Background
Sierra Leone has just begun the process of recovering from a gruesome decade of civil war that decimated untold numbers of lives and property, and also devastated the institutions of governance and development in the country.
The international community’s efforts to rebuild the processes of governance and development in Sierra Leone include capacity building initiatives and programs for individuals and organizations in the country.
The citizens of Sierra Leone, who live in the Diaspora for one reason or another, are a very valuable resource and powerful force or tool for rebuilding their country. What is fundamentally crucial in mobilizing the Diaspora is a vehicle or mechanism that would collect and disseminate pertinent information about the opportunities, challenges, prospects and issues that the Diaspora needs to know, in order to make informed decisions and plans to engage constructively in rebuilding their country.
This engagement can be for the Diaspora to either return home to deploy their skills, expertise and resources in public, private and non-profit ventures, or to channel their resources to ventures in their country through secondary or tertiary avenues, while they remain in the Diaspora. Essentially, valuable and practical information is going to be the premier ingredient necessary to convince, mobilize or energize the Diaspora to play responsible roles in rebuilding their country.
