SIERRA LEONE- WESTERN URBAN DISTRICT PROFILE

PROFILE
1
Population 1,040,888
East III
Male 535,336 1

Female 505,5521

Ethnic diversity Temne, Mende, Creole 1(or Krio

people)2
Area extension 13,00 sq. Km.3

Language English is the official language,

but Krio is the most widely spoken
language.4
District level poverty rate 20.7 %5

Gini Coefficient District 0.27 5

Net Primary Enrollment (2011) 83.3 5
Fertility rate 3.1 6
Early childhood mortality rate 152 Under-five deaths per 1,000 live
births. 6
Life expectancy at birth 54.80%7
Percentage all basic vaccination 55.2% 6
Prevalence of food insecurity 23%. Western Slum 40.3% 8 This profile has information about Western Urban District in
Sierra Leone
Prevalence of chronic malnutrition 20.09 % Western Slum 25.9 % (as
measured by stunting) 9
Agriculture as Main Livelihood 2.6 % (2011)5
Livelihoods Cattle 04%, Sheep 1.4% and goat 0.8%10

Produced by UNOCHA Sierra Leone https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/sierra-leone Contact: ochasierraleone@un.org

Last updated 12 October 2015
 SIERRA LEONE- WESTERN URBAN DISTRICT PROFILE
PROFILE
Context: Western Urban includes the oldest city and national capital Freetown and its surrounding, towns, villages and landscape. It is Sierra Leone’s major urban,
economic, financial, cultural, educational and political center. The city's economy revolves largely around its final natural harbour, which is the largest natural harbour on
the continent of Africa. The Freetown peninsula consists of three roughly parallel ranges of highlands that are narrow but extend about 30 km south of Freetown. The hills
and mountains in the highlands rise impressively from 200 m to 1 000 m above the low-lying narrow coastal area. As the rest of the country has a tropical climate with two
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pronounced seasons: wet season from May to October, and a dry season from November to April. Rainfall is this area is 3 001-4 000 mm per year

Education: Education in Sierra Leone is legally required for all children for six years at primary school level and three years in junior secondary school. A shortage of schools
and teachers has made implementation impossible, although the number of children in primary education has greatly increased since the end of the civil war. Recently, the
outbreak of Ebola led to the closure of schools for a prolonged time period from July 14 to April 2015. In Western Urban after the Ebola outbreak 1,120 schools were
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operational Sierra Leone has a low level of literacy among adults with only 37.1% of adults literate in 2006.

Food Security: As a result of poor yields, even in rural areas, three quarters of the population rely on markets for access to food. Poverty and the exposure to international
food price volatility are the underlying causes of vulnerability in Sierra Leone. The EVD outbreak has further eroded the livelihoods of both affected and non-affected
communities. The total number of people food insecure in Western Urban Area is 203,659 and the percentage of household food insecure (severe and moderate) is 23.0%.
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While in the Western Slum Area the total population food insecure is 24,142 and the percentage of household food insecure (severe and moderate)is 40.3% . Freetown
peri-urban which corresponds to the whole of the Western Area has the lowest proportion of food insecurity in the country. Although most food is imported via Freetown
and as a consequence, the Western Area is the most import-dependent in the country, this makes it the most exposed to global market shocks and hikes in food grain
prices, particularly rice. The population is involved in agriculture and urban activities such as petty trade and non-agricultural labour. The small amount of suitable
agricultural land available has high value as urban demand for fruit and vegetables is high.

Health: District Health Management Team (DHMT) has registered a total of 538 staff medical and non-medical staff working in health facilities in Western Urban Area. In
addition, the facilities available in Western Rural Area are 20 Community Health Center (CHC), 20 Community Health Post (CHP), 13 Maternal Child Health Post (MCHP) and
9 hospitals. Traditional medicine forms part of the primary health care system in Sierra Leone.

Ebola Emergency: As of 10 October 2015, Western Area Urban remains free of any Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) case for 64 days (countdown started from 12 August after
death of the last case in the Ebola Treatment Unit on 11 August). However, in the western part of the country, Ebola transmission was intense and is currently considered
the “hotspot” of the West African outbreak. The cumulative confirmed cases as of 12 October 2015 are 2,285 for the district.

Produced by UNOCHA Sierra Leone https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/sierra-leone Contact: ochasierraleone@un.org

Last updated 12 October 2015
 SIERRA LEONE- WESTERN URBAN DISTRICT PROFILE
PROFILE
Water and Sanitation: Water is rationed in many areas in Freetown with almost no customers receiving a 24-hour supply and as a consequence there is limited access to
safe drinking water. The rapid urbanisation that occurred mostly during the 11 year conflict made 70% of Freetown an unplanned urban slum. Linked to this is the fact that
40% of water produced by the Guma Valley Water Company utility does not generate an income, either through wastage (leakages) or illegal access through pipe
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breakages. Urban access to improved sanitation facilities was at 23% in 2010 (up from 22% in 1990)

REFERENCES:
1
Source: 2004 Population and Housing Census. Appendix 6: Projected Population for Local Councils/Administrative Unit of Sierra Leone. Based on the Medium Variant
Projections; 2005 to 2014
2
SLIS Map Code 02 16 Nov 2006.
3
http://sierraleone.opendataforafrica.org/
4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Sierra_Leone
5
A poverty profile for Sierra Leona. Calculations based on SLIHS (2011). World Bank and Statistics Sierra Leone.
6
Sierra Leone Demographic Health Survey 2013
7
http://sierraleone.opendataforafrica.org (2013.05.20)
8
Map security Food Security Analysis Service (WFP, 2011)
9
The Nutritional Situation in Sierra Leona. October 2010.
10
FAO, 2005; SSL, 2007. http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpc/doc/counprof/Sierraleone/Sierraleone.htm
13
Back to School Rapid Pro Survey (17 - 31 August, 2015) (ASC 2012-13)
14
Njala University College (Nuc), Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Encyclopedia, July 2007, retrieved 2008-06-25
15
Financing of the water, sanitation and hygiene sector in Sierra Leone. Development Finance International, Water aid. 2015
16
The State of Food Security and Nutrition 2011

Produced by UNOCHA Sierra Leone https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/sierra-leone Contact: ochasierraleone@un.org

Last updated 12 October 2015