Sierra Leone has a population of just over 7million, 48% of which are living in extreme poverty. Sierra Leone is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, and following the deadly Ebola outbreak of 2014, an estimated 12,000 children were orphaned; most of them are not attending school, and over a quarter of those under 14 are in child labour.
The Ebola outbreak decimated the structure of thousands of families, infecting more than 12,000 people, of which 4,000 died, leaving 12,000 children as orphans or with a single parent. In many cases, the family breadwinner died. Many children are still living on the streets, with no home, education, or regular meal.
The country has been unable to recover from the effects of Civil War, even though it ended in 2002. The Sierra Leonean Government has reported 60% of the country’s youths, many of the whom were child soldiers, are unemployed – a rate that is said to be one of the highest in the world. (Africa Economic Institute).
There are an estimated 300,000 children without access to education in Sierra Leone, approximately 50,000 of them living as street children.