A Strategic Alliance for Local Impact

Since 2018, the Government of Iceland has deeply collaborated with UNFPA Sierra Leone, transitioning into a key strategic bilateral ally with the launch of its permanent embassy in Freetown in 2024. This value-driven investment explicitly scales critical interventions across six targeted districts: Bo, Bombali, Falaba, Kailahun, Koinadugu, and Port Loko.

The partnership delivers scalable results across four primary thematic pillars:

1. Maternal Health & Dignity

• System-Wide Workforce Training: Over 1,160 healthcare workers and community health workers (CHWs) have been trained directly on life-saving maternal health interventions.

• Institutionalizing Fistula Care: The partnership established institutionalized fistula treatment at Bo Government Hospital, supported the creation of a National Fistula Steering Committee and Technical Working Group, and developed the nation’s first-ever National Strategy for the Elimination of Obstetric Fistula.

• Restoring Agency: 262 obstetric fistula survivors have been successfully rehabilitated and socially reintegrated into their communities.

• Facility Upgrades: 15 facilities were capacity-strengthened to provide Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC), with 5 facilities structurally refurbished to elevate the quality of patient care.

2. Ending Harmful Practices (FGM)

Driving a gender-transformative social movement to eliminate Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in high-prevalence districts, the initiative has achieved the following:

• Community & Stakeholder Mobilization: Reached approximately 28,000 community members with intensive FGM awareness campaigns and actively engaged over 1,500 traditional and religious leaders.

• Survivor Networks: Empowered 450 FGM survivors through dedicated Survivor Advocacy Networks and set up 14 community networks to maintain local momentum.

• Targeted Safe Spaces: Reached more than 9,000 adolescent girls with life skills and peer outreach inside community safe spaces.

• Institutional Support: Educated 13,350 students through school-based programs, trained over 60 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in local advocacy, and equipped 200 service providers in formal FGM case management.

3. Empowering Adolescents & Youth

• Radical Curriculum Reach: Reached 72,000 young girls with comprehensive adolescent health and Life Skills education to strengthen personal knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

• Teacher Training: Facilitated specialized education for local educators to integrate vulnerable or displaced youth smoothly back into formal school systems.

4. Data for Development

• 2026 Census Ownership: Subsidized critical operations for the upcoming 2026 Population and Housing Census (with the initial pilot census successfully completed).

• National Capacity Building: Strengthened national evidence-based decision-making and built public trust through communication campaigns, local district engagements, and digital innovations like pregnancy tracking tools.
  
  Find out more: https://bit.ly/IcelandUNFPAPartnershipinSierraLeone