Sierra Leone was not actively involved in the process to develop a Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. It was, however, among the first group of states to endorse the Political Declaration in Dublin in November 2022. In Dublin, Sierra Leone said that it is a living example of first-hand experience of the impact of EWIPA. It said that the declaration is the beginning of a long-term commitment and effective process to develop stronger standards and change in the use of explosive weapons. Sierra Leone also said that an assistance program would help states to move swiftly to make these changes.1
Sierra Leone attended the first international follow-up conference on the Political Declaration in Oslo, Norway in April 2024.
Statements and positions
Sierra Leone spoke about the harm caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and importance of implementing the Political Declaration to mitigate this harm as co-host of a side event alongside the 2024 UN Security Council open debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict.2
During the UN General Assembly First Committee in 2023, Sierra Leone said that “the use of explosive weapons in populated areas poses complex challenges and a grave danger for the protection of civilians.”3
As a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Sierra Leone aligned with the World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ in May 2016, including the commitment “to promote and enhance the protection of civilians and civilian objects, especially in the conduct of hostilities, for instance by working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas, and by sparing civilian infrastructure from military use in the conduct of military operations.”4
Implementation of the Political Declaration
In February 2024, INEW and EWM conducted a state survey into endorser states' national efforts to disseminate and implement the Political Declaration. In the survey, Sierra Leone reported that it had not disseminated the Political Declaration.5
Sierra Leone has appointed point people responsible for the implementation of the Political Declaration in its Commissions on Arms and Ammunition and Armed Forces, an assistant programme officer and a major, respectively.6
Sierra Leone has not conducted briefings, workshops or trainings on the content of the Political Declaration and plans for its domestic implementation. Nor has it undertaken a review of laws or policies relevant to protection of civilians to identify areas where further policy development is necessary to meet the commitments under the Declaration. Sierra Leone did note that “during the trainings conducted for the Military and the Police, the wise use of explosives to protect civilian populations and their properties in built up areas is an integral course component”7.
To view all of Sierra Leone’s responses to the INEW and EWM state survey, and other states’ responses, see the Explosive Weapons Monitor 2023, Chapter III on Universalisation and Implementation of the Political Declaration.