Gender Equality Sierra Leone Project #27810

Supporting 350 Female Detainees in Sierra Leone

by AdvocAid

Supporting 350 Female Detainees in Sierra Leone

Project Report | Nov 9, 2017
AdvocAid supports 18 women in Kenema Prison

By Leanne Greenfield | Development Intern

The conditions women and girls endure whilst in detention in Sierra Leone are hard. Detention centres lack the facilities needed by the female inmates and their children. Products such as sanitary items, soap, and nappies for babies are not regularly provided. The poor access to welfare support in these centres undermines the self-worth of the inmates and denies them their dignity. At AdvocAid, we believe that everyone should have the right to proper sanitation and nutrition, and that is why we work hard to combat the poor resources and facilities at the centres in Sierra Leone.

In October 2017, our team in Kenema visited the Female Correctional Centre to provide 18 female inmates and their children there with welfare packs. Included in these packs were essential toiletries, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, bathing soap, and laundry soap; food, including rice, beans, and onions; and clothing, from dresses, to blouses and pants, and baby outfits. It is vital that these welfare packs continue to be supplied because without them, the women and children in the centres would struggle to maintain a basic level of hygiene, self-care, and quality of life.

As part of our goal to ensure that inmates have opportunities in their communities upon their release, AdvocAid provides its clients with skills-based training materials whilst they are in detention. We supplied the inmates with beads, scissors, and string and found that this was a great way to encourage the women to make their own jewellery, something which they continue to thoroughly enjoy. Giving the women purpose during their time in detention facilitates the opportunity for them to learn and to grow and, importantly, it enables them to feel pride in the work that they produce.

Whilst the 18 women at the Correctional Centre in Kenema can now clean, wash their clothes, eat nutritious food, and practice vocational skills, there are a total of 139 women in correctional centres across the country all of whom require welfare support. We encourage you to donate to this project so that more women nationwide have access to adequate human rights standards and so that female inmates can care for their children with dignity.

Please support AdvocAid in empowering women and girls in Sierra Leone today, by forwarding this news to your contacts and encouraging them donate to this project, or another of our Global Giving projects today.

We encourage you to sign up to our newsletter via our website, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instragram, to find out all the latest news about AdvocAid’s work.

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Aug 11, 2017
Improvements to the Juvenile Remand Home in Bo!

By Maeve O'Gorman | Development Intern

Donations to Bo Remand Home

Bo is the second largest city in Sierra Leone, and home to one of only 2 juvenile remand homes in the country. The home has been in terrible condition for the last number of years, lacking in vital resources for the inmates. Mattresses are worn out, beds don’t have mosquito nets or blankets, girls and boys are not in put separate areas. Also, there is no medical unit, the home is overcrowded and the youths have to collect water from the nearby village. These, and other issues violate these juvenile’s human and children’s rights. A recent outbreak of scabies had to be managed and medicine paid for personally by a generous UN worker. Such unhygienic conditions are in contravention of the Mandela Rules for Standard Minimum Treatment of Prisoners. AdvocAid have been pushing for renovations to be made to this home for juveniles in conflict with the law for some time now, while monitoring the home and providing welfare packs to the youths detained there.

Thanks to this pressure from AdvocAid and other organisations, the Ministry of Social Welfare has just begun renovation works on the roof, have fixed the water well, painted the walls and supplied new mattresses. A site has been acquired for the construction of a new remand home in Kenema, in the Eastern province of Sierra Leone, which will help to lessen the strain on resources, and reduce overcrowding. AdvocAid has welcomed these efforts and supplemented them with a donation of educational posters, games, food items and bathing soap to the Bo home. As the inmates hung up their posters on the freshly painted walls, we spoke to some of the children to ask them how these items would benefit them. Anna*, said she is delighted to have the chance to learn again, as she misses going to school, where her favourite subject was Science. She promised to learn all the parts of the brain before AdvocAid’s next visit! Some of the other juveniles had previously told us that they were bored, because of the lack of games, or even a football. This donation has given them a new lease of life. Moe*, is particularly excited, as he was worried he was losing his touch and would not make the local football team when he is released. Now he can practice every day, and wants to organise a small 5-a-side league in the home.

Though our donation was small, everything which can contribute to keeping children active and happy while in a difficult environment, away from their families and friends, is vitally important for these future leaders of Sierra Leone.

While all this signals a very positive step forward, more needs to be done. By donating to this project, you can help us to continue to put pressure on the Ministry and other bodies to ensure that this home reaches a standard where human rights are upheld and youths in detention can await their trial with dignity.

Please spread this news widely, and encourage your contacts to donate generously to this, or one of our other GlobalGiving projects to support our work in providing education, empowerment and access to justice for women and girls in Sierra Leone

Feel free to sign up to our newsletter via our website, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, to find out all the latest news about AdvocAid’s work.

*Names changed to protect the identity of our clients.

Juveniles recieve donations from AdvocAid

New posters and mattresses in Bo!

Decorating the walls with educational posters

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