In an event organized by the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) to formally launch their annual report, the Honourable Vice President, Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh thanked the UNCT for given government a resounding pass mark in delivering social services to people while at same time addressing vulnerabilities. The event which took place today Monday 11th April, 2022 at the Freetown Country Lodge showcase the excellent collaborative work between the UN and the government to deliver on the sustainable development goals.
In presenting the report, the UN Resident Coordinator, Dr. Babatunde Ahonsi highlighted how the interventions of government in collaboration with the UNCT has impacted the lives of Sierra Leoneans over the years. He cited the immense progress in the area of education, health, social protection and food production among others.
According to the UN boss, this is an impressive record given the global impact of COVID-19 on small economies like Sierra Leone. The report clearly stated that over 82 % of children in school going age are in school today while WASH activities including access to water supply has increased From 52 % to 64% in the last one year alone.
Responding to the critical outcomes highlighted by the report, the Honourable Vice President thanked the UNCT for an excellent report which he termed as an independent evaluation of government performance in delivering social services to the people. The VP stated that government programmatic interventions are driven by the Human Capital Development vision of President Julius Maada Bio.
Reacting to the issue of gender inequality in political institutions as the report stated that only 11.6 % of Members of Parliament are female, the VP told the UN and other development partners that experiences in Sierra Leone and elsewhere in the sub-region show that the proportional representation system is the most viable path to enhancing women representation and address politico-electoral tensions and violence particularly in an ethno-regional political context like Sierra Leone.
From all indications, it is clearly evident that the UN report has given an overwhelmingly high rating to President Bio’s administration and more importantly set the stage for the debate on proportional representation in the countryโs electoral politics.
