Evaluation of the project “Creating peaceful societies through women’s improved access to management of natural resources, land tenure rights and economic empowerment in Sierra Leone”

This report presents the results of the evaluation of the project “Creating peaceful societies through women’s improved access to management of natural resources, land tenure rights and economic empowerment in Sierra Leone” (UNJP/SIL/050/PBF), jointly implemented by FAO and ILO between 2019 and 2020. The project aimed at addressing the two underlying causes of conflicts in Sierra Leone - gender discrimination and fragmented land governance - by focusing on: i) more effective and gender-inclusive land tenure governance; and ii) women’s economic empowerment through skills, knowledge, gender-sensitive financial services and organizational capacity. The project was clearly appropriate and strategic to the main peacebuilding goals and challenges in Sierra Leone. It was also clear that the project has successfully created a momentum for women and their communities at large to more confidently address conflict issues in the future. Women’s participation in design and management of income-generating economic activities was particularly successful. The evaluation makes a number of recommendations, including a follow-up of the livelihood component. Scale-up and sustainability should be the next steps for widespread mapping of family-owned lands. Providing a lighter version of the mapping software (SOLA) would help in this regard, and it could also sustain mapping at the community level after project closure.