Following Sierra Leone’s remarkable record on the response to health emergencies, notably, Ebola and COVID-19; Amara Kallon who is Deputy Minister of Political and Public Affairs, has informed the press that the Government of Sierra Leone in partnership with the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) will launch the Targeted Review on “Sierra Leone’s Health Governance and COVID-19 Response Report.” The Report is set to be launched on 12th August 2021 by the Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
Deputy Minister Kallon made such disclosure at the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) Conference Hall on Thursday August 5th 2021.
The Deputy Minister in his statements, pointed out that the mandate of APRM entails reviews centered on “Country Review Report and Targeted Review Report,” wherein, Sierra Leone as one of the pioneer countries of the Targeted Reviews, has received a tap on the back as one amongst first 4 countries that undertook a successful Targeted Review on “Health Governance and COVID-19 Response in 2020.”
“From implementation period to date, four (4) countries have carried out Targeted Reviews in different themes/topics of national interest,” he enlightened.
Prior to the scheduled date for the launch of the Report, Deputy Minister Kallon informed that, there will be a proposed “harmonization workshop” in Sierra Leone to be championed by the APRM Continental Secretariat, scheduled for the 10th and 11th August 2021, made possible as a result of the Base Document of APRM which specifies- the ultimate end-product of the core mandate of the mechanism, to provoke the development of a comprehensive National Plan of Action as aligned with Sierra Leone’s National Development Plan- to aid implementation of the Report’s recommendations and address the governance challenges identified in the country.
He underscored the relevance of APRM’s Continental Secretariat- which ensures championing good governance across Africa on the thematic areas of Democracy and Political Governance; Economic Governance and Management; Corporate Governance; and Socioeconomic Development.
As part of its mission to Sierra Leone, Deputy Minister Kallon mentioned that the APRM team will also hold engagement on “State Resilience to Shocks and Disasters,” which features the AU Biennial Report (2015-2018) – that exposes Africa as a disaster prone continent with approximately 98 disasters per year.
Due to the growing catastrophes hitting the continent of Africa, the Deputy Minister noted that the APRM team, intends bringing Member States and experts such as United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Regional Office for Africa, WHO Africa Region, Africa CDC, academic institutions, etc. – in a capacity building workshop on State Resilience to Shocks and Disasters, and with assurances of building on the existing research findings, that includes the Targeted Review on Sierra Leone. Such stakeholders’ engagement is scheduled for the 13th and 14th August 2021