Sierra Leone

Executive Summary

A massive landslide in the Western Area Rural of Sierra Leone on August 14, 2017, slipped into the Babadorie River Valley and exacerbated existing flooding in the Western Area Rural and Urban (Freetown), affecting about 6,000 people of which 1,141 have been declared dead or missing.

Freetown – IOM, the UN Migration Agency and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) earlier this month (05/10) established Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) courses for healthcare professionals at the University of Sierra Leone, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (CoMAHS) and Njala University.

By Harriet Mason, Communications Officer, UNICEF Sierra Leone

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – Scenic mountains surround the temporary displacement camp in which Mohamed Koroma and his two children have been living for the last four weeks. He sits on a mattress in a tent as he slowly flips through pages of a notebook. He is checking the lesson notes of his son Alpha, who has just returned from school.

This weekly update is produced by UNDP in collaboration with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Sierra Leone, liaising with the Office of National Security and development partners.

Situation overview

Following the landslides and floods that hit Freetown and surrounding areas on 14 August 2017, the UN system in Sierra Leone continues to support national recovery.

Freetown, 9 October, 2017 - While thousands continue to feel the impact of the flooding and mudslide that claimed hundreds of lives on 14 August, the Government of Sierra Leone has been working with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to advocate risk-awareness at every level.

DUBAI, 7th October, 2017 (WAM) -- Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has ordered an aid airlift to Sierra Leone to deliver core relief items to communities affected by a devastating landslide.

Following the order, an Airbus A330 aircraft carrying around 50 metric tonnes of humanitarian aid departed from Dubai’s Al Maktoum Airport for Sierra Leone.

Just more than a month after flooding and a mudslide killed hundreds and displaced thousands, many communities remain steadfast, in affected and high-risk areas around Freetown.

Today, a small group of young men is hard at work, shoveling sand into bags and building a barrier in the narrow space between the recently-flooded river and the endless cluster of homes along its banks.

This weekly update is produced by UNDP in collaboration with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Sierra Leone, liaising with UN Agencies, the Office of National Security and development partners.

Situation overview

Following the landslides and floods that hit Freetown and surrounding areas on 14 August 2017, the UN system in Sierra Leone continues to support national recovery.

After spending 7 days at the sea port of Sierra Leone and providing free medical services to thousands of local people, Hospital Ship of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, Ark Peace, has left the shores of Freetown on 26th September for Gabon where such services would be offered again.

Shared in Blog, Emergency Relief on September 28, 2017
by Jessica Hubacher

In the wake of the August mudslides in Sierra Leone that displaced an estimated 10,000 people, Rise Against Hunger has been working to provide aid to those left in need in our ongoing crisis relief efforts.

Highlight

• With support of the National Disaster Management Department and Sierra Leone Red Cross Society, WFP provided a household food ration to fire-affected households in Kelleh town community in Freetown.

• A theoretical Training of Trainers workshop on Community-based Participatory Planning (CBPP) was held in Port Loko as part of the broader Three Pronged Approach (3PA) to resilience building.

This weekly update is produced by UNDP in collaboration with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Sierra Leone, liaising with the Office of National Security and development partners.

Situation overview

A devastating mudslide – triggered by three days of heavy monsoon rains – caused widespread damage and loss of life in Freetown, Sierra Leone on the 14th of August. Homes were engulfed after heavy rains caused part of the Sugar Loaf Mountain to collapse. Some 500 people lost their lives in the disaster and thousands have lost their homes, many of whom are being sheltered in temporary sites.

Highlights

• With the completion of the rapid damage and loss assessment, UNICEF is now focusing efforts on operationalization of the recovery strategy. As part of the recovery, the installation of household hold rain water harvesting systems (RWHS) continued. It is expected to benefit 2,700 households with a complete safe water package. A total of 313 RWHS have been installed (22 in Kamayama, 42 at Jah Kingdom, 24 in Pentagon, 45 in Gbamgbayila, 80 in Kaningo and 100 in Regent).

INTRODUCTION

L'épidémie de maladie à virus Ebola (MVE) qui a sévi en Afrique de l’Ouest en 2014-2015, plus particulièrement en Guinée, au Liberia et en Sierra Leone, a engendré plus de 28 000 cas et fait plus de 11 000 victimes.

Highlights

UNICEF and partners continue their efforts to support the recovery of victims in this second phase of the response.

FREETOWN, September 21 2017 --- On the morning of 14th August 2017, people in Sierra Leone awoke to tragic news. Following torrential rains, landslides had devastated communities in and around the country’s capital, Freetown. The landslide started in the Regent area, high on the slopes in the eastern part of the city, but flash floods, mudslides and boulders then cascaded down the mountainside, eviscerating everything in their way. It was a tragedy of immense proportions.

David O'Hare

David O’Hare reports from Freetown in Sierra Leone where hundreds lost their lives in a massive landslide on 14 August.

I wake up on my first morning in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, to the sound of torrential rain outside.

I know that this sound must strike fear in people from Matome on the outskirts of Freetown. There was torrential rain right through the night and into the early morning of Monday 14 August when disaster struck their community.

This weekly update is produced by UNDP in collaboration with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Sierra Leone, liaising with the Office of National Security and development partners.

Situation overview　　

Following emergency response to the landslide and floods in and around Freetown on 14 August 2017, the UN system in Sierra Leone is now supporting national recovery.