By Alfred Fornah
Validated findings on Population Mobility and Public Health Risk Mapping were done by Border Community Stakeholders in three chiefdoms in Kailahun District on the 5th February, 2023.
The mapping was conducted by IOM in collaboration with the Kailahun District Health Medical Team (DHMT), Office of National Security, and Statistics Sierra Leone in the Parrot’s Beak area-where the territories of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia meet.
The exercise which was delivered in 3 chiefdoms (Kissi Teng, Kissi Kama, and Kissi Tongi chiefdoms) aimed at understanding population mobility dynamics and identification of priority communities and locations in the parrot beak in Kailahun that are at higher risk of the potential spread of diseases and other health threats, as a direct result of human mobility.
In his statement, the Acting Director of Border Security of the Office of National Security (ONS), Samuel AJ Bullie, highlighted the importance of the mapping exercise conducted at the border. He also expressed their commitment to working closely with IOM in addressing border-related challenges in the Parrot’s Beak area.
“The Kailahun District Health Medical Team is concerned about the health of people in the District. And communities in the border area are exposed to risk. To address this, we need to strengthen border surveillance and monitoring to prevent the border from disease outbreaks” said Sengu Nyuma, a representative from the Kailahun District Health Medical Team.
Data and Reporting Officer at IOM Sierra Leone, Emmanuel Vincent Kallon said: “The validation event allowed relevant discussions among key stakeholders from the 3 chiefdoms who participated during the mapping exercise. The mapping, however, will inform programs to strengthen infection disease preparedness, monitoring and response, and other health-related interventions at the border communities at the Parrot’s Beak Area in Kailahun”.
This activity was done under the framework of the project “Strengthening Border Management, Social Cohesion and Cross-Border Security in the Parrot’s Beak Area’ covering Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and funded by the Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF).
