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The Africa America Institute Celebrates Sierra Leone - "A Country On The Move"

Twenty years ago, Sierra Leone plunged into a ten year civil war notorious for its brutality. Yet just a decade after peace was restored with the help of British troops, Sierra Leone today is a country transformed. Yesterday evening, in celebration of the country’s progress, the Africa America Institute (AAI) hosted its 27th Annual Awards Dinner Gala in New York in honour of the people of Sierra Leone.

President Ernest Bai Koroma accepted the AAI Award for National Peace and Reconciliation on behalf of his fellow citizens. At the dinner, which convened government, business and civil society leaders, the Honorable Zainab Hawa Bangura, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Health and Sanitation, was also presented with this year’s AAI Distinguished Alumna Award in recognition of her work revolutionising healthcare for women and children.

AGI Patron Tony Blair, in New York this week for the 66th UN General Assembly, attended the dinner on Tuesday. Commenting on Sierra Leone’s remarkable achievements, he said,

“Each time I visit Freetown, I see evidence of the achievements that we are celebrating this evening. Investment is coming into the country and creating new livelihoods. Public services are being transformed –like free healthcare becoming available to mothers and babies in the country’s hospitals.

To me, there’s no doubt that Sierra Leone is a country on the move and it gives me immense pleasure to congratulate President Koroma and his people on their incredible journey so far.”

Tony Blair met with President Koroma earlier this week in his role as Patron to the Africa Governance Initiative, which operates a programme in the country, and pro bono advisor to the President. The AGI team works full time on the ground in Freetown, helping the President and his government to deliver results in the priority areas they have identified as having the greatest impact on the deep poverty that a great number of Sierra Leonean people live in. 

AGI supports public service delivery in healthcare, agricultural development and private sector development in Sierra Leone by working shoulder-to-shoulder with their government counterparts to improve the machinery of government so it can deliver. Developing the capacity to govern effectively makes a difference – it means change like free healthcare happens for the people who need it most.