FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – The Netherlands Institution for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) facilitated a joint legislative-civil society organization peer learning visit to the Parliament of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
The Peer leaning visit which is an integral part of the Liberian Electoral Support Project is co-funded by the European Union, the Embassies of Sweden and Ireland in Monrovia and managed by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Liberia and implemented Jointly by United Nation Women and NIMD Liberia.
The delegation to neighboring Sierra Leone for the visit, was headed by Margibi County district #3 Representative and chairperson of the Women Legislative Caucus of Liberian, Representative Ellen Attoh Wreh.
The visit which was held between May 13 to 17, 2025 was aimed at studying the system of governance at the parliament and Civil Society levels (CSO) and how both countries can benefit from each other.
The visit seeks to provide clear understanding about the openness, transparency and the vel of women participation and representation within the Parliament of Sierra Leone, and its workings with civil society organizations in the country and the Sierra Leonean people.
Providing the overview of the visit, Counselor Oscar Bloh, Country Director of the Netherlands Institution for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) said that the visit is an integral part of the project that seeks to strengthen the institutional capacity of the legislature in terms of modernizing how the legislature works in Liberia.
Cllr. Bloh also noted that Sierra Leone was selected out of three countries for this peer learning study visit based on a report title, Open parliamentary index done by a group called African parliamentary network based in Accra, Ghana.
Cllr. Bloh furthered, “So in the project, and I must say this, we had two countries listed in the project for the visit and it was Ghana and Sierra Leone but based on consultations, based on documents we reviewed Sierra Leone emerged as the best suited for the visit.”
Rt. Hon. Segepoh Solomon Thomas, Speaker of Parliament of the Republic of Sierra Leone said that the Sierra Leonean parliament has tried as best as possible to be extremely open so that the people can know exactly what the parliament does.
Speaker Thomas stressed that through the openness of their Parliament, citizens are encouraged to appreciate the kind of work the parliament does daily and every year, there is a day set aside called Open Parliament Day, where the public is invited to come and see for themselves and examine, and ask questions about our workings within the parliament.
For his part, the Deputy Clerk of the Parliament of Sierra Leone, Gilbert Bosco N’habay disclosed that due to the cordially between the parliament and CSOs, there exist a desk for CSOs within the parliament of Sierra Leone for the purpose of policies and coordination.
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