NAME OF MECHANISM

Reparations programme

PERIOD OF OPERATION

2008 – present

MANDATE AND OPERATIONS

Mandate: Established by the government of Sierra Leone, in collaboration with the United Nations (UN), to provide material and symbolic reparations to war victims in line with the recommendations of the Sierra Leonean Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The programme is being run by the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA).

Budget: NaCSA received US$3 million from the UN Peacebuilding Fund, via the International Organization for Migration (IOM), for the first year of the programme [ICTJ | Dec 2009].

RESOURCES

National Commission for Social Action official website
UN Peacebuilding Fund website: Sierra Leone

RESULTS

In the programme’s first year, a reparations package was distributed to 20,107 amputees, war wounded and victims of sexual violence, all of whom received a US$100 interim payment. By the end of 2010, approximately 30,000 victims had registered for reparations [USIP].

In April 2010, NaCSA received US$999,999 from the UN Development Fund for Women for reparations to 650 women victims of the war. This two-year programme funded skills training, tool kits and a US$500 grant to each victim [Awareness Times | 17 Mar 2011].

In June 2011, NaCSA’s director of reparations, Obi Buya Kamara, announced that the commission would offer micro grants to over 15,000 victims. The beneficiaries include amputees, war wounded, victims of sexual violence and war orphans and widows, as recommended by the TRC. Kamara also addressed the slow pace of the reparations programme, citing funding as a serious problem [Awoko | 26 Jun 2011].

In July 2011, NaCSA distributed US$384,000 in reparations to 329 amputees as well as other victims in western Sierra Leone. Amputees received about US$220 in reparations, while other victims, including victims of sexual violence and the war wounded, received US$80. In addition to the payments, the government has established several development-oriented programmes, including a training programme for amputee youth. It has also provided symbolic reparations to 40 Sierra Leonean chiefdoms, seeking to restore their “cultural dignity,” which was undermined during the war [Awoko | 21 Jun 2011].

SOURCES

[Awareness Times | 17 Mar 2011] http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_200517525.shtml
[Awoko | 21 Jun 2011] http://www.awoko.org/2011/06/21/384000-for-nacsa-reparations-programme/
[Awoko | 26 Jun 2011] http://www.awoko.org/2009/09/24/nacsa-commences-micro-grant-reparation-benefits-to-over-15000/
[International Center forTransitional Justice | Dec 2009]
[United States Institute of Peace] http://www.usip.org/publications/truth-commission-sierra-leone