By: Lansana Kondeh and Aiah Marrah
June 3, 2022
The Movement for Community-Led Development in Sierra Leone began discussions among individuals in April 2019, Mansofinia Agric Farmers Organization started contacting both signed up members and interested members to start face to face meetings in Freetown, fortunately, the Sierra Leone Association of Non-Governmental Organizations consented to offer their premises for a monthly leadership meetings and a steering group of representatives from national and international non-governmental organizations started meeting monthly in July 2021.
We agreed to continue holding meetings until we mobilized a good number of Sierra Leone INGOs, NGOs and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to be joining meetings; overall we have held 12 (twelve) leadership meetings within Sierra Leone and several online meetings with the global leadership including capacity building workshops; because of the opportunity for a running chapter in Sierra Leone, a project proposal was developed to the tune of USD 5,000; the amount was approved by the community-led development global leadership for Sierra Leone to carry out some of their responsibilities and priorities; the current membership to the Movement for Community-led development Sierra Leone chapter is eight (8).
Advocate for Social Justices and Development; Kantanya Women’s Development Association; Mansofinia Agric Farmers Organization; One village Partners; Sierra Leone Association of Non-Governmental Organization; Centre
for Humanitarian Advocacy Network Community Empowerment; Women Advocacy and Agricultural Development Organization; National Movement for Emancipation and Progress.
In the days leading up to the event of the national chapter launch on the 9th of May 2022, members had done well in getting media attention, they attended radio discussion programs where people could call in; One village
Partners made invitation letters to all INGOs that have signatories to the Movement for Community-Led Development global chapter and consented to attend.
At the launch event, we had the Parliamentary Chairman for the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, a representative from the Ministry of Social Welfare for NGOs affairs, The Director of Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone, and the representative from the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, civil society organizations, community-based organizations, the media, and several other stakeholders.
