A Retrospective Assessment of The Evolution of The Social Protection Sector in Sierra Leone
A report that tells the story of social protection in Sierra Leone
Highlights
This report tells the story of the evolution of social protection in Sierra Leone and draws lessons from it for the future. It considers four main periods since the end of the war in 2002. These are as follows (also summarised in Table ES1):
• 2002 to 2010: Laying the Foundations – This period represents the introduction of social insurance, a basic social pension, and reparations to war victims, based on the 2005 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and the 2009 National Social Protection Policy Framework.
• 2011 to 2014: Establishing a Basic Safety Net – This period represents the introduction of the national Social Safety Net (SSN) Programme, based on the 2008 PRSP (the ‘Agenda for Change’), the 2011 National Social Protection Policy (2011 Policy), and the 2013 National Social Protection Strategy (2013 Strategy).
• 2015 to 2020: Responding to Shocks – This period represents the expansion of social protection, both through regular programmes and as a response to successive shocks (Ebola, floods and landslides, COVID-19). It also marks an intensification of support to the Government’s priority focus on education, youth, and employment, reflected in the 2013 PRSP (the ‘Agenda for Prosperity’).
• Post-2020: Transitioning to Life Cycle Social Protection – This period represents the reorientation of social protection towards a comprehensive gender-sensitive and disabilityinclusive life cycle approach. This is based on the 2020 National Social Protection Policy (2020 Policy) and the 2022 National Social Protection Strategy (2022 Strategy), guided by the commitments to inclusive social protection in the Medium-Term National Development Plan 2019-2023 (MTNDP), and further reinforced by the latest MTNDP 2024-2030.
