Concerted Action Against Sexualised and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the Mano River Region – Sierra Leone and Liberia

Over the past three years, medica mondiale and six partner organisations have collaborated to address sexualised and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the Mano River Region in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The ambitious programme aimed to reduce the prevalence of sexualised and gender-based violence, improve the response of local organisations and public institutions to sexualised and gender-based violence, and to build effective collaboration and alliances between civil society organisations in the region.  

Both Liberia and Sierra Leone were involved in protracted and intertwined civil wars through the 1990s and early 2000s. These brutal conflicts involved organised and systematic rape, sexualised torture and enslavement, and forced recruitment of child soldiers. In subsequent decades, while both countries have advanced legislation regarding sexualised and gender-based violence and have heightened their attention to the issue, multiple challenges remain. These include persistent gender disparities in education and employment, limited access to sexual and reproductive health rights and services, limited access to justice for survivors, and the continuation of harmful practices such as female genital cutting.

Within this context, medica mondiale and national organisations Girl2Girl Empowerment Movement, Choices and Voices Foundation for Women and Girls, Women Against Violence and Exploitation in Society, Medica Liberia, Aiding Disadvantaged and Traumatised Women and Girls (ADWANGA), and Rising Youth Mentorship Initiative (RYMI) completed an ambitious programme involving interventions at the societal and political, institutional, and individual levels. Collaborative work was carried out with government counterparts seeking to improve and implement national policies and legal frameworks – including Sierra Leone’s third National Action Plan (SiLNAP) on gender, and Liberia’s new sexual exploitation and abuse guidelines – as well as advocacy work and public awareness raising. Efforts to improve response mechanisms to sexualised and gender-based violence focused on training women’s rights organisations and relevant service providers and public institutions on the Stress- and Trauma-sensitive Approach (STA) to working with survivors. Support was also provided to establish and make available community-based protection mechanisms for women and girls. Greater collaboration, trust and synergy among feminist organisations in the region was one of the key achievements of the programme and well positions partners to continue engagement on these themes into the future.