PROFILE

On 17 September 2007, following the Presidential Elections of August 2007,
President Ernest Bai Koroma was declared winner and the new President of
Sierra Leone. As the new president he came in with a mandate for the next five
years. In this mandate he has identified six broad priority areas as the primary
focus for the government to work on and specific results targets that have been
articulated by the responsible Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA).
Focuses will be in the areas of energy, infrastructure, youth employment, growth
sector, social services and capacity development.

The President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma was also eager for Sierra Leoneans in the
Diaspora to come back home and serve the country or contribute from afar, as
clearly stated in his maiden speech to Parliament. Inspired by this commitment,
individuals representing various Diaspora groups met with the President on Friday
October 12 2007 and introduced an initiative entitled "Engaging the Diaspora
for a New Sierra Leone" 

 VISION

The aim of this initiative was to lay the foundation for a productive and mutually
beneficial partnership between the Government of Sierra Leone and the Diaspora.
This was a historic moment in Sierra Leone and a clear indication of the President’s
commitment to engage the Diaspora in national Development.

As a result of the meeting and the Presidents vision to engage the Sierra Leonean
Diaspora in National Development, the Office of Diaspora Affairs was created
under the Office of the President.

The Office of Diaspora Affairs has many objectives and areas of focus, however the
main are of focus is working with the Government to address critical capacity gaps
in the government by bringing Diaspora professionals and other experts from the
South to deliver results in specific areas.

MISSION

The project is a direct outcome of the loss of professionals in various technical and
managerial fields due to the decade-long conflict experienced by the country. It is
estimated that approximately 30% of the educated nationals have left and more than
half a million Sierra Leoneans live in the US and UK alone. The war also forced
thousands of Sierra Leoneans to take refuge in the other Mano River Union States.
Thus through what is commonly referred to as ‘brain drain’, Sierra Leone has lost
a large number of its best trained, most educated and skilled nationals depriving the
country of the doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, managers and administrators it
needs to break the cycle of poverty and underdevelopment. Such losses hamper
ongoing efforts to reach the targets of the new government as well as the Millennium
Development Goals - despite considerable investments by donor countries, the country
remains at the bottom of the Human Development Index.

Although this is a new office, the Office of Diaspora Affairs is working towards becoming
a one stop resource center for Diasporan. The Office will work towards linking Sierra
Leoneans from the Diaspora to different businesses opportunities, agencies, ministries,
and department in Sierra Leone. Some other upcoming projects that the office will focus
on are The Diaspora Trust Fund as a development vehicle for Sierra Leone where
Diasporan’s can make a bigger impact as a whole to Sierra Leone.

LOCATION                                                                                                                             

The Office of Diaspora Affairs is located on the 2nd Floor at State House under the Office
of the President.