By Kadijatu Bangura, Reporter, Daily Scope
Freetown CAUSE Canada and its Sierra Leone partner officially launched the EmpowerHER Project on Monday, 23 February 2026 at the New Brookfields Hotel in Freetown. The seven-year initiative (2025โ2032), funded by Global Affairs Canada, aims to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for adolescent girls and women across 480 rural communities in seven districts.
Designed to scale up gains from the pilot โMi Small Wef No More,โ EmpowerHER will expand access to family planning and sexually transmitted infection services, strengthen institutional protections for SRHR, and promote community practices that enhance the decisionโmaking autonomy of women and adolescent girls.
Speaking at the launch, Minister of Health and Sanitation Dr. Austin Demby said human capital development โ with women and girls at the centre โ is central to Sierra Leoneโs development agenda. He noted that the government allocates 22 percent of domestic revenue to the Free Quality Education programme and stressed that good health underpins productivity. Dr. Demby raised concern over maternal mortality among adolescents, saying 14 percent of maternal deaths occur in girls under 20, largely due to teenage and unintended pregnancies.
Dr. Demby urged coordinated action among development partners, civil society, the media and government institutions and outlined four guiding principles for the programme: accompaniment, alignment, acceleration and accountability. โThis is Canadian taxpayersโ money; we must account for every dime,โ he said.
Wendy Fehr, Executive Director of CAUSE Canada, said EmpowerHER is expected to directly benefit about 240,000 people โ adolescent girls, women and men โ and to have an indirect reach of roughly 2.7 million nationwide. She highlighted the organisationโs track record in Sierra Leone, citing maternal and child health programmes, microfinance efforts, the CAUSE Kids Bursary Programme and emergency responses during the Ebola and COVIDโ19 crises.
Minister of Gender and Childrenโs Affairs Isatu Mahoi welcomed the initiative as complementary to the Governmentโs MediumโTerm National Development Plan and ongoing legislative reforms, including the Gender Equality and Womenโs Empowerment Act (2022), the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (2024) and the Child Rights Act (2025). She said the ministry is finalising regulations and a childโfriendly version of the Child Marriage law and noted EmpowerHER will train thousands of community advocates and Mothersโ Club members to prevent child marriage, promote girlsโ rights and support school retention through advocacy and cash grants. The programme will also engage men and boys to address harmful social norms.
Deputy Minister of Health I Dr. Charles Senessie shared a personal testimony about early support from CAUSE Canada during his medical training and urged beneficiaries to take full advantage of the projectโs opportunities.
Civil society leaders at the launch pledged collaboration. Alice James, National Director of the Sierra Leone Association of NonโGovernmental Organizations (SLANGO), committed member organisations to community engagement, monitoring and advocacy. BoiโJenneh Jalloh, Chairperson of the Sierra Leone Child Right Coalition, said the project will bolster campaigns against harmful practices, while Philipa Cride Dole, President of the Childrenโs Forum Network, stressed the importance of youth involvement in peer education and awarenessโraising.
A video message from ViceโPresident Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh reiterated government support for CAUSE Canada and its partners and described EmpowerHER as a strategic investment in the future of Sierra Leoneโs women and girls.
CAUSE Canada said it will work with strategic partners including One Stop Centres under the Ministry of Gender and Childrenโs Affairs, the Rainbow Initiative, the Family Support Unit and the Girlsโ Education Movement (GEM) in the Ministry of Education to implement the project.
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