By: Tamba Borbor
Communication & Advocacy Officer
Representatives from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have lauded Welthungerhilfe (WHH) Sierra Leone for the successful implementation of its Nutrition Smart CommUnity project in Pujehun District with funding from Irish Aid.
During a three-day Joint Field Monitoring of the project by a Team comprising officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS), Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Pujehun District Council, Ministry of Health, among others, from Monday 22nd April to Thursday 25th April 2024, five communities including Gombu, Njaluahun, Niagorehun, Baguihun within Bari and Makpele Chiefdoms in the Pujehun District, were visited.
The objective of the Monitoring is to ascertain whether WHH delivered all the goodies entailed in the project documents to project participants in all the communities.
During these visits by the Team, participants, gathered at the community Barrays, were asked to verify what support they received from WHH Sierra Leone throughout the rollout of the project in the district.
As an organisation that prides itself on integrity, transparency and accountability, participants in all visited communities applauded WHH for significantly impacting their livelihoods with the various interventions.
With the various positive testimonies from participants in all five communities reached by the monitoring team, a Debriefing Session was held on Thursday 25th April 2024 at the WHH Potoru Field Office, for the Joint Monitoring Team to relay their findings to the WHH Project Management, Headed by Head of Project- Hawa Bockarie.
Speaking after the Debriefing session, James Gobbie, the WASH Officer at the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation in Freetown, expressed complete satisfaction about the implementation of the entire project in Pujehun District.
“All the five communities we visited, we confirmed that all the support that was specified in the project document was delivered to the people,” Gobbie stated; adding that there should be some improvement on training of participants on the Village Savings Loan Scheme (VSLA).
Engineer Morie Kobba, attached to the Ministry of Water Resources in Pujehun District, stated that the project has been successfully implemented.
He noted that the animal husbandry support to participants is yielding fruits, as the animals purchased with financial support from WHH, are multiplying. He urged that measures be put in place to counter the spate of animal theft and protect the animals from been hit by vehicles on the highway.
Officials from Pujehun District Council and Ministry of Water Resources in Pujehun District.
“The hygiene and sanitation aspects have been improved in these communities and they must also protect the forests to prevent global warming while also protecting water catchment points for the benefit of all,” Kobba noted.
Abdulai Jalloh, an official from the Evaluation Department at the Pujehun District Council, thanked WHH for “this wonderful project delivery, which I rate at 99%. It is not easy to ensure the people benefit and get all that is allocated in the project document.”
He singled out the determination and commitment of the Head of the Nutrition Smart CommUnity Project in Pujehun District, Hawa Bockarie, for her managerial skills and transparency in ensuring the communities get all that was allocated for them.
Mohamed Simbeh Koroma, Director at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, was also full of praise and admiration for the transparent way WHH had implemented the project in Pujehun.
“These communities have never benefited from any NGO in the past, but WHH has improved on the nutrition, hygiene, water, and sanitation in these remote areas. I am really impressed,” Mr., Koroma stated.
Fatmata Margai, Assistant Director at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS), said, “the monitoring came out nicely and its always good to undertake such activity. The entire process was fine because the participants told us that they have received all the good packages that was meant for them. We are asking WHH to continue the good work and do more for these remote communities to further improve their lives for a brighter future.”
Hawa Bockarie, Head of Nutrition Smart CommUnity Project, expressed satisfaction that MDAs have highly rated her project with an excellent pass mark of over 90% in terms of successful implementation.
“The objective of the Joint Field Monitoring is to ensure an independent evaluation of our activities and implementation of this project by our partners from MDAs. This will ensure we know how best we have done and ways to improve our implementation plans,” Hawa stated; adding that transparency and accountability are the hallmarks of WHH interventions globally.
Welthungerhilfe (WHH) is a German International Non-Governmental Organisation that has been operating in Sierra Leone since 2003, in various sectors aimed at significantly impacting lives of community people in remote areas of the country. The organisation has a Vision of achieving “Zero Hunger by 2030.”
