The Vice Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL), Victor Idrissa Lansana Esq. has called on the government to expedite the approval of the Commission’s proposal for a one-of payment of its approved budget at the beginning of the first month of every year, as captured in the proposed Amendment of its enabling law.
Speaking at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Pre-session in Geneva, the Vice Chairperson said even though the government has progressively increased its budgetary support to the Commission, it is still not where it should be, adding “In fact, there is an inordinate delay in the disbursement of funds, making it difficult to promptly respond to human interest-based stories.”
He stated that HRCSL is an independent government-established institution with a responsibility to hold government accountable on its human rights obligations, adding that the Paris Principles puts a huge obligation on governments to provide adequate support to National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs).
The Vice Chairperson also pointed out the fact that the Commission has still not benefited from the government with vehicles since its establishment in 2004, except for one, which was allocated to the Commission in 2022. “Logistical challenges remain a critical factor hindering its work,” he noted
In his statement, Mr. Lansana also spoke about progress made by Sierra Leone to strengthen the implementation of laws protecting women and children since the last review of Sierra Leone.
While acknowledging that the enactment of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act (GEWE) 2022 has brought prominence to women particularly the educated women, he expressed the Commission’s deep concern at the snail’s pace of the implementation of the law with specific reference to rural women whom the law also empowers to access finance to set up businesses or promote their existing business.
This sect of women who are in the majority are the ones who are mostly the bread-winners of their families. Nonetheless, they are yet to fully benefit from the law,” he said and urged the government through the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Sierra Leone to accelerate steps to ensuring that rural women have access to finance to set up or boost their businesses as envisaged by the law.
In addition, the Vice Chairperson expressed the Commission’s concern that the recently enacted Child Rights Act failed to unequivocally criminalize Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) against children under the age of majority. He added that the cultural practice of FGM against girls undermines their rights to health, education, dignity and life and therefore urged the government to immediately amend the Child Rights Act 2025 particularly section 19 of same to clearly prohibit the practice of FGM against underage girls.
Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Monday, 23rd February 2026 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
