1. INTRODUCTION
The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an offshoot of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development
(NEPAD), was established in 2003 as a governance
monitoring instrument to support the realization of sustainable development. It is a voluntary self assessment
instrument initiated by member states of the African
Union. The APRM objectives are essentially to foster
the adoption of policies, standards and practices that
will ensure political stability, high economic growth ,
sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional
and continental economic integration through experience sharing , reinforcing successful best practices and
identifying deficiencies and assessments of requirements for capacity building . The APRM as such seeks
to encourage the building of transformative leadership, constructive national dialogue through inclusive
and participatory self assessment process. It assesses
member states in four governance thematic areas: 1)
Democracy and Political Governance 2) Economic
Governance and Management, 3) Corporate Governance and 4) Socio-economic Development.
There are currently 37 AU member states of the APRM
and 19 of these have already been peer reviewed
including Sierra Leone. The increasing recognition of
the importance of the APRM following its integration
into the AU saw its increasing mandate now extended
to monitoring AU Agenda 2063 and the UN Global
2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). Countries acceding to the APRM are required after the base
review to periodically present annual progress reports
on the implementation of the APRM NPOA.
1.2. Sierra Leone and the APRM Process
Sierra Leone acceded to the APRM in 2006 but took
vigorous steps in its implementation in 2008 following
the inauguration of an independent APRM National
Governing Council by His Excellency the President Dr.
Ernest Bai Koroma. With strong political commitment
and national drive, the country was peer reviewed in
January 2012. In 2015, the country presented its combined first and second progress reports on the implementation of the NPOA and is adequately prepared
for a second generation review after the presentation
of this combined third and fourth progress reports in
the June/ July APRM Forum of 2017.
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1.3 The Sierra Leone National Context
during the Preparation of these Reports
The Agenda for Prosperity and the Presidential Delivery Priorities (including the Key Results Area) are the
guiding policy documents in the efforts to advance the
country’s social conditions and improve the investment
climate especially after the successful defeat of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) that had affected all aspects of
life in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone has been one of the countries most affected during the EVD crisis, with the disease exerting
a detrimental impact on the health care system and the
population of the country. In addition to the confirmed
14,124 cases and 3,956 deaths, a significant portion
of those surviving the disease suffered from post-EVD
syndromes like muscular skeletal pain, headaches,
and ocular and auditory problems (Source as footnote). Additionally, the EVD puts tremendous pressure
on an already fragile health care sector, which prior
to the outbreak experienced critical shortages in both
staff and crucial resources such as basic equipment for
service delivery and laboratory work. Importantly, as
the Sierra Leonean authorities rushed to contain the
epidemic and treat the people, critical resources were
shifted away from the monitoring and treatment of diseases like malaria, HIV, and measles that had the effect of increasing their proliferation across the country.
As such, the EVD epidemic has resulted in significant
health consequences on a nationwide scale and with
it mounting costs that threaten the country’s economic
outlook for years to come.
While it is not easy to estimate the actual impact
of the EVD on the economy, the general situation in
the country shows that it is substantial. Agriculture
contributes about 41.6% of GDP in Sierra Leone. The
Eastern province is the bread basket of the country
as well as where major cash crops (cocoa and coffee) are grown. It is also the area where the Ministry
of Agriculture has been working on the agricultural
commercialization projects to modernize farming in
the region. According to the Sierra Leone Integrated
Household budget Survey (2011) 63% and 73% (any
recent source to be footnoted) of the people in the rural
areas of Kenema and Kailahun, respectively engage
in agriculture and livestock (rice, cocoa, coffee etc.).
The EVD and the quarantining of Kailahun and KenAPRM Sierra Leone | Annual Progress Report