By Abu H. Kargbo
Community leaders, police officers university administrators, students, and influential young people among others benefited from the training hosted at the SLTU Hall in Makeni, on Friday, February 27, 2026.
Jestina Juana, Gender Officer at SEND Sierra Leone, who is also attached to the four-year Building Respect for Anti Violence (BRAVE) Project, said that poor maintenance and biased treatment by service providers in dealing with sexual and gender-based violence matters according to their recent findings prompted the training.
”This is to awaken their minds and also guide them through the survivors-centred approach,” she noted.
Juana maintained that training for service providers remains crucial for combating all forms of violence as the project’s objective, and called on the beneficiaries to implement the lessons learned.
”A professional service will contribute to a decent society,” she emphasised.
She further urged a heightened concerted effort to address all forms of sexual and gender-based violence across all sectors, including at the local level.
”Everyone’s rights matter and neglect of SGBV issues will result in a negative impact on society in the future,” Juana stressed.
This call, which aligns with one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommendations serves as a crucial reminder for the nation to prevent the recurrence of the factors that contributed to the extension of the brutal 11-year civil conflict in Sierra Leone.
”The Commission recommends that the Government take steps immediately to implement its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and to ensure that gender is taken into account in legislation and policy,” Paragraph 344, Volume 2, Chapter 3, Page 171.
Hussein Roland Kabba, one of the nursing students at the Ernest Bai Koroma University, who benefited from the training indicated that it will create a huge impact on their professional life in the future.
”It has further capacitated us on how to deal with SGBV issues as we’ve encountered such cases when volunteering with hospitals,” he accentuated.
Nancy Ulanda George, a Political Science and International Relations student at the University of Makeni, admitted that the training deepens her understanding of sexual and gender-based violence, as well as the need for community mobilisation to address them.
“It’s important for us tackle SGBV for a peaceful society where everyone can live safely and soundly,” Nancy urged.
The BRAVE Project, which has targeted seven districts and ten universities since its inception in 2024, continues to achieve significant milestones in Sierra Leone to combat all forms of sexual and gender-based violence until its completion in 2028.