Government Clarifies EU Budget Support Disbursement to Sierra Leone Note: According to the Information and Civic Education Minister. The Government of Sierra Leone has clarified reports linking the European Union’s 2026 budget-support disbursement to ongoing discussions between Sierra Leone and the Kingdom of the Netherlands on judicial cooperation. According to the Government, the European Commission formally communicated its decision regarding the 2026 disbursement in July. The reasons provided, the Government said, related to the timing of Sierra Leone’s request to amend the Financing Agreement and the resulting difficulty of completing the required processes within the 2026 reporting cycle. As a result, the European Commission proposed rescheduling the 2026 and 2027 disbursements to 2027 and 2028 respectively, with the targets for the 2027 disbursement already agreed. The Government acknowledged that the postponement of the 2026 disbursement represents a setback, b...
From One Specialist to a Growing Team: How Sierra Leone’s Partnership with MIT Is Transforming Prosthetics Care
The Chief’s Diary: Sierra Leone Records 1,000% Increase in Orthotics and Prosthetics Specialists Through MIT Partnership Sierra Leone has recorded a remarkable 1,000% increase in trained and certified orthotics and prosthetics (O&P) caregivers, following an ongoing partnership between the Government of Sierra Leone and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). President Julius Maada Bio today met with Professor Hugh Herr of the MIT Media Lab to review the progress of Sierra Leone’s partnership with MIT and discuss the future of prosthetics and assistive technology care in the country. The progress marks a significant development in a sector that has long faced critical shortages of trained professionals. In the early 2000s, Sierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended that the government invest in orthotics and prosthetics care and training. However, before the current partnership with MIT began, Sierra Leone had only one trained and certified O...