Freetown WASH Consortium Final Phase I Narrative Report

Despite significant improvement following the end of conflict (1991-2002), Sierra Leone shows some of the poorest developmental indicators in the world. Average life expectancy is 48 years and Sierra Leone ranks at 180 out of 187 countries on the 2011 UNDP Human Development Index report. Child mortality in Sierra Leone remains one of the highest in the world with 217 children under 5 dying per 1,000 live births1. More than 14% of all children under 5 deaths are due to diarrhoea, the third leading cause of infant mortality in the country2. Access to safe drinking water stands at 57%, and only 40% have access to adequate sanitation3 (up from 49% and 15% respectively in 2008). The Government faces enormous challenges to reach Poverty Reduction Strategy and Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

The British government, through, DFID supported the Freetown WASH Consortium to carry out a 3 year project from January 2010 to March 2013 in vulnerable areas of Freetown with a budget of £4 million pounds.