“Since we took up office after the 2023 election, the NDI training was our first opportunity to learn about our roles.” - Kailahun Local Councilor Amie Jimmy.

Earlier this year, NDI conducted a series of training sessions for female councilors and permanent local council staff in six different local councils across Sierra Leone. The session started for Amie Jimmy, quoted above, the same as it did for all training participants: sitting in a U-shaped formation designed to promote open discussion. Facilitators Layemin Joe and Sandy Veronica Kumba Dauda of the Local Councils Association of Sierra Leone (LoCASL), NDI’s local partner and a country-wide political capacity-building organization, presented a detailed curriculum on the functions and responsibilities of holding local council office. Over each of the six two-day programs, new and re-elected women councilors spoke candidly about their fears, frustrations and successes since taking office. 

“As a local councilor, I am often presented with demands by my people for me to pay school fees, medical bills, or to give handouts,” vented Councilor Zainab Kamara, member of the Koinadugu District Council in Northern Sierra Leone. Others agreed; for Councilor Juliana Jah of the Pujehun District Council in Sierra Leone’s Southern Province, the experience of fielding these sudden requests seemed almost like a plot to set her up for failure. “In my first week after my swearing-in, my constituents told me they were badly in need of a community center,” she recounted with exasperation. “Why now? They never told me this during my campaign. I guess some of my political opponents are pushing such demands for the community to vote against me in the next election. They know I don’t have the money to fund such a project.” 

Across all six trainings, women councilors expressed the same anxiety and frustration brought on by high demands from their constituents and low resources. A lack of resources for local development initiatives is widespread in Sierra Leone, and women councilors are at an additional disadvantage when they lack the knowledge and networking necessary to influence these projects. Many training participants reported these challenges often led women councilors to stop community engagement altogether.  

The NDI training proved a timely intervention for these attendees. Using the Handbook for Local Women Councilors, developed by NDI in March 2024, LoCASL facilitators were able to address the most common issues identified by surveyed women councilors and their staff. The curriculum covered key topics such as resource mobilization and management, how to identify and prioritize development needs, and effective community management. This approach was key to helping trainees identify strategies to work around low resources and find alternative sources of funding for their development goals. 

In a WhatsApp networking group also set up by NDI to exchange best practices and lessons learned, participants shared the positive changes they’d experienced since completing the training. Councilor Amie Jimmy celebrated her newfound confidence in delivering on her community’s request for a public toilet in the marketplace. “Even as a returning councilor, there are issues about my role that I did not fully understand,” she admitted. “Through that training, I am better able to work with my community, and I am able to deliver a tangible project to [them]. I would not have achieved such success had it not been for the training NDI provided me and my colleagues in the council. I learned how to work with others to complete projects. [Now] I am able to build trust because there is more transparency involved.” 

NDI has provided integral support to women’s political participation in Sierra Leone for more than 20 years, following the end of the country’s decade-long civil war in 2002. Recent national legislation addressing representational disparities between men and women, notably the Women’s Empowerment Act, the Political Parties Act, and the Public Elections Act, all passed in 2022, mark a significant step towards increasing women’s roles in major party activities. Notably, the 2023 elections saw a rise to more than 30% of national parliamentary seats won for women politicians, up from 14.5% in previous elections. However, women’s participation in local politics was at a historic low, with those elected facing myriad social and material obstacles in their communities. By providing women aspirants, candidates, and elected politicians with the tools to effectively campaign and hold office, NDI continues to foster a sustainable and inclusive environment that promotes accountable local governance across Sierra Leone. Following NDI’s candidate and aspirant training in 2023, 14 new female candidates successfully ran for local office and were elected, while 81% of all trainees surveyed demonstrated an increase in understanding of how to secure a nomination and run a campaign.  

Authors: Jinnah Nyallay, Program Manager, Sierra Leone country team and Olivia Charendoff, Project Assistant, Anglophone Central and West Africa team

NDI’s engagement with this program is implemented with the support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) program.

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NDI is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental organization that works in partnership around the world to strengthen and safeguard democratic institutions, processes, norms and values to secure a better quality of life for all. NDI envisions a world where democracy and freedom prevail, with dignity for all.