The Latest Breaking News from Sierra Leone

The foreign secretary received a warm welcome in the country of his mother’s birth but critics say the slashing of aid budgets undermines the message of support for women and girls

The Foreign Secretary is visiting his mother’s home town to announce a plan aimed at tackling threats to gender equality.

The Foreign Secretary will use the trip to announce his department’s updated approach to helping women and girls globally.

This week on The Sound Kitchen you’ll hear the answer to the question about Sierra Leone’s new gender equality bill, as well as the “Listeners Corner” and “Music from Erwan”. All that, and the new quiz question, too, so click on the “Play” button above and enjoy!

Eugenia Kargbo has an unusual job: she is the city of Freetown’s chief heat officer. Her role in Sierra Leone’s capital is the first of its kind in Africa. She has been tasked with raising public awareness about extreme heat, improving responses to heat waves, and collecting, analysing and visualising…

Sierra Leone's main opposition party has named Samura Kamara, the runner-up in the last presidential election, as its candidate for the next vote in June 2023.

How mentors are saving the lives of pregnant teens in Sierra Leone

Around the world, 130 million girls are out of school. And following the Covid pandemic, it’s estimated that a further 11 million girls may not return to the classroom. With barriers like early marriage, pregnancy, violence and harassment and period poverty, millions of girls are fighting to learn. Let Girls…

Fifa is investigating allegations of sexual harassment by the former coach of the Sierra Leone women’s national team

Sex for lunch money or just to jump the queue for water – teen pregnancy is common in Sierra Leone and death rates among pregnant girls are shockingly high. 2YoungLives is a mentoring scheme that aims to help girls survive childbirth and get back to education.

Sierra Leone has passed a law requiring public and private entities to reserve 30 percent of their jobs for women in a bid to tackle gender imbalances in a male-dominated society.