditional Birth Attendants and distributes insecticide treated nets to protect people from malaria.
Public and environmental health is an important component of the health programme as so Concern constructs community wells with hand pumps, constructs community latrines and trains village hygiene promoters, known as blue flag volunteers.
They are known as blue flag volunteers as they are recognised by a blue flag outside their house; which makes them easily identifiable in a community.
HIV&AIDS
In all programmes Concern promotes HIV&AIDS awareness and prevention.
To this end Concern focuses on issues of transmission, prevention and impact of AIDS through briefing exercises with youth groups, the wider community, construction contractors and various partner organisations, radio broadcasts and community bill boards carrying the message of the National AIDS secretariat.
