By Mohamed Daramy

With over half of Sierra Leone’s population under the age of 18, child protection issues and children’s rights are of huge concern in the West African country. Every day, children and young people face challenging social and economic problems and are left vulnerable to neglect, abuse and exploitation in the form of child labour, child trafficking and indecent work. Child vulnerability is on the increase in Gloucester community. This is underpinned by number of factors. One of the factors can relate to maltreatment of children. In connection to this, on 19 September 2022, World Health Organization published an article stating that nearly 3 in 4 children- or 300 million children- aged 2-4 years regularly suffer physical punishment and/or psychological violence at the hands of parents and caregivers. Maltreatment on children has been a long and enduring economic consequence for individual and society at large. Children who are maltreated are more likely to have lower levels of educational attainment in life. Maltreatment on children in Gloucester community has negatively impacted their mental health and conviction of not wanting to do any meaningful thing in their lives for the benefit of themselves. A report by Afro Barometer on 8 December, 2022, said that a solid majority (60%) of Sierra Leoneans says parents are “sometimes” or “always” justified in using physical force to discipline their children. But opposition to physical discipline has increased, from 33% in 40% in 2022.

Another contributing factor for children vulnerability in Gloucester community could be children in out-of-home care. They are particularly vulnerable group in the community. According to estimates by SOS children’s villages, 310,000 children in Sierra Leone grow up without their parents, many of them as a result of the war, 18,000 of them have been orphaned due to AIDS. The high rate of children in out-of-home care are higher in Gloucester community than children in home care in other surrounding communities. In an interview with Mr. Fofanah, the Headman of Gloucester community, he said that there are limited opportunities to help these children catch up, for example by providing care placements with well-supported foster carers. He added that they are calling on the government and non-governmental organizations to support these children out of care systems as this will reduce the security risks in the community. Alusine, a victim of out-of-home care narrated that many of his peers on the street have turned to drugs to survive on the streets and substance misuse is a common way for them to numb the reality of their experiences on the streets. He added that they smoke Kush for a variety of reasons including; a way to suppress their hunger or coldness; using it as a way to forget their problems; to help them sleep at night; and the need to feel free/escape the reality of street life. In Gloucester community, the drug of choice currently seems to be Marijuana, Tramadol and Kush is now the most popular among them.

Moreover, children vulnerability in the community is not caused by a single factor, but the interaction of several over time. In addition to housing insecurity, homeless children are also in the increase. In line with this, on 6 February, 2024, the senior Human Rights Adviser to UN in Sierra Leone Dr. Uchenna Emelonye said 70% of the homeless population in the street are made up of young people and street children in Sierra Leone. Homeless children in Gloucester community encounter other stressors such as family separation. Children under the age of ten are especially affected by family stress because of the rapid pace of early brain development. Despite many international children’s rights policies being and endorsed by the Sierra Leone authorities, the baseline assessment concludes that children protection system in Sierra Leone is relatively weak, under-resourced, donor-dependent and lacking coordination. The failure of the system to effectively monitor and prosecute perpetrators is seen to be a major driving factor in the prevalence of the child protection issue.

Conclusively, the government should ensure that the implementation of the Child Rights Act 2007 which provides for the promotion of the Rights of the Child, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 20th November, 1989. By addressing these challenges faced by children and leveraging these opportunities not only for vulnerable children in Gloucester community but also children in Sierra Leone. Child protection policies can be more effectively implemented to create a safe and secure environment for children.