By Marcus Bangura/Op-Ed & Commentary
Every year on June 16, Sierra Leone joins the rest of Africa to commemorate the Day of the African Child, a day that honours the bravery of schoolchildren in Soweto, South Africa, who in 1976 protested against apartheid education policies. Over the years, this annual event has evolved into a symbolic occasion, a moment to reflect on the progress and struggles faced by African children in the pursuit of education, justice, and a life free of poverty and abuse. The theme for 2025, “Planning and Budgeting for Children’s Rights: Progress Since 2010,” challenges us to assess how well Sierra Leone has invested in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of its children through both policy and budgetary commitments.
Over the past decade and a half, Sierra Leone has enacted significant laws and policies aimed at protecting children’s rights, including the Child Rights Act (2007, reinforced through the 2010s), the National Child Protection Policy (2016), the recent Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (2024), and the ban on corporal punishment in schools (2021). These frameworks represent important legal milestones, reflecting the country’s commitment to advancing children’s welfare.
Yet, despite these gains on paper, millions of Sierra Leonean children continue to face harsh realities of poverty, gender-based violence, limited social protection, digital exclusion, and high child mortality, highlighting the urgent need to translate policy into action through effective planning, budgeting, and implementation. This Day often passes as a ceremonial reminder of promises still unfulfilled; as the majority of Sierra Leonean children are left to navigate harsh realities that contradict the essence of what this day should represent. On this day, parades, speeches, and slogans momentarily shine a light on child rights, but when the banners are taken down children right disappears in oblivion
Child Poverty: The Root of Deprivation
It is no secret that Sierra Leone remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with children bearing the brunt of multidimensional poverty. According to UNICEF Multidimensional Child Poverty Report, 2022, more than 70% of Sierra Leonean children live in multidimensional poverty, lacking essentials like clean water, healthcare, and adequate nutrition. Poverty restricts children’s access to education and exposes them to exploitation, malnutrition, and early school leaving. Economic hardship continues to rob many children of their basic rights and childhood.
Education: A Right Still Denied to Many
Despite the launch of the Free Quality School Education (FQSE) program in 2018, aimed at expanding access to primary and secondary education in Sierra Leone, many children, particularly in rural and underserved communities, still face serious barriers to learning. The UNICEF Sierra Leone Education Report (2023) reveals that over 41% of children aged 6-11 are out of school, and rural dropout rates are nearly twice as high as those in urban areas. Poor infrastructure, limited learning materials, undertrained teachers, early pregnancy, long walking distances, and poverty are major contributing factors. The education system continues to struggle, despite free education policies, as many children drop out due to indirect costs like uniforms, books, and transportation. Teachers in remote areas are often untrained or unpaid, and many schools lack toilets, clean water, or even roofs.
These challenges echo the 1976 Soweto Uprising in South Africa, where students protested an education system that devalued their rights. Nearly five decades later, children in Sierra Leone still face inequality in education due to conflict, child labour, gender discrimination, and digital exclusion. The lesson remains clear: education is a right, not a privilege, and ensuring it demands inclusive systems, equity, and sustained investment.
Social Protection Remains Limited
Social protection programs in Sierra Leone, such as school feeding, cash transfers, and disability allowances, remain limited in reach and effectiveness. However, the World Bank Social Protection Review (2023) notes that only 30% of eligible rural households receive consistent support. Weak administrative systems and poor targeting mechanisms have left many of the most vulnerable children behind and unprotected. Strengthening social safety nets is critical to addressing child poverty and promoting inclusive development. Despite government initiatives such as school feeding programs, disability allowances, and cash transfers, these social protection measures remain underfunded and inconsistently implemented.
Child Labour and Exploitation
In markets and mining communities, children are often engaged in hazardous work to support their families. Despite international conventions and national laws against child labour, enforcement remains weak. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) Global Estimates on Child Labour, 2022), many children remain invisible to protective systems, continuing to work under exploitative and dangerous conditions.
Gender-Based Violence (GBV): A National Crisis
Gender-based violence is pervasive in Sierra Leone, particularly affecting girls through domestic abuse, sexual assault, and harmful traditional practices like female genital mutilation (FGM). Many survivors suffer in silence due to stigma and lack of access to justice. Schools, which should be safe havens, are sometimes sites of harassment and abuse. Addressing GBV requires strengthened legal action, survivor support, and community education, according to the UNICEF Sierra Leone GBV Situation Report (2023).
Child Mortality: A Tragic Indicator of Neglect
Sierra Leone continues to have one of the highest child mortality rates in the world. Preventable diseases like malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea claim countless young lives due to inadequate healthcare infrastructure, a shortage of trained health professionals, and poor access to essential medicines. Malnutrition and unsafe water further exacerbate this crisis, especially in rural regions. The World Health Organization’s Sierra Leone Health Statistics (2024) underscores the urgent need to prioritize reducing child mortality.
Regional Disparities: The Urban-Rural Divide
A stark disparity exists between urban centres such as Freetown and rural districts like Kailahun and Koinadugu in access to education, health services, and social protections. Children in remote areas face more severe barriers, deepening cycles of poverty and exclusion. Data from the Sierra Leone National Statistics Office (2023) highlights the urgent need for equitable investment and decentralization of child services.
Birth Registration: The Forgotten First Right
Thousands of children in Sierra Leone remain unregistered at birth, effectively denying them a legal identity and access to basic services. Bureaucratic inefficiencies and low public awareness contribute to persistently low registration rates. UNICEF’s Global Birth Registration Report (2023) emphasizes the importance of scaling up outreach programs to guarantee every child’s right to recognition under the law.
Digital Exclusion: The New Divide Among Children
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed a severe digital divide. Many children, especially in rural and low-income urban areas, lacked access to devices, internet connectivity, and digital literacy, missing out on remote learning opportunities. This threatens to widen educational inequalities unless there are significant investments in infrastructure and training. The World Bank Digital Development Report (2023) and UNICEF Sierra Leone Education Brief (2024) both confirm that unless major investments are made in digital infrastructure and literacy, Sierra Leonean children risk being left even further behind in the global knowledge economy.
Conflict and Displacement: Impact on Children
Although Sierra Leone’s civil war officially ended over two decades ago, its impacts on children remain. Internally displaced families continue to struggle with trauma, insecurity, and disrupted education and health services. Additionally, conflicts in neighbouring countries have triggered refugee influxes, stretched resources and endangered the welfare of displaced children. The UNHCR Sierra Leone Report (2023) details these ongoing humanitarian challenges.
Youth Empowerment and Participation: The Untapped Potential
Despite representing a large portion of the population, young people in Sierra Leone still face unemployment, exclusion from decision-making, and limited access to quality education. Government pledges for youth inclusion have yet to translate into broad-based empowerment. The Sierra Leone Youth Commission Report (2023) stresses the need to boost youth participation in governance and economic life.
Silent Suffering in Forgotten Spaces
Beyond statistics and policies, there’s a human side to this crisis that’s often ignored. In post-conflict and displaced communities, children continue to live with trauma, food insecurity, and limited access to healthcare. According to the UNHCR Sierra Leone Report (2023), displacement—both from internal instability and regional migration—places additional strain on fragile services, with children often the first victims.
Even something as fundamental as birth registration remains a barrier. UNICEF’s Global Birth Registration Report (2023) reveals that many children in Sierra Leone lack legal identity, denying them access to education, healthcare, and justice. Without a birth certificate, they effectively do not exist in the eyes of the state.
In conclusion, the Day of the African Child in Sierra Leone remains a day of both celebration and sober reflection. While legal frameworks and budgeting efforts since 2010 show progress, the lived realities of many children, marked by poverty, violence, exclusion, and poor health, call for urgent and sustained action. To move beyond symbolism, Sierra Leone must strengthen enforcement of child rights laws, increase and effectively manage budget allocations, close regional and digital divides, and meaningfully empower children and youth as agents of their own futures.
Only then will the promise of June 16 become a lived reality for every child in Sierra Leone.
