Background

Sierra Leone is a small but densely populated country in West Africa with a population of approximately 7 million and a land area of 72,325 Km2. The country is divided into five main geographical regions : the coastline, interior lowland plains, interior plateau, the mountains, and the Freetown Peninsula.
Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, alternating between dry and dusty periods (December to April) and rainy season (May to November) monsoons with torrential rains and flooding. The climate and geography of Sierra Leone leave the population exposed to both natural hazards such as floods, landslides, and tropical storms, as well as infectious disease outbreaks such as Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), Meningitis, and Dengue Fever.
From 2010 to 2019, natural disasters affected roughly 43.7 thousand people and claimed over 1,150 lives in Sierra Leone (EM-DAT, 2020).
Recent major disasters are linked to episodes of heavy rain, including the 2019 flash floods in Freetown, the 2017 flood, and the Sugar Loaf landslide in the Western Area.
This policy brief highlights the existing gaps/challenges faced by the country and makes recommendations for the effective integration of gender in policies and programmes relating to DRM and O&E response.

Outbreaks and disasters are not gender neutral and women and men experience disasters and outbreaks differently.

Available evidence from previous disease outbreaks and disasters indicates severe economic damage and loss of lives with disproportionate effects on the poorest and most vulnerable particularly women and children. The differential impact is attributed to socially prescribed gender norms and behavior that perpetuate gender inequality ; the gendered division of labor between men and women ; and gender-related differences in access to and control over productive resources. For instance, during EVD, more women (56.7%) than men (43.3%) were affected. This is evident in the August 2019 Flood and mudslide in Freetown as out of 1,817 affected households, 968 are female headed, 754 males headed and 95 children–headed.
Moreover, during the EVD outbreak there was a sharp decline in maternal health indicators ; increased vulnerability to sexual and gender-based violence ; and a decline and disruption in women’s agricultural productivity and small –scale businesses.

Sierra Leone’s Legislative, Policy and Institutional Achievements in DRM and O&E

As a consequence of the socio-economic impact of natural disasters and disease outbreaks, the Government of Sierra Leone has shown considerable efforts to improve efficiency in DRM and Public Health emergency preparedness and response through the adoption and establishment of legislative, policy, and institutional frameworks and mechanisms to effectively prevent, mitigate, and respond to epidemics and recover from their aftermath.

These include :

• Adoption of National Disaster Risk Management Policy (NDRMP) in 2018.
• Passing of the National Disaster Management Act (2020) and the establishment of the National Disaster Management Agency.
• Establishment of Public Health National Emergency Operations Center (PHNEOC) in 2016 as a response to the 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak.
• Passage of Public Health Act (2023) and establishment of the National Public Health Agency.
• Commitment of the Government of Sierra Leone in Disaster Risk Financing to create Emergency Trust Fund (ETF) as provided in the National Disaster Management Act. Moreover, the Ministry of Finance is drafting a Disaster Risk Financing Strategy.
• Adoption of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Policy and GEWE Act in 2020 and 2022 respectively represent significant milestones in efforts to integrate a gender perspective in DRM and O&E prevention and response.

Important Gaps/Challenges including the following

• Gender perspective not fully integrated into O&E and DRM legislative, policy and institutional frameworks.

Apart from the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Act and Policy, existing legislative and policy frameworks within the O&E and DRM sectors : such as the National Disaster Management Act, 2020, Public Health Act, and National Disaster Management Policy, 2018 do not have gender-specific provisions.

• Limited capacity to mainstream gender within the O&E and DRM sectors.

Although few personnel (including gender focal persons) within Sierra Leone’s national DRM and Public Health institutions have some basic gender training, the capacity for effective mainstreaming of gender requires more comprehensive training for all staff at national and sub-national levels.

• No gender parity in relation to women’s participation and representation, especially at field levels.

Although there are promising efforts in terms of women’s representation at leadership and programme levels in the health and DRM sectors, generally women participation at community or field levels is low.

• Existence of social norms and practices.

Restricting women’s role to predominantly reproductive work (caring for household members) limits their participation and representation in public decision-making bodies.

• In-effective mechanisms to prevent, mitigate, and respond to gender-based violence, especially sexual exploitation and abuse during emergencies.

• Financing and Budgeting is ad hoc, limited, and not gender-responsive.

The Disaster Management Fund and Public Health Emergency Trust Fund are yet to be established. DRM and Public health financing remain relatively low and at best ad hoc. Also, there is no evidence of gender-responsive budgeting in the DRM and public health emergency sector.

Key Policy Recommendations

• Integrate gender transformative approaches into institutional policies and strategic frameworks : formulate gender-specific institutional policies for DRM and public health sectors ; and review existing policies and Strategic Plans : National Disaster Management Policy (2018), NDMA Strategic Plan (2020-2024, Draft National Disaster Risk Financing Strategy.

• Strengthen capacity for effective mainstreaming of gender across O&E and DRM sectors : establish and formalize gender units in all related government institutions and conduct gender mainstreaming training for all DRM and Health sector staff.

• Improve funding capacity for O&E response and DRM : establish and operationalize the Disaster Management Fund and Public Health Emergency Trust Fund ; facilitate policy dialogues and donor forums to mobilize resources for DRM and Public Health financing ; explore funding opportunity provided through the African Risk Capacity’s Parametric Risk Transfer Insurance mechanism ; and roll-out Gender Responsive Budgeting in all sectors including Health and DRM sectors.

• Increase community awareness and knowledge of the interlinkages between O&E, Disasters and Gender- Hold community radio panel discussions ; and develop and disseminate risk communication messages to address the specific needs and concerns of different genders, age groups and people with disabilities ; and engagement with diverse community groups.

• Strengthen Coordination of gender-sensitive DRM and Public Health Emergency- Establish a multi-stakeholder coordination mechanism ; and convene multi-stakeholder Coordination Meetings.