Having emerged from an 11-year civil war, Sierra Leone strives for a peaceful and democratic future.
For 11 years, starting in 1991, a civil war raged in Sierra Leone that left more than 50,000 people dead and two million displaced. While no one was entirely shielded from the violence, the war hit the country’s youth the hardest. An estimated 70 percent of schools were destroyed and approximately one quarter of the armed combatants in the conflict were under 18 years of age. Since the end of conflict in 2002, the people of Sierra Leone have strived to build a democratic and peaceful society. The path remains difficult, with poverty entrenched, yet signs of progress, too often ignored by the international media, can also be found. Sierra Leone has held two consecutive democratic elections since the end of the war, and women and young people have taken the lead in creating an engaged civil society. This short film documents the progress Sierra Leone has made since the end of its brutal civil war and the hope of a new generation for creating a more just society.