The UNFPA Country Office presented its 2015 Annual Report to donors and partners at the Bintumani Conference Hall, Aberdeen, Freetown on 28 April, 2016, titled, ‘Saving Lives in Emergencies: Building Resilience for Sustainable Development’.

The eight-chapter report is a reference document on how to transform from disaster management and risk reduction to resilience building and harnessing the Demographic Dividend, geared towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Sierra Leone.

Presenting the 55-page report, the outgoing Officer-In-Charge, Dr. Sennen Hounton, highlighted key achievements in areas of reproductive health, family planning, obstetric fistula management, humanitarian response, advocacy, communication and partnership; midwifery, youth sexual and reproductive health; gender and data for development.

He emphasized the importance of partnership in achieving what he described as ‘remarkable results’ during these difficult times, and called for more support to further improve the lives of women, children and young people in Sierra Leone.

The meeting provided the platform for donors and partners to deliberate on partnership strategies to tackling the challenges within the health sector, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and synergy between agencies and implementing partners.