7.2.5.5 The health budget 350. The GoSL has allocated an increased budget to health care, specifically to increase the scale and reach of essential children’s health services and to ensure they reach marginalized communities. 351. In 2014, the GoSL allocated a budget of Le 99,1 billion and 7,1 billion to the Ministries of Health and Sanitation and Water Resources respectively to provide strengthened and more effective health, water and sanitation services to the people of Sierra Leone (Minister of Finance and Economic Development, 2013). 352. To improve access to piped water and sanitation, the GoSL has allocated, in 2014, an amount of Le 7,1 billion to the Minister of Water Resources and development partners a further U$ 37,3 million for project to improve access to piped water and improve water and sanitation infrastructure and services (Minister of Finance and Economic Development, 2013). 353. The money allocated to the MoHS included Le 36,8 billion to improve access to quality and basic health services, including Malaria, HIV and AIDS, TB and Leprosy Prevention and Control; Le 24,8 billion for reproductive and child health care services which includes Le 20,1 billion for the FHC programme and Le 18,1 billion for Tertiary health care. Le 17,8 billion has been allocated for the delivery of devolved health services in local communities. 354. Development partner contributions to the 2014 health budget amount to US$63,2 million for various projects, including the Reproductive Child Health Project, the Maternal Child Health Project and the transformation of three tertiary hospitals and the PHC Support Project. The GoSL is providing Le 2,0 billion for refurbishing public hospitals. 355. The MoHS has developed a funding compact to ensure that funds sourced from development partners are used to address priority health issues. 7.3 Social security and child care services 356. A number of recent developments mark a significant policy shift in Sierra Leone towards the development of a holistic child protection and welfare system premised on a preventative framework of action. The emerging framework targets the elimination of the social and economic determinants of children’s current state of vulnerability, especially the most marginalized, to poor health, poor education, and high levels of violence, abuse and exploitation. 357. The GoSL has until recently adopted a more reactive approach to the promotion of children’s rights. This was, in part necessitated by its particular history. It has however recognized that the near-universal scale of vulnerability and the fact that this is shaped by social and economic determinants requires a more holistic and preventative approach aimed at remediating the underlying structural drivers of the vulnerability of all children in Sierra Leone – notably poverty, weakened family and parental environments, and lack of access to routine services. The key interventions include the development and provision of a promotive social protection platform, 90  Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone Initial Report on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child 2002-2014