International Organization for Migration Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is prone to recurring natural disasters, particularly flooding, landslides and mudslides as a result of high levels of precipitation, occurring on a yearly basis. The Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) has made disaster preparedness and risk management one of its top priorities. To deliver on this priority, the Government has requested IOM’s assistance in strengthening its capacity, especially that of the Office of National Security (ONS). IOM’s Internal Development Fund (IDF) project targets officials of ONS in 3 districts prone to disasters as well as other stakeholders, such as the district councils, Sierra Leone Red Cross and Sierra Leone Police, which take crucial roles at the operational level whenever natural disasters occur.

The overall objective of the IDF project is to contribute towards enhancing national efforts in disaster preparedness and response in line with the objectives of the “National Disaster Risk Management Policy” and “National Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Strategy and Action Plan.”

The community based disaster risk management activity is one such activity contained in the IDF project to deliver on the objectives of the project. In delivering on the Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) activity, an assessment was conducted in 18 communities in the Western Area, Pujehun and Kenema districts.