UN Sierra Leone awarded Best Country Results Report for Africa.

A selection panel of Regional Development Coordination Office (DCO) Directors and their teams and DCO HQ have adjudged the 2021 Annual Results Report produced by the UN Country Team in Sierra Leone as the best in Africa, together with Cabo Verdo.

This was disclosed over the weekend in an official communication sent to UN Resident Coordinators informing them of the decision and indicating, “we are very proud of your leadership, of your RCO colleagues, and your UN teams for this achievement”.

The Annual Results Report for each region, including Sierra Leone, was selected, as best practice, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals UN Results Report Guidelines. The winners comprehensively reported on system-wide results in the implementation of the Cooperation Framework, they made full use of UN INFO as a result reporting tool, with quality and evidence-based reports and easy-to-read/ grasp infographics and visuals, and above all, the reports were submitted on time.

Yesterday, Resident Coordinator Mr Babatunde Ahonsi, who is in New York to attend the Resident Coordinator’s Global meeting, joined other winners to receive their awards at a short ceremony at UN headquarters.

Describing the 2021 Annual Results Report as a report card, Mr Ahonsi, in his Foreword to the Report in April, said the stock-taking of the Cooperation Framework “speaks to the UNCT Sierra Leone development advances in 2021, notwithstanding the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic impact and other challenges.”

At a ceremony in Freetown in April attended by the Vice President of Sierra Leone, development partners, members of the diplomatic partners, civil society and implementing partners, Mr Ahonsi, on behalf of the UNCT, presented the Report to the Government. He highlighted key achievements of UN support to Sierra Leone in 2021, including the 36 per cent increase in children enrolled in basic and secondary education from 2020 to 2021.

UN Country Annual Result Reports are critical tools for accountability and transparency on results of UN support to member states to facilitate the achievement of their national development aspirations in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.