Sierra Leone

Publications

Sierra Leone's Medium-Term National Development Plan 2019 -2023

Sierra Leone. National draft policy framework for social protection in Sierra Leone (2009)

Social Protection for Migrant Workers and their Families in ECOWAS States

The enabling environment for sustainable enterprises in Sierra Leone

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Situation and Priorities

Social protection situation

In Sierra Leone, basic infrastructure has been affected by various calamities, from natural disasters to war. With a majority of citizens living in poverty and under severe deficits in terms of access to infrastructure and public services, there is a need to improve social protection systems, especially to cater for basic needs and social services such as health care and education.
The coverage gap in Sierra Leone is associated with a significant underinvestment in social protection. With 0.7 per cent of GDP allocated to social protection expenditures (excluding health care), Sierra Leone is one of the countries with the lowest levels of investment in social protection. The sector is heavily reliant on external support. In terms of social protection programmes, there are a number of non-contributory social assistance programmes in Sierra Leone:

an unconditional cash transfer programme launched in 2014 and implemented by the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) with funding from the World Bank. The most recent phase of the SSN, which ended in December 2019, supported 28,500 households. With additional funding from the World Bank, the SSN was expected to expand to support 30,000 households across all districts from 2020 for three years.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) runs two social pensions: the Social Safety Net Programme for the Vulnerable Aged (since 2004) and the National Social Safety Net Programme (since 2007). Both support approximately 16,000 pensioners; however, due to lack of funding, both provide irregular payments to beneficiaries.
A number of public works programmes in operation, implemented by various ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, and NaCSA. The number of beneficiaries these programmes support varies depending on available financing.

Workers in informal economy are among category of population with limited social protection coverage. The National Social Security and Insurance Trust Act No.5 of 2001 stipulates that the NASSIT scheme covers “all workers employed in the formal sector” both (Public and Private) on a mandatory basis and provides voluntary membership for the self- employed. However, since commencement of the NASSIT in 2002, the Scheme was only able to register 259,505 members (as at June 2021) of which 5,379 are voluntary contributions, representing 2.07% of insured population. The NASSIT has encouraged workers in the informal sector to voluntarily contribute to the existing scheme but this has not received the anticipated response and NASSIT now seeks new options by designing an appropriate social insurance scheme that meets their needs.

COVID-19 and other crises

The COVID 19 pandemic hit the country at a time when the economy was growing slower than expected and had exacerbated the situation. Social protection was one of the five pillars under the Quick Action Economic Recovery Plan (QAERP) that was initiated in April 2020 for socio-economic response to COVID. The government organized a food distribution and delivered cash transfers to affected households.

The social protection response to COVID-19 has been financed by the government, including through a US$ 30 million International Development Association (IDA) grant from the World Bank, and external financing from the European Commission. The European Commission committed €5.5 million to support a social protection response to COVID-19.These funds were intended to support the Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT). However, the European Commission faced challenges in disbursing and administering the funds, with final approval delivered in November 2020.

Visit the Social Protection COVID-19 Monitor

Government and social partner priorities

In 2011, the Government of Sierra Leone adopted a national Social Protection Policy (revised in 2018) defining the specific outcomes and prioritized interventions, focussing on ten areas. Some of these priorities include increasing access to education and health services, encouraging traditional family and community support for the vulnerable, promoting social insurance schemes and providing transfers to increase the use of social services, such as health services.

More recently, the Medium-term National Development Plan (MTNDP) 2019–2023 has been developed. This plan outlines a number of ambitious targets and policy actions to enhance social protection. These include :

strengthening foundational systems (e.g. establishing an integrated national ID card system),
enhancing the shock responsiveness of the sector (e.g. establishing a social safety net fund for emergency response),
expanding social security to informal economy , and expanding social assistance to cover 30% of the vulnerable population.