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Sierra Leone Action Plan Review 2021-2023

This product consists of an IRM review of the Sierra Leone 2021–2023 action plan. The action plan is made up of four commitments. This review emphasizes its analysis on the strength of the action plan to contribute to implementation and results. For the commitment-by-commitment data see Annex 1. For details regarding the methodology and indicators used by the IRM for this Action Plan Review, see section IV. Methodology and IRM Indicators

Overview of the 2021–2023 Action Plan

Sierra Leone’s fourth action plan contains four commitments that aim to address national priorities such as transparency in elections and the extractives sector. The government and civil society collaboratively designed the action plan. Civil society input led to commitments to open parliament and to strengthen access to justice.

AT A GLANCE

Participating since: 2013

Action plan under review: Fourth

IRM product: Action Plan Review

Number of commitments: 4

Overview of commitments:

Commitments with an open gov lens: 4 (100%)

Commitments with substantial potential for results: 2 (50%)

Promising commitments: 3

Policy areas carried over from previous action plans:

  • Open extractives/BO & systematic disclosure of extractives data
  • Open parliament
  • Access to justice

Emerging in this action plan:

  • Open elections

Compliance with OGP minimum requirements for Co-creation:

Acted according to OGP process: Yes

Sierra Leone’s fourth action plan contains commitments of broad interest to the public and continues reforms in beneficial ownership (BO), access to justice, and open parliament. Open elections represent a new area of reform that aims to increase election integrity and transparency around registered voters. A majority of the commitments place emphasis on civic engagement and government transparency. In addition, some commitments lay important groundwork for reforms to public transparency and accountability to address corruption and conflict of interest in government. Following challenges to implement the third action plan due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this action plan includes fewer commitments than the previous one.

High-level consultation went into the creation of the action plan. This included an 18-person Steering Committee with equal representation from civil society and government, set up by the National Council for Civic Education and Development (NaCCED). The action plan reflects civil society input, with commitments on open parliament and access to justice emanating from civil society. To develop the action plan, the Steering Committee held two consultations and a final validation meeting. As the pandemic limited in-person meetings, the national Open Government Partnership (OGP) team publicised draft commitments through call-in radio programs and social media, collecting input from citizens across the country.

Commitments to open parliament, elections, and the extractives sector have the greatest promise for open government results. Commitment 1 aims to establish permanent channels for communication and collaboration between parliament and civil society. Commitment 3 aims to increase access to information on election processes and enhance the credibility, trust, and independence of the electoral management body. Commitment 4 introduces a range of extractives sector reforms, such as advancing transparency around contracts and beneficial ownership. Commitment 2 to increase citizens’ access to justice has been carried over from the previous action plan. This commitment addresses an important policy. However, obstacles that inhibited implementation under the previous action plan, such as lack of resources and inter-agency coordination, remain a concern.

Promising Commitments in Sierra Leone’s 2021–2023 Action Plan

The following review looks at the 3 commitments that the IRM identified as having the potential to realize the most promising results. This review will inform the IRM’s research approach to assess implementation in the Results Report. The IRM Results Report will build on the early identification of potential results from this review to contrast with the outcomes at the end of the implementation period of the action plan. This review also provides an analysis of challenges, opportunities and recommendations to contribute to the learning and implementation process of this action plan.

Table 1. Promising commitments

Promising Commitments
Commitment 1: This commitment aims to establish channels for dialogue and collaboration between the public and parliament in legislative and budget processes.
Commitment 3: This commitment seeks to make the National Electoral Commission (NEC)’s work more transparent through the publication of registered voters, election results, and voter education efforts.
Commitment 4: This commitment aims to improve citizens’ access to information in the extractives sector, particularly around contracts and beneficial ownership data.

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