MEDIA & SOCIETY A Critical Analyses of the Stand Up And Take Action Coverage in Sierra Leone Posted by Ishmael Kindama Dumbuya on Dec 3, 2009, 20:08

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations-and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000. At the climax of the eleven year conflict in Sierra Leone in 2002, the then government headed by former President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah joined the millennium campaign (MDGs) for the eradication of poverty in the country. Sierra Leone starts it millennium campaign eradication from 2003. Since the country starts its implementation process in 2003, it has in one way on the other made stringent efforts for meeting some of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals in the country despite the fact that there are great lapses.

Sierra Leone is among the world’s poorest nations in the world. It has faced decades of economic decline added to twelve years of armed conflict and have had dramatic consequences on the economy. Poverty is widespread with more than 70% of the population living below the poverty line and the country ranks last in the Human Development Index (UNDP report). Nonetheless, post-conflict economic growth has been robust with real GDP growth between 6%-7% in recent years.

Fiscal and external sector reforms have led to improved financial performance with lower fiscal and external current account deficits, lower domestic borrowing and relatively stable exchange rates. Politically, progress has been steady with two successful presidential, national and local elections since the end of the conflict. Despite recent achievements, Sierra Leone will not meet its targets for the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015. UNDP and other UN agencies supported a Millennium Development Goal needs assessment which gauged the human resources, infrastructure and finances required in twelve priority areas identified by the government: agriculture, education, gender, health, HIV/IDS, the environment, transportation, energy, water and sanitation, science, innovation and technology, private sector development and job creation, and public sector management.

The assessment underlined the importance of economic growth, recommending investment in agriculture, mining, fisheries and tourism and the need for a macro-economic framework and growth strategy. The total cost of investment required from 2007 to 2015 is nearly $19 billion. Given current donor commitments the financing gap is close to $17.6 billion. However, almost 60% of this cost is for infrastructure especially building and maintainingroads.

UNDP support to the MDG needs assessment and development of Macroeconomic Frameworks has assisted the government in the preparation of the next phase of national development plans, specifically the PRSP 2009-12, with priorities anchored around infrastructure, energy and agricultural development.
Additionally, the UN and the government have taken steps to roll out Development information as a tool to improve access to data on development to monitor the MDGs.

The UN Country Team has mainstreamed the MDGs in the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for Sierra Leone and the UN Peace Building Commission and Fund have become key tools to mitigate risks that could arrest or reverse progress towards meeting the MDGs.
Importantly, there has been effective leadership by the Government in the MDG needs assessment process. In addition, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, in collaboration with UNDP and NGOs, undertook an MDG awareness campaign through non-formal education centres. This has allowed the general population to engage the government on a more equal footing when discussing the national development agenda.

The Targeted Goals

At the Millennium Summit in New York in the year 2000, the world leaders met together and agreed on the following targets; Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, Achieve universal primary education, Promote gender equality and empower women, Reduce child mortality, Improve maternal health, Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, Ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development

The Media and Poverty Campaign in Sierra Leone

The fight against poverty is a key in the development strides of most African countries including Sierra Leone. As we all know poverty continues to eat deep into the fabric of society especially in the African continent, In Sierra Leone a number of programmes and activities have been untaken by the government to address the problem of poverty in almost all the targeted goals.

There is the government food sufficiency initiative, free primary education for all children, about 70% primary and secondary schools operating a co-educational system, free polio and measles vaccination, presently the government of Sierra Leone has set a heath sector plan to ensure free delivery system for mothers, the government has created the National AIDS Secretariat and the Sierra Leone HIV/AIDS Response Programme to tackle the prevalence of the virus in the country, setting up a forestry division and the Sierra Leone  Environmental Commission to ensure regulate the activities of the environment and also ensure environmental sustainability and had developed policies for international corporation as well as running the country into business by allowing mobile telecommunications to operate in the country.

The structural adjustment programme is another initiative by the government of Sierra Leone to fight the scourge of poverty in the country, followed by the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. Presently the government of Sierra Leone is pursuing what it refers to as the PRSP 2 and a supplementary policy document known as the Agenda for Change. The Agenda for Change sets the pace for development and reduction of poverty in Sierra Leone. Before going further, it is important to note that the media in Sierra Leone both print and electronic have since been engaged in the reporting on issues that will end poverty in the country before the millennium declaration in 2000. 

Sierra Leone is a member of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) and the media continues to partner with the Civil Society Organizations in the fight against poverty in any corner of the country. The global call is a civil society initiative calling on world leaders and duty bearers about their commitment to end extreme hunger and poverty. Stand up and take action now is this year theme for the campaign.

Over three hundred thousand people were recorded to have Stand Up in Sierra Leone joining millions of other civil society around the world reminding world leaders and heads of governments about their commitment and responsibilities in meeting the targets of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. In October each year, is the month of mobilization where Civil Society Organization partners with stakeholders and a number of activities are witnessed taking into consideration key dates when world leaders will be meeting to take decision about reducing poverty and extreme hunger in mostly developing countries.

The Stand Up and Take Action campaign has been successful since the campaign started. For instance, Sierra Leone’s external debt of 1.7 Billion United Dollars was canceled in 2007 through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative programme. Just after the war in Sierra Leone, the then United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has once stated that “Rampant and growing corruption combined with an extremely high youth unemployment rate could lead Sierra Leone to renewed political violence”. But through the existence of the campaign, it has led to the introduction of a number of reforms in the country.

And key among them is the present Anti Corruption Commission that was set up to investigate corrupt practices meant for the ruining of the country’s economic resources. Since it introduction in 2000, the Anti Corruption Commission has recovers over five hundred thousand United States Dollars from the hands of corrupt officials. Sierra Leone continues to reform its laws all gearing towards improving issues of governance in the country.

The Sierra Leone media has been very much active in all of these strides, reporting on these activities and at the same time exposing corrupt activities in the country. For instance, the media institution where I belong (Standard Times Newspaper) has been exposing corrupt practices in the past years through supportive documents and the institution has helped to set the pace for transparency since then. Sierra Leone has improved its rank and score in the corruption perception Index survey issued annually by Transparency International for the 2009 year.

The survey issued by Transparency International ranks Sierra Leone at 146 out of 180 countries around the world and has a score of 2.2.  This ranking reveals a substantial improvement for the country in its efforts to curb corruption and this improvement is as a result of partial contribution of the media in Sierra Leone in reporting corruption cases and going beyond the news and digs the truth about these ill practices. 

Reporting corruption in any country besides Sierra Leone is one way the media can help in the development aspiration of a country and Sierra Leone media has been doing this for the development of its nation particularly because it is so mindful of its obligation and responsibilities.

Before a country can kick poverty and reduce hunger, it needs to set certain policies that will encourage economic growth, pressing forward with Sierra Leone’s sustainable development, and poverty reduction and also it is the need for the government to encourage agricultural farming. The G-8 Finance Ministers in June of 2005 arrived at several conclusions. One of them reads  “In order to make progress on social and economic development, it is essential that developing countries put in place the policies for economic growth, sustainable development, and poverty reduction”.

The government of Sierra Leone has been working diligently to develop Sierra Leone rapidly. The President has visited India with an outline to collaborate with that nation and solicit the machinery in accomplishing the Food Security initiative that was started by the former government. The civil societies in Sierra Leone have been holding the governments of the country to task for the commitments the country signed to fulfil by 2015. Recently, Amnesty International report holds the government of Sierra Leone to task for not doing much in combating maternal mortality in the country.

Ever since the civil society have been campaigning for the reduction of poverty and fulfilling the MDGs in Sierra Leone, they have been calling the government to comment on certain recommendations. On the side of the government of Sierra Leone, they will always cite instances and promises of what they have done, what they are doing and what they are planning to do.