International Peacemaking and Human Rights Programs

Activities by Country

Sierra Leone

To help promote peaceful elections after a devastating civil war, Sierra Leone officials invited The Carter Center to observe presidential and parliamentary elections in May 2002.

Waging Peace

The Carter Center has been a force for peace in the war-torn nation of Sierra Leone since 2002, when it observed the first presidential and parliamentary elections since the end of Sierra Leone's civil war. A peaceful transition of power in Sierra Leone offers hope to the rest of conflict-ridden West Africa.

Read full text on the Carter Center's peace work in Sierra Leone >

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QUICK FACTS: SIERRA LEONE

Size: 71,740 square kilometers

Population: 6,144,562

Life expectancy: 40 years

Population below poverty line: 70 percent

Ethnic groups: 20 native African tribes, 90 percent; Creole; refugees from Liberia's recent civil war; small numbers of Europeans; Lebanese; Pakistanis; and Indians

Languages: English (official, regular use limited to literate minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio

Religions: Muslim, 60 percent; indigenous beliefs; Christian

Average annual income: $240 USD

(Source: U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, World Factbook 2008; The World Bank 2006)

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