A German government-funded IOM programme is providing technical
assistance and expertise to the Sierra Leone Reparations Programme
(SLRP) set up to redress some of the worst consequences of the
human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian
law committed during the brutal 1991-2002 conflict.

The programme aims to assist some 650 vulnerable and needy women
who suffered rape and other forms of sexual violence by providing
them with six-month vocational training and a cash allowance of up
to USD 500 to help them set up an income-generating activity of
their choice or seek additional education.

As part of the programme, beneficiaries will be provided with
regular trauma counselling and training to equip them with the
necessary skills and knowledge to manage the risks of HIV/AIDS and
report gender-based violence.

"Victims of sexual violence are all too often stigmatised,
blamed and abandoned by their families," says Norbert Wuehler,
IOM's Director of Reparations Programmes. "Many feel abandoned and
have lost all hope their sufferings would one day be recognised.
This programme will help them regain their dignity by providing
them with comprehensive psychosocial support and vocational
training to help them rebuild their shattered lives."

The setting up of the SLRP, a key recommendation of Sierra
Leone's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2004, has taken
time, not just because of the difficulties in defining the worst
atrocities and in identifying the most vulnerable among the war
victims, but crucially in raising the funds to provide eventual and
actual assistance.

To date, the reparations programme has provided micro-cash
allowances to more than 20,000 war victims. Some 230 particularly
affected victims of sexual violence have also benefited from basic
medical treatment and/or fistula surgery.

"This is the first time that war reparations are specifically
tailored to address the many pressing needs of victims of sexual
violence. We hope this will serve as a model for other women who
have suffered cruelty and abuse in conflicts," says IOM's Norbert
Wuehler. 

Although it will never be known just how many civilian victims
of war there are, the range of atrocities committed were enormous.
In addition to children being press-ganged into becoming
combatants, each warring faction committed wide-spread sexual
violence on women and girls including rape, sexual slavery, genital
mutilation, forced marriages as well as chopping people's limbs in
acts of needless violence to terrorise the population.

Despite funding from the German government, the UN Peace
Building Fund and UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, the
Sierra Leone Reparations Programme urgently needs USD 8 million to
continue providing much-needed assistance to all victims of Sierra
Leone's brutal civil war.

A photo gallery by award winning photojournalist and documentary
maker Nick Danziger highlighting the stories and issues civilian
war victims face is available at  "paragraph-link-no-underline-bold" href=
"http://www.iom.int/Template/sierra-leone/reparations-programme/slideshow.htm">this
link

For more information please contact:

Norbert Wuehler

IOM Geneva

Tel +41 22 592 83 30

E-mail: "mailto:nwuehler@iom.int">nwuehler@iom.int