By Foday Moriba Conteh
One Family People (OFP), with funding from the Liliane Foundation, officially launched its Programme for Inclusion & Empowerment (PIE) project on Thursday, March 25, 2025, at the Peace Museum Hall in New England Ville, Freetown. This €1.2 million multi-year initiative, under the Building Effective Networks trajectory, aims to improve the lives of children and young people with disabilities in Sierra Leone. The project will be implemented by eight partner organizations across five districts and aligns with the broader 2025–2027 Multi-Annual Plan, which focuses on strengthening disability inclusion and empowerment in education, healthcare, livelihoods and advocacy.
Addressing the gathering, Edward Emmanuel, Executive Director of One Family People, emphasized the importance of the initiative in advancing support systems for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), particularly children and young people with special needs.
“This marks a new era of enlightenment through the Programme for Inclusion and Empowerment (PIE). Our goal is to create an inclusive society where all families with special needs enjoy equal rights and opportunities,” Edward Emmanuel stated.
He pointed out that the PIE project aligns with Sierra Leone’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the 2030 Agenda for inclusion and poverty reduction, adding that the project seeks to break systemic barriers that hinder the empowerment of PwDs, including legal restrictions, social norms and lack of access to resources.
Highlighting the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), Edward Emmanuel reiterated that inclusion must be at the core of national development efforts. He called for greater collaboration between the Government, civil society and international partners to ensure PwDs have access to education, employment and healthcare.
“The 17 SDGs are interconnected. If we are truly committed to ‘Leaving No One Behind,’ we must ensure that persons with disabilities are included in all aspects of social, economic and political life,” he added.
In his presentation, Samuel POV Macauley, Operations Director and National CBR Advisor at One Family People, emphasized the organization’s commitment to ensuring that all children and youth with disabilities are empowered, included and have access to the best possible living conditions.
He said that as part of the 2025 rollout of the PIE programme, the initiative will focus on multiple impact areas, including child support, capacity strengthening, lobbying and advocacy, education, health and economic empowerment. In child support, the project aims to establish a CBR Fund to cater to the needs of approximately 1,000 children with disabilities across 11 chiefdoms in five districts, while also providing individualized case management support for children requiring social protection services. Capacity strengthening efforts will involve training children, parents, service providers and policymakers on disability rights and inclusion, creating Parent Support Groups with regular meetings, and developing a mental health support package for families and caregivers.
He pointed out that the project also aims to enhance lobbying and advocacy efforts by establishing a national youth panel to advocate for policy improvements related to disability inclusion, conducting public education programs through five radio stations and two television channels featuring experts and parents discussing disability rights, and organizing annual community awareness campaigns in rural districts to educate 600 community members per year on disability laws and policies.
He added that the PIE project seeks to enhance educational opportunities by providing partial education support to approximately 500 students based on individual rehabilitation plans, establishing 15 inclusive school clubs, conducting teacher training workshops, and organizing mobile sign language clinics and online teaching programs targeting 2,500 students.
He expressed confidence that the PIE project would significantly contribute to strengthening disability inclusion and advocacy in Sierra Leone.
Dr. Ismail Kebbie, Program Manager at the National Rehabilitation Centre, Ministry of Health, commended One Family People for launching the Programme for Inclusion and Empowerment (PIE), stating that it will contribute tremendously towards the empowerment of children and youth with disabilities.
He noted that over the years, the Ministry has been seeking a network of partner organizations to complement the government’s efforts, particularly in the area of healthcare for persons with disabilities. From the project presentations, he expressed optimism that the initiative would address the concerns of children and youth with disabilities, as it has created the linkages that were previously missing. He urged partner organizations to work together as a team throughout the project’s implementation.
Speaking on behalf of the partner organizations implementing the project, Joseph Kamara, Executive Director of the Welfare Society for the Disabled Sierra Leone, described the Programme for Inclusion and Empowerment (PIE) as not only crucial but also a timely intervention by One Family People in addressing the challenges faced by children and youth with disabilities.
He highlighted the opportunities the project presents for partner organizations, including networking, technical expertise, and resource mobilization, which he believes will enable them to reach more children and youth with disabilities than they could individually. He assured that partner organizations would ensure the smooth implementation of the project and work towards reaching its targeted beneficiaries.
The One Family People’s PIE project presents a landmark initiative towards ensuring that children and youth with disabilities in Sierra Leone can access quality education, healthcare, economic opportunities, and social inclusion, thereby promoting their empowerment and overall well-being.
