http://www.voanews.com Voice of America is an international news and broadcast organization serving Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Balkan countries http://www.voanews.com/img/voa/rssLogo_VOA.gif http://www.voanews.com en-US 2012 - VOA 60 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:04:44 -0400 Pangea CMS – VOA It's been over a decade since the civil war ended in Sierra Leone.  During the war, 50,000 people were killed and millions displaced.  Child soldiers played a key role in the conflict, as rebels recruited them to pick up weapons, fight and be used as sex slaves and spies.  Now, a non-profit group is looking to help Sierra Leone change its image and become a leader in the campaign against the use child soldiers in Africa.  Twenty-seven-year-old Adama - not her real name ... http://www.voanews.com/content/new-initiative-sets-out-to-prevent-child-soldiers/1604468.html http://www.voanews.com/content/new-initiative-sets-out-to-prevent-child-soldiers/1604468.html Fri, 15 Feb 2013 11:45:15 -0500 Africa webdesk@voanews.com (Nina DeVries) http://www.voanews.com/content/new-initiative-sets-out-to-prevent-child-soldiers/1604468.html#relatedInfoContainer Opposition to homosexuality remains strong in most of Africa. Many people have been beaten or killed because of their sexual orientation.  But an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) group in Sierra Leone is pushing for more awareness and protection of LGBT rights. Life for George Freeman has not been easy. He says he always had feelings for men but it took him years to admit he was gay, even to himself,  because homosexuality in the West African nation of Sierra Leone ... http://www.voanews.com/content/africa-gay-rights-lbgt/1572136.html http://www.voanews.com/content/africa-gay-rights-lbgt/1572136.html Tue, 25 Dec 2012 17:49:55 -0500 Africa webdesk@voanews.com (Nina DeVries) http://www.voanews.com/content/africa-gay-rights-lbgt/1572136.html#relatedInfoContainer Sierra Leone held its third election since the end of its decade-long civil war on November 17.  The country has moved forward in some ways.  Roads are better and health care is improving, but the status of women, particularly in politics, is improving only slowly in the face of cultural and economic barriers. Kadi Sesay is used to firsts. She was the first woman to head the English Department at Fourah Bay College in the capital, Freetown.  She was the first woman to head ... http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-women-struggle-for-political-role/1554869.html http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-women-struggle-for-political-role/1554869.html Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:28:10 -0500 Africa webdesk@voanews.com (Nina DeVries) As Sierra Leone gets into election mode, an organization in Freetown is using the power of music to ensure that young people turn out to vote on November 17 in presidential and parliamentry elections.   A Sierra Leone organization called Artists United for Children and Youth Development has created a song and video called "Let Us Go and Vote" - a message aimed at young people.   It is the first election-based video to come out this year, said Ibrahim Mansaray, program ... http://www.voanews.com/content/music_used_to_lure_younger_voters_in_sierra_leone/1524744.html http://www.voanews.com/content/music_used_to_lure_younger_voters_in_sierra_leone/1524744.html Thu, 11 Oct 2012 11:01:52 -0400 Africa webdesk@voanews.com (Nina DeVries) http://www.voanews.com/content/music_used_to_lure_younger_voters_in_sierra_leone/1524744.html#relatedInfoContainer The people of the West African nation Sierra Leone are about to have improvements to their eye care thanks to a grant from the European Commission in the sum of about $900,000 (700,000 euros).  The new initiative will be led by a non-governmental organization (NGO) called Sightsavers which plans to increase the number of eye care professionals in the country and services for people.  The program will specifically target women, children and the elderly. Freetown.  It's loud, ... http://www.voanews.com/content/new-initiative-set-to-improve-eye-care-in-sierra-leone/1512170.html http://www.voanews.com/content/new-initiative-set-to-improve-eye-care-in-sierra-leone/1512170.html Fri, 21 Sep 2012 07:08:29 -0400 Africa webdesk@voanews.com (Nina DeVries) One of Sierra's Leone's five veterinarians wants to share his views at the first international conference on dog population management this week in Britain. The West Africa region has a massive overpopulation of dogs, but its representative to the conference may not be able to attend. They say dogs are man's best friend, but here at a Freetown animal clinic Doctor Gudosh Jalloh is struggling just to keep them alive. Some dogs do not make it to his clinic.  "There are ... http://www.voanews.com/content/west_africa_fights_dog_over/1503223.html http://www.voanews.com/content/west_africa_fights_dog_over/1503223.html Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:17:21 -0400 Africa webdesk@voanews.com (Nina DeVries) FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Solomon Sogbandi, the acting director for Amnesty International in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone says the group is working to make sure the government abolishes the death penalty in the country.  So far the government has put a moratorium on executions. And that is a step in the right direction, Sogbandi says. "To us [the death penalty is] unconstitutional and violation to the right to life, as it says in Universal Declaration of Human Rights," ... http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-government-promises-end-to-death-penalty/1497015.html http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-government-promises-end-to-death-penalty/1497015.html Tue, 28 Aug 2012 09:14:58 -0400 Africa webdesk@voanews.com (Nina DeVries) FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — For the first time in history an athlete from Sierra Leone is competing in the Paralympic games which take place in London at the end of August.   Mohamed Kamara's coach shouts commands at his young athlete who bolts across an empty football (soccer) field in Freetown,  the capital city of Sierra Leone.   Sweat drips down Kamara's face as he makes his own record time of 11.45 seconds covering 100 meters.    The 22-year-old is doing ... http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-in-paralympics-for-first-time/1490916.html http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-in-paralympics-for-first-time/1490916.html Sat, 18 Aug 2012 16:14:29 -0400 Africa webdesk@voanews.com (Nina DeVries) http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-in-paralympics-for-first-time/1490916.html#relatedInfoContainer FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — For years, parents in the West African nation of Sierra Leone have claimed their children were adopted without their consent during the country's civil war in the 1990s.  A police investigation was concluded recently regarding their claims. And staff from the agency that handled the adoptions have been charged with 32 counts, including human trafficking.   "Whenever I go to bed I see their faces, whatever I'm doing, normally my mind will ... http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-parents-say-children-adopted-without-consent/1443499.html http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-parents-say-children-adopted-without-consent/1443499.html Mon, 23 Jul 2012 08:53:44 -0400 Africa webdesk@voanews.com (Nina DeVries) http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-parents-say-children-adopted-without-consent/1443499.html#relatedInfoContainer FREETOWN — In Sierra Leone, a group called AdvocAid is taking an innovative approach to helping educate women on their legal rights - by dramatizing issues on television.  One woman in Sierra Leone, Fatima, says she'll never forget the experience of police throwing her in detention for a crime she never committed. "The room where I was sleeping was filthy, no care and I don't have right to talk to my relative, my mother," she said. Fatima - not her real name - was ... http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-television-show-offers-legal-advice-for-women/1403619.html http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-television-show-offers-legal-advice-for-women/1403619.html Thu, 12 Jul 2012 09:18:45 -0400 Africa webdesk@voanews.com (Nina DeVries) http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-television-show-offers-legal-advice-for-women/1403619.html#relatedInfoContainer FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Up until two years ago, the maternal death rate in Sierra Leone was the highest in the world with 1 in 8 women dying during pregnancy or giving birth. That is when the Ministry of Health and Sanitation introduced free health care for lactating and pregnant women and children under the age of five. Despite successes, women are still having trouble accessing care in Sierra Leone.   Nurses tend to patients in the general hospital in the town of Makeni, in the ... http://www.voanews.com/content/maternal_care_in_sierra_leaone_is_free_but_still_elusive/1363352.html http://www.voanews.com/content/maternal_care_in_sierra_leaone_is_free_but_still_elusive/1363352.html Wed, 04 Jul 2012 11:15:45 -0400 Africa webdesk@voanews.com (Nina DeVries) http://www.voanews.com/content/maternal_care_in_sierra_leaone_is_free_but_still_elusive/1363352.html#relatedInfoContainer