Page updated on 02/02/2009

Sierra Leone was ruled in early times by traditional chiefs, kings and warriors whose systems of governance had been influenced by migrant populations and ethnic warlords during the successive ancient West African Empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhay.

Health and Nutrition outcomes were among the worst in the world: infant mortality (160 per 1,000 live births in 2006); maternal mortality (1,077 per 100,000 live births in 2005) and under five-mortality rate (271 per 1,000 in 2005). Poverty is heavily concentrated in the rural and other urban areas outside Freetown. Revised estimates suggest that 66% of the population lived below the poverty line in 2004.

Underemployment is a problem. In 2006, three out of every ten young men (aged 20-24), were neither formally employed or in education. The problem is especially acute in urban areas.

How you can help