Rebuilding war-ravaged institutions: UNDP capacity strengthening of the Sierra Leone house of parliament (2007-2018)

Abstract

Post-war reconstruction and institutional rebuilding can be arduous and grueling. This is the case in countries where brutal civil conflicts completely destroyed the infrastructure of the state and its institutions, massified society, ransacked and pillaged properties, looted and plundered the economy, and created social insecurity and uncertainties. This was the state of affairs in Sierra Leone in 2002 when the civil war officially came to an end. The state institutional framework was broken, and central government had to rely on the donor community to rebuild and reconstruct the war-ravaged country. The overarching objective of this paper is to examine UNDP’s financial and technical support especially to one of the three arms of government-the House of Parliament in Sierra Leone. UNDP’s contribution to reform the Sierra Leone parliament and bring it up to speed has been overwhelming and strikingly noteworthy. The article demonstrates the fundamental role Parliaments play in the consolidation of both nascent and established democracies and how the institution empowers ordinary citizens to participate in the policies that shape their lives. This article concludes that the structural and institutional reforms put in place in the Sierra Leone’s House of Parliament by the UN Agency has the potential to strengthen and consolidate the budding democracy in the country.