sierra leone

Children and adolescents in Sierra Leone make up almost half of the population. Their wellbeing directly shapes the country’s development. Despite more than two decades of peace and policy reform, many children continue to face poverty, inequality, weak services, and increasing climate shocks. These challenges combine to limit children’s rights to survival, development, and protection, especially for children in poor households, rural and island communities, urban informal settlements, girls, and children with disabilities.

Education

The Free Quality School Education Programme has increased enrolment nationwide, including for girls. However, nearly 20 percent of school‑age children remain out of school, with exclusion highest among poorer households, rural communities, and children with disabilities. Learning outcomes remain weak. Overcrowded classrooms, high pupil‑teacher ratios, limited trained teachers, and shortages of learning materials mean many children leave primary school without basic literacy and numeracy skills. Poverty, teenage pregnancy, child labour, and household responsibilities drive dropout, while flooding and extreme rainfall damage school infrastructure and interrupt learning, particularly in informal and low‑lying areas.

Health and Nutrition

Child survival remains fragile. Around one in ten children dies before age five, mostly from preventable causes such as malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoeal diseases, and neonatal complications. More than 25 percent of children under five are stunted due to chronic malnutrition linked to food insecurity, poor dietary diversity, rising food prices, and climate impacts on agriculture and fisheries. Access to quality health services, safe water, and sanitation remains uneven, especially in rural and hard‑to‑reach areas. Mental health and psychosocial challenges are increasing, particularly among adolescents affected by poverty, violence, substance use, and limited opportunities.

Child Protection

Sierra Leone has laws and policies to protect children, including legislation on child rights, sexual offences, domestic violence, child marriage and the prohibition of violence in schools. However, protection risks remain widespread. Nearly 90 percent of children experience some form of violent discipline, reflecting deep‑rooted social norms. Around 30 percent of girls marry before age 18, often linked to poverty, school dropout, and adolescent pregnancy. Child labour remains common in agriculture, mining, and informal urban work. Child protection services exist but are under‑resourced, unevenly distributed, and weakly coordinated.

Livelihoods and Social Protection

Approximately 70 percent of children live in multidimensional poverty, experiencing overlapping deprivations in education, health, nutrition, housing, and protection. Livelihood insecurity, driven by limited employment, inflation, and climate shocks, pushes families to adopt negative coping strategies such as child labour, early marriage, and school withdrawal. Fewer than 10 percent of children live in households covered by any form of social protection, leaving most families highly vulnerable to economic and climate crises.

Climate Change and Environmental Risks

Sierra Leone faces very high child climate risk. Flooding, landslides, coastal erosion, droughts, and rising temperatures destroy homes, schools, farmland, and livelihoods. Climate shocks deepen food insecurity, spread disease, displace families, and increase protection risks for children. Children in informal settlements, coastal areas, and island communities are the most exposed. While children and young people increasingly engage in climate action, they remain largely excluded from formal decision‑making.

Sierra Leone has strong policy frameworks and reform momentum, but results for children require faster progress. Strengthening enforcement of existing laws, improving service quality, expanding shock‑responsive social protection, scaling up child protection systems, and embedding child‑centred climate resilience remains critical to ensuring that no child is left behind.