Medicos del Mundo- Sierra Leone

The presence of Médicos del Mundo in the country dates back to 2002 (in the midst of the reconstruction phase after the armed conflict that devastated the country for 11 years).

In these years we have addressed lines of intervention in accordance with the strategy of the organization and from the perspective of the rights approach, specifically, we work in sexual and reproductive health, prevention of gender-based violence, basic water and sanitation, awareness of the population in health education, institutional reinforcement of the health system, epidemiological surveillance and preparation and response to emergency situations.

The outbreak of the Ebola virus that occurred in 2014 was a turning point, both for our organization and for the rest of the actors present in the country, directing actions towards the prevention of the disease, the care of infected people, the preparation of contingency against it, awareness, recovery of survivors and strengthening of the health system, seriously weakened by the epidemic.

We are currently working on reducing problems related to sexual and reproductive health and gender violence in the districts of Koinadugu and Falaba , rural environments that are difficult to access and have some of the worst health indicators in the country. These are areas with high rates of teenage pregnancy, maternal mortality, poor adherence to family planning methods, or high practice of female genital mutilation (almost 90%), among other problems. We also strengthen the capacities of the public health system through construction (in 2021 a One Stop Center was built in Kabala to care for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence) and rehabilitation of health infrastructures(eight health centers rehabilitated last year), the provision of basic equipment and training for health personnel.

Likewise, we develop training, awareness and advocacy actions aimed at citizens, with the aim of increasing their involvement, promoting the social fabric and community participation for the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and gender equality, with special attention to the most vulnerable groups.

We also support health authorities with awareness, preparation and response activities against COVID-19.

SIERRA LEONE, EBOLA, COVID-19 AND THE CHALLENGE OF NOT BEING FORGOTTEN.