Sierra Leone sits on the West Coast of Africa bordered by Liberia
and Guinea. The country’s varied terrain consists of mangrove swamps
and beaches along the coast and wooded hills and a mountainous plateau
in the interior.

It has a population of approximately 5.3 million, consisting of
numerous and diverse ethnic groups of which the two largest are the
Temne and the Mende. Sierra Leone emerged from a decade of civil war in
2002 with the intervention of peacekeeping forces.

Some of the reasons why Plan works in Sierra Leone

• 28% of all children die before reaching the age of 5
• A third of children suffer from stunted growth due to poor nutrition
• Only 41% of children attend primary school
• Over half the rural population does not have access to safe drinking water
• Life expectancy is just 41 years