By Hassan Gbassay Koroma
The Minister of Social Welfare, Melrose Karminty, has urged local leaderships and beneficiaries to take ownership of the Post Ebola Recovery Social Investment Fund (PERSIF) project for sustainability and quality service delivery in their respective localities.
She made the call last Thursday during a high-level stakeholders and inter-ministerial engagement at the Freetown City Council Hall in Freetown. The event was attended by the political and traditional leadership of the eight districts where the project is being implemented.
The Post Ebola Recovery Social Investment Fund (PERSIF) project is a comprehensive initiative designed to restore basic social services and revive local economic opportunities in the Mano River Union basin, with a particular focus on communities affected by the Ebola outbreak.
According to Minister Karminty , the government, through the Ministry, was implementing the PERSIF Project with funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI).
She said the project was part of the recovery efforts of the government aimed at restoring social and economic opportunities that were lost in the wake of the Ebola virus crisis that ravaged the country in 2014 and 2015.
She highlighted that the project specifically aligns with the post-Ebola recovery plan with the following policy, including human capital development, healthcare Improvement through improved access to health information and quality services, effective disease prevention, control, and surveillance.
She said the project is being implemented in eight districts, including Port Loko, Western Rural, Kailahun, Kenema, Kono, Bombali, Falaba and Kambia districts.
“The construction of Mutli-trade facilitation, information and learning centres and the capacity building of the Ministry of Trade officers (Trade Monitors) is a deliberate step to strengthen business transaction network with our neighbouring countries (Republic of Guinea and Liberia) with similar facilities,” she said.
She said the PERSIF Micro-finance scheme, was rolled out as part of the wider interventions of the government that supports the endeavours of women at the micro, Ssmall and medium levels.
She noted that the PERSIF intervention supported deserving women and vulnerable persons through the financing of demand-driven and small-scale or artisanal businesses.
She added that those grants and micro-loans are catalytic packages that are intended to build resilience, inclusive growth, and enhance women’s empowerment in cross-border districts affected communities.
She said the projects are related to national programmes that are geared towards the provision of basic social services and improving the income and local economic development and entrepreneurship, women in cross-border.
Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation (1), Dr. Charles Senesie said the PERSIF project, targeting Ebola-affected communities especially along the borders of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, seeks to contribute to the availability of selected basic social services, restoration of livelihoods and economic opportunities.
He said the development objective of the project is to enhance community resilience in Ebola affected communities by supporting economic development and that the specific objectives are to support the recovery of the Ebola affected communities through the restoration of basic social services, and the revival of local economic opportunities.
Making a presentation about the achievements of PERCIF, Project Coordinator Abdul Karim Kanu said the project has strengthened the capacity of staff of the Ministry of Social Welfare to support delivery of social services and related community-based interventions, and over 243 social workers across the project areas benefited.
He highlighted that the project has provided psychosocial counselling to 1,000 Ebola and COVID-19 survivors, conducted five (5) training sessions for health workers on disease Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) in four regions with over 1,500 beneficiaries from nine districts
He further highlighted that the project has strengthened the capacity of two health institutions, trained tutors in two nursing schools at COMAHS, and Eastern Technical University (ETU), strengthened the capacity of 40 trade monitors on business advisory services and information system.
According to him, the project has trained entrepreneurs on numeracy and entrepreneurship skills and facilitated 11,000 cash beneficiaries’ cross-border traders, mostly women, benefited.
He further presented that, the project has provided grant to 1,617 vulnerable persons and 500 community business groups to beneficiaries in seven districts by rolling out a loan scheme worth $770,000.
He said the ongoing activities, include the construction of five Community Health Centers (CHC) with Nurses quarters in Western Area Rural, Kenema, Port Loko, Bombali and Kailahun districts and the construction of four multi-trade facilitation, information and learning Center in Gbentu Falaba, Kardu Mafindor Kono, Koindu and Bomaru Kailahun districts.
Kanu further presented that the project has constructed 255 WASH facilities in schools, health centers and public places with 82 Solar powered water supply systems, borehole, 86 hand pump water supply systems, 86 VIP flush toilets in, Western Area Rural, Port Loko, Bombali, Kenema and Kailahun respectively.
