Sierra Leone : An African Country

There were no jobs even if you were educated,” a 32 year-old male ex-combatant said (Archibald and Richards 8). So, youths have one choice in what they do around chiefs and youth leaders, and it is to run away from everything. Though, the choice is a poor decision, and now, instead of a semi-stable life, they lead a life of fighting and violence. Now, the women of Sierra Leone are kept at the bottom of the social ladder by customary law (Archibald and Richards 10). To be kept at the bottom because of being a different gender is belittling; barely being counted as a human being with not even a third of the rights one should have. The population of both youth and women seem to be in a process of characterized as the invention of human rights ‘from below’ (Archibald and Richards 2). A Luanda-based British diplomat did say the international community could intervene and help the youth and women, but it will not (Gordon 1). No one would come to aid these people, to help them through the rough patches in their society, and, in all, they were left to solve their own problems. Life in Sierra Leone was not close to being at a stable level, it was getting rougher to live in the country. The people of Sierra Leone were getting treated badly as the economy in the country was lowering.

Ishmael is a wonderful young man who becomes a victim of a devastating civil war in Sierra Leone. Like most other civilians, he is a victim of a terror campaign on the part of both sides of the war. Millions of civilians die in this conflict and in that way, Ishmael is lucky, because he lives. However, he comes out of the experience as a boy soldier badly damaged. He has lost his family to the rebel atrocities just before he has the chance to be reunited. He sees friends and comrades die the most horrible deaths before his eyes, he lives in horrible conditions day in and day out, and most of the time, he sees little hope that his existence will ever change.

Sierra Leone is located in West Africa and share a border with Liberia and Guinea. Its current population is 6.5 million with 3.2 million men and 3.3 million women. The country has 16 diverse tribal groups with diverse languages. The younger populace has 42% and a rural populace with 62% who are living outside the cities. (Countrymeters, 2016)

Uganda is a third world country, dealing with extreme poverty, it is a landlocked country located in

Sierra Leone is a third world country about half the size of Illinois and a population of 6.2 million. The small country is along the west coast of Africa with a mangrove swamp along its coast. The country is between two other countries that are infested with the deadly virus. The main source of income for this country is blood diamonds,

Sierra Leone’s modern history is one that is full of issues which were prevalent throughout the latter part of the 20th century. This small country has struggled to maintain a proper footing. Unfortunately, it took multiple coups and a violent civil war for Sierra Leone to reach a somewhat stable state socially. These issues may be largely due to the country’s strange origins. This essay will be discussing some of the events that lead up to the brutal civil war and the war itself.

Sierra Leone, a country that lies on the west coast of Africa, faced a gruesome war that occurred from 1991 to 2002. The civil war generated consequences that the people of Sierra Leone and its economy are paying for. Sierra Leone’s economic development and progress after the post-civil war became an interest to me because Sierra Leone is where my family originated from. I personally can relate to the war and the consequences it brought upon my family because I was born outside of Sierra Leone during the time of the civil war. The civil war that transpired resulted in the displacement and relocation of my family. As a result, we were relocated to the United States in 2001. Because of my personal interest in the Sierra Leone conflict, I would like to investigate the aftermath of the war on the economy and the people.

Predominantly an African American country with a strong Muslim influence totaling more than 60 percent, the 5.7 million citizens living in Sierra Leone have established democracy headed by Ernest Bai Koroma in 2005 (State). Sierra Leone is the world’s leader in diamond export. Many would believe that this is the countries main source of profit, but it actually accounts for a small portion in comparison to the countries profit on agricultural exportation. Diamonds weigh in for a whopping total 4.5% of the countries total gross domestic product (WorldPress). The country, being rich in minerals, has been subject of greed and corruption within the government, thus leading to less political interference in the countries stability. Since the 1960’s when much of the political unrest began with the country’s attempt to establish a recognized government was met with many different political theories with factions like the Sir Milton's Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) and the All Peoples Congress, education and children’s needs have been subject to much neglect in much of Sierra Leones outlaying districts due to the controversies surrounding both political and government instability.

Sierra Leone is a country most notoriously known for its humanitarian problems associated with conflict diamonds. These luxury items have caused numerous individuals residing in the third world country to lose their lives or lose the ability to live a fruitful life. In addition to their humanitarian issues, they are also plagued by issues of bad governance. Their recent civil war that took place during most of the 1990s had tainted the citizens’ views on what an effective government could do. To complicate matters further, there was also a recent disastrous Ebola outbreak that not only harmed the residents in great numbers, but also the already hindered economy. Their economy, heavily instilled in agrarian and natural resource roots, is

Prior to the intervention, Sierra Leone was enduring a civil war sparked by socio-economic issues of poverty, resulting in violence. Bakarr Bah (2013) states that “this civil war posed security and humanitarian challenges for the international community”. Lucy Scott mentions that insecurity, social, economic and political exclusion set the conditions for violence. The United Nation, however, became a major participant after the 1999 Lomé Peace Agreement (Bah, 2013). The agreement was a settlement amongst major figures including the rebel armies. The armies, such as the RUF, refused and tensions increased. This resulted in the military intervention of the British. Abu Bakarr Bah (2013) mentions that this intervention implied that there was an international responsibility to protect civilians. Even though the intervention was helpful in ending the war, the post conditions were set up to ensure stability of peace, hoping to promote socio-economic growth.

Sierra Leone is located in the western part of Africa with a surface area of 72,300 square kilometers. The current population of Sierra Leone stands at 6 million. The population growth from 2010 to 2015 was estimated at 2.2% (UNdata | country profile | Sierra Leone, 2017). The capital city is Freetown and the most popular languages spoken are English, being its official language, Krio, Mende, Temne and Limba (Sierra Leone | Afrobarometer, 2017). The country’s main religions are Islam and Christianity. Islam, Christianity and indigenous belief accounts for 60%, 10% and 30% respectively. The life expectancies are 48 years and 49 years for men and women respectively (Sierra Leone country profile - BBC News, 2017).

People in the Sierra Leone have massive problems and sad stories of what they have seen in their lives. During time of Sierra Leone war, many rebels attacked people in the villages and other places. This left people with nothing to have and several families died or were lost. Numerous amounts of people in Serra Leone live in the refugee camps, which they have faced their own struggles whether you see them or not. This makes their lives harder and it is not easy for them to express their feelings. Meanwhile, this causes a plethora of people to live with fear and a small hope of living in the country. The leaders and security guards in Sierra Leone tries to get domestic needs for the refugees, get protection for the refugees, and get all

During the conflict in Sierra Leone it captured the world’s attention because of the extremely brutal conflict in the 1990s. People have guessed that conflict diamonds represents 4% of the world’s diamond production so far. But since most of the diamonds were used to fund Africa armies it would have reduced down to lower than 1%. The global diamond industry made it clear to the international community that they will have no tolerance towards conflict diamonds due to they can cause civil wars and mass murder. While diamonds are still used to fund conflict the problem was never the diamonds its how the rebels use them and take advantage of them to win the war that they have been facing.Today about 99% of diamonds are from conflict or traded

In a study carried out by Clare (2009) on women´s political participation and influence in Sierra Leone. According to the study Gender relations in Sierra Leone are extremely not equal and women in Sierra Leone face a high level of violence and poverty. Respondents to the study agreed that the patriarchal cultural and religious values which are strong in the northern part of Sierra Leone dictate that women should not speak in public life Clare (2009).However after the war in Sierra Leone there was a shift in women social attitudes on roles women play. The experience of women in conflict and the role they played in peace building opened space for women in public and mobilised them for political action (Clare 2009).

The civil wars in these African countries creating an outcry from civilians after experiencing injustices and corruption throughout decades. Whilst leading to civilians fleeing Sudan and Sierra Leone to start new lives. The histories behind both wars are quite similar as both were solely motivated by natural resources and power imbalance. As The Revolutionary United Front had established in 1991 as rebel army that shared one goal, which was to overthrow Sierra Leone's government. Often referred to as the “Blood Diamond” conflict. Although diamonds and natural resources were a significant motivating factor, there were other causes to the Sierra Leone Civil War. Such as the pre-war frustrations and injustices that had transpired for decades.