A group of children in Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone

Poverty, widespread malnutrition, Ebola and a weak economy are just some of the problems the small West African country faces.

Sierra Leone is among the poorest nations in the world, with 56% of the population living below the poverty line.

The population faces a range of challenges, ranging from poor sanitation services to rampant hunger and high infant mortality rates. Lack of access to basic services is also a problem, with less than 40% of the population having access to clean water.

The government has responded by developing a strategy that prioritises four areas:

  • improving access to electricity
  • developing a national transport system
  • increasing productivity in agriculture
  • taking on the nation’s social and humanitarian challenges

Despite this, Sierra Leone remains highly vulnerable with Ebola having further weakened the country.

Country facts

  • 7.7m

    Sierra Leone has a population of 7.7 million people.

  • 181

    Sierra Leone ranks 181st out of 189 countries in the Human Development Index.

  • 37.8%

    More than a third of Sierra Leonean children under five suffer from malnutrition.

Action Against Hunger’s work in Sierra Leone

Our teams’ programmes in Sierra Leone include:

  • improving the nutrition of women and children under five
  • training staff in health centres to treat undernutrition
  • installing water storage tanks and restoring waterpoints
  • improving access to basic health services for vulnerable people, including women and children, in the country’s rural West

Our reach

  • 70,754

    We reached more than 70,000 people through our programmes in Sierra Leone in 2019.

  • 68

    We have 68 staff based in Freetown and Moyamba.

  • 1991

    We started working in Sierra Leone in 1991.

Save lives todayA man waters his field at an Action Against Hunger programme in Sierra Leone.

Save lives today

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