Isha Turay (23) is a mother of two boys aged 7 and 5. She shared how the Yoti Yoti programme has helped her move from struggling with casual farm work to building a more stable future.

Sierra Leone

Why Sierra Leone? Concern has been working in Sierra Leone for 30 years. In that time we’ve helped the country recover from over a decade of civil war and the world’s largest Ebola epidemic – and we’re continuing to help hundreds of thousands of Sierra Leoneans in the fight against poverty.

More than 26% of Sierra Leoneans live below the poverty line

Sierra Leone remains one of the world’s poorest countries, ranking 185 out of 193 on the UN’s most recent Human Development Index. The country continues to face deep economic challenges and rising inflation, leading to increased food and fuel prices and a weakened national currency. More than 26% of Sierra Leoneans live below the international poverty line. Nearly 57% are affected by income poverty, and youth unemployment is likewise high at 60% – meaning that many young people are facing both a lack of opportunities and increasing financial insecurity. As financial pressures rise, so too do hunger and malnutrition.

While Sierra Leone has made progress in reducing maternal mortality rates and increasing school attendance, poor health outcomes and illiteracy also remain widespread issues – along with gender-based violence (GBV) and the effects of climate change. Taken together, these issues undermine progress and increase vulnerability, particularly for those furthest behind.

Concern in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone Visit_2025.pdf

(PDF, 5 MB)

Published: 11 July 2025

Sierra Leone Strategic Plan 2024-2026.pdf

(PDF, 4 MB)

Published: 15 December 2025

Latest achievements

Programme impact

Last year, Concern Sierra Leone reached over 1.27 million people – including over 735,000 directly – across nutrition, livelihoods and climate adaptation programmes.

Climate resilience

Strengthening partnerships

Concern Worldwide has partnered with the appropriately-named Water Street community in Wellington, Sierra Leone, to create a drainage system that will keep home and people safe from flash flooding during the rainy season. Previously, according to Chairlady Fatmata Puhindei, lives had been lost to the floods. Photo: Kieran McConville/Concern Worldwide

Isha Turay (23) is a mother of two boys. Through the Yoti Yoti programme, she has move from struggling with casual farm work to building a more stable future. Photo: Eugene Ikua/Concern Worldwide

Hassanatu Bangura, chairlady of Kiltiock village, is alongside Isatu Kargbo working in their rice plantation as part of Sierra Leone Coastal Resilience Project. Since the programme began, the community has committed to protecting and regenerating mangroves, once heavily relied upon for firewood and fish smoking, in the hope of reducing flooding and restoring fish stocks. Photo: Eugene Ikua/Concern Worldwide

Hassantu Dumbuya at Bundulai Maternal and Child Health Post, where she provides essential care to mothers and children in the community. Through the LANN programme, supporting health, nutrition, agriculture and livelihoods, parents are now better informed and equipped to prevent malnutrition, and she says it is no longer a major concern in the community. Photo: Eugene Ikua/Concern Worldwide

Joseph David Koroma, a Sierra Leonean medical student, developed LifeBlood to increase public awareness and the number of voluntary blood donations, along with improving the efficiency of blood banks by digitising the systems used to track the availability of blood. Concern, formed a partnership with Joseph’s tech start-up, AutoHealth in 2022 to pilot LifeBlood. It resulted in an 150% increase in donors and a total increase in the supply of blood products from 15% to 84% of what was needed for basic treatments. Photo: Concern Worldwide

Safinatu Kamara (22) with her aunt and grandmother at the family home in Mambolo. The health centre that Safinatu is attending for her pregnancy is supported by Concern. Photo: Darren Vaughan/Concern Worldwide

How we're helping Sierra Leone

Our approach in Sierra Leone aims to tackle all dimensions of poverty, focusing on health, nutrition, livelihoods, emergency response, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).