Sierra Leone’s welfare response to the pandemic still lacks transparency

The National Commission Action for Sierra Leone is providing one-off cash transfers to households in response to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cash recipients are being selected through field action from NaCSA and other governmental bodies. A scoring matrix based on ten assessment areas of potential vulnerability is used to consider whether a person is eligible to receive this disbursement. A score of more than seven vulnerabilities means an individual is eligible for support. Having passed that test, the individual receives an SMS which allows them to collect a cheque that they must then hand over for encashment at a local bank.

There is a lack of transparency regarding the vulnerabilities in the score matrix not being made public.

Source: https://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/turning-point-my-life-covid-19-emergency-cash-transfers-sierra-leone
Writer: Thomas Vaughan Bowen
Date: March 2021