71.4 The Ministry has further, with the support of UNICEF, initiated a process for the Mapping and Identification of Underserved Communities. This is a planning tool that will facilitate population- based planning to ensure equity and access to services for marginalized and under-served communities. As will be demonstrated during the course of this report, one of the biggest challenges to the development of Sierra Leone is the persistent inequity in access to services and information for remote and marginalized communities, especially those in rural areas. The mapping process is aimed at developing survey maps, based on existing data of available services and access to services, identifying the location of the most deprived communities. The objective is to develop clear maps showing the geographical location of service delivery gaps and bottlenecks which will inform future programme and delivery design and development. 2.4 Involvement of civil society, children and youth in implementation and monitoring of the Charter 72. Civil society, children and youth play an active role in the development, implementation and monitoring of policies, laws and programmes which give effect to the rights protected by the Charter. 73. Key policies and laws such as the Child Rights Act and Child Welfare Policy have been developed through structured inclusive consultative processes. For example, the Child Welfare Policy was developed under the leadership of a Technical Working Group which included representatives of civil society organizations, child rights experts, academics and various government ministries. Representatives from traditional leadership and religious structures and the Sierra Leone Association for NGOs provided input into the draft policy and children, parents, community leaders, local councillors, staff of different ministries and civil society participated in regional consultations on drafts of the policy. 74. Given the GoSL’s human and financial resource constraints, international and national NGOs play a key role in supporting implementation of child rights programmes, as do community members and volunteers, such as the maternal and child health workers. The GoSL has sought to better coordinate the various contributions of civil society through the formal recognition and delineation of their roles within overarching policies, laws and strategic programme documents so as to ensure the most efficient use of collective resources and the minimisation of duplication of efforts towards realization of the country’s most pressing needs. For example, the Local Government Act (2004) makes express provision for local councillors to coordinate and harmonize development programmes and the associated activities of development partners, including NGOs; in the health sector, a compact has been developed to coordinate and direct donor funds and contributions towards attainment of common national child health priorities; and in the child protection sector, in terms of the Child Rights Act and the draft Child Welfare Policy a more mature and formalized relationship is envisaged between the MSWGCA, civil society organizations and Local Councils. The latter are tasked with establishing more effective and structured partnerships with approved welfare-oriented civil society 2. General Measures of Implementation  27