KOINADUGU, Sierra Leone, 29 September 2023 - The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education has reintegrated more than 2,000 adolescent girls into formal education in the districts of Kambia, Koinadugu, Moyamba, and Pujehun with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Irish Aid.

In accordance with the National Policy on Radical Inclusion in School, the Ministry, UNFPA and Irish Aid are partnering to support the reintegration of vulnerable girls through the Protecting and Empowering Girls to Reach their Full Potential programme. The initiative focuses on reaching girls who have traditionally been excluded from education in districts with the highest rates of child marriage and teenage pregnancy, including pregnant girls, new mothers, and adolescents living with disability or in extreme poverty.

In September 2023, 2,015 girls from 18 chiefdoms were enrolled in more than 50 schools, joining an additional 800 girls who were reintegrated in 2022 and successfully completed their first year of schooling in 2023. The girls are all receiving tutoring and mentoring support, and have also been provided with back-to-school kits that include uniforms, shoes for school, a school bag, pens, exercise books, math sets, menstrual hygiene pads, and a copy of the National Secretariat for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy and Child Marriage Information Pack.

In a statement made on 29 September at a ceremony marking the reintegration of 200 girls in Kondembaia, Diang chiefdom, Koinadugu district, Nadia Rasheed, the UNFPA Country Representative, praised the government for establishing an important educational vision that aims to ensure that every child receives a quality education.

She noted that UNFPA’s vision is to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. “UNFPA is therefore, proud to partner with the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education and the Embassy of Ireland to help ensure that the adolescent girls supported through this initiative are empowered and supported to fulfil their potential – to their benefit and to the benefit of their families, communities and nation,” Ms. Rasheed said. She also urged programme participants to make the most of the invaluable opportunity that their reintegration affords them to pursue their aspirations in life.

Speaking at the same ceremony, His Excellency Aidan Fitzpatrick, the Irish Ambassador to Sierra Leone, applauded the Government of Sierra Leone's decision in 2020 to eliminate the restriction on pregnant girls attending school and emphasized the right of girls to high-quality education.

With UNFPA and Irish Aid support in 2022, 800 girls were reintegrated across the four districts, all finishing the school year. “That is what gave my government the confidence to put more money in the project. Another reason why my country is proud to invest in education in Sierra Leone is because the government in its annual budget allocates 22 per cent of its budget to education” he emphasised.

Mr. Conrad Sackey, Minister for Basic and Senior Secondary Education, thanked UNFPA and Irish Aid in his keynote speech for their assistance in offering the girls a second chance, highlighting that the reintegration programme supports the government's goal of having every child in school by 2028.

He also emphasized that the Government of Sierra Leone is steadfast in its commitment to its free, quality education policy, which upholds everyone's right to access school and considers education as an investment that yields important development outcomes.

“Education is an investment that should bring profit and the profit is your qualification. As we give you [adolescent girls] this second chance, my appeal to you all is to make positive use of it by getting the qualification needed, as that is the passport to your opportunities,” the minister said to the girls.

Finah Koroma, a 14-year-old participant in the programme, could no longer continue her schooling when her parents passed away in 2019. She expressed her gratitude for being part of the reintegration programme and requested that “government and donors continue to offer this assistance and expand it to further districts so that additional girls can gain from it.” She also urged other programme participants to “seize this chance and put in extra effort to please our families.”

Emmanuel B. Koroma, Principal of Kondembaia Junior Secondary School expressed that “Young adolescent girls now have the chance to finish their education and reach their full potential thanks to the reintegration. As a school, we value the assistance provided by the donors and the government.”

Media Contacts:

John Baimba Sesay | Web and Media Analyst | UNFPA Sierra Leone |  jsesay@unfpa.org