Abstract

Following the peace agreement of 2002, Sierra Leone is in the recovery process of rethinking governance, policy and management arrangements as well as engagement with civil society. The recent national health strategy draft advocates for a move towards a sector wide approach (SWAp), which is a process that aims at broadening government and national ownership over public sector policy and resource allocation decisions within the sector, increasing the coherence between policy, spending and results, and reducing transaction costs. SWAp can be supported by one or more sector programmes, which in turn can be financed by using different aid modalities (e.g. sector budget support, pooled funds, project aid). This study is a thorough assessment of overall readiness of Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health and development partners to deliver such an approach. It was undertaken in order to deliberate on the six elements of a SWAp, which are commonly regarded as the key building blocks for the health sector.