Our Programmatic Areas

Since its establishment in 2005 WAVES have implemented various projects in Bo District. These projects included Advocacy for women’s rights, Pregnant girls right to education and other development issue affecting women and women’s empowerment within the targeted communities with Bo District.

From the diversity of projects in WAVES funding portfolio, WAVES has made the strategic decision to use the next five years as a consolidation period, focusing on and prioritise its programmes and areas of work. This is to ensure the achievement of more positive outcomes, increase impact, effectiveness and build on its comparative advantage and strength.

Compared to other national NGOs, WAVES comparative advantage lies in its recognized ability to undertake ADVOCACY for Women’s right and Women’s empowerment in a variety of ways depending on the issue at hand. WAVES has an ‘edge’ over other national NGOs due to its strategic positioning in various civil society coalitions and networks both at the regional, national and inter-national levels. This strategic positioning gives WAVES a platform for Advocacy and amplifies their voice. WAVES is also seen as a prominent and credible NGO in the communities in which it currently operates.

WAVES has therefore made the strategic decision to focus all of its resources both financial and human to engage in these programmatic sectors:

• Violence Against Women
• Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR)

WAVES has chosen to engage in these two thematic sectors which form her two broad themes which will be brought together under an overarching ‘Women’s Empowerment Program” Which will have a higher-level goal of: 

To Empower and improve the welfare of poor and vulnerable women and girls in relation to Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR).

Based on the experiences of WAVES from their many years of community work in Bo district, research and monitoring outcomes WAVES have identified the thematic areas as major issues in Bo District and Sierra Leone in general. At the same time, each thematic area is inextricably linked, to other key challenges aforementioned in Section one that affect women in the Bo District and keep them vulnerable and in poverty such as the issue of land rights (80%agric labour force are women yet they don’t own land), the issue of women in leadership (women make up 52% of our nation’s population but hold only 20% of elective and appointed positions) among others. For this reason, WAVEs makes explicit links between each thematic area in their plans, strategies and implementation processes.

Each program is attempting to address similar issues from multiple entry points.

WAVES has also resolved to take an integrated approach across the two thematic areas in both conceptual and practical ways. To facilitate this WAVES staff shall receive training in Gender Equality inclusion specifically GESI methodology, project management, participatory planning, monitoring & evaluation, outcome Harvesting and Impact Assessment, etc. WAVES staff will also receive training in for example, the linkages between SRHR and other women’s rights, GBV and harmful traditional practices etc.