Disability in Sierra Leone

[1] The proportion of disabled people is much higher in Sierra Leone, a West African country which had emerged from a decade-long civil war back in 2002 where the trademark of the rebel groups was to hack off the limbs of civilians.

In addition, according to the United Nations Development Programme, only 35% of Sierra Leone's population above 15 years of age is educated and the statistic is even lower for citizens with disabilities.

[4] Poor people are also more at risk of acquiring a disability due to a lack of access to sanitation as well as a safe living and working environment.

This left them traumatised, with an estimated 400,000 people (by 2009) being mentally ill. Thousands of former child soldiers have fallen into substance abuse as they try to blunt their memories.

In 2010, Bentry Kalanga, the senior programme manager of Africa for SOS Children's Villages, an international charity organization, said; "Disability has not been regarded as a major development issue up to now and it must be highlighted more.