Prevent POLIO – Vaccinate Your Child. Ambassador David Reimer, CDC Country Director Tushar Singh and Deputy Country Director Chinyere Ekechi joined health officials to help launch Sierra Leone’s National Polio Vaccination Campaign which begins today. “We are closer than we have ever been to eradicating polio and it is critical that we take advantage of …

Ambassador David Reimer joined United Nations Resident Coordinator Dr. Babatunde A. Ahonsi at a handover ceremony for a new solar powered water system at Moyamba Correctional Facility. The project, including a borehole, water tower and solar-powered pump systems, is part of joint work by the United Nations Development Programme – UNDP and the United States to support the strengthening of the criminal justice …

Ambassador Reimer and #USAID Mission Director Schoenholz visit the US-supported Vector-borne Disease Insectary and Laboratory (VDIL). The VDIL studies the mosquitoes that spread malaria and helps evaluate insecticide-resistance to ensure Sierra Leone has the best tools to #endmalaria

In honor of Ramadan, Ambassador David Reimer led a team from the United States Embassy in distributing food packets at Friday prayers at Jamiul Atiq mosque. Joined by Chief Imam of the Municipality of Freetown and head of the Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone, Sheikh Abu Bakarr Conteh and Chief Imam of Jamiul Atiq Sheikh …

Lungi, Sierra Leone – On March 8, Chargé d’Affaires Elaine French joined Dr. Austin Demby, Minister of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), and Solomon Jamiru, representing Interim National Coordinator Kellie Conteh of the National COVID-19 Emergency Response Centre (NaCOVERC), at Lungi Airport to welcome the arrival of the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from the international …

Ambassador Brewer Farewell Script Kushɛ-o, una all mi Salone padi and fambul dem!  I am U.S. Ambassador Maria Brewer.  For the past three and one half years, it has been my honor to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone. We have witnessed important progress in that time. In 2018, we saw the peaceful …

On November 9, Ambassador Maria Brewer met with President Julius Maada Bio to offer congratulations to Sierra Leone for passing the latest Millennium  Challenge Corporation – MCC Scorecard.

On October 15, Ambassador Maria Brewer welcomed the CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Sean Cairncross to Sierra Leone.  CEO Cairncross visited to Sierra Leone to meet with President Julius Maada Bio, Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, and the MCA Board.  The MCC CEO opened a new water kiosk at Aberdeen and met Threshold Program …

On October 10, Ambassador Brewer, daughter, and U.S. Embassy staff proudly joined Ambassador Tom Vens at Lumley Beach in Freetown for the 2020 Sierra Leone European Union Beach Cleanup Event. Also in attendance were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nabeela Tunis, seen in photos with her son, and the Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyer.

On August 28, U.S. Ambassador Maria Brewer proudly joined representatives from the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation to acknowledge 30 graduates of the Community Health Officer Management and Leadership Training Program. The graduates, working in Pujehun and Bonthe districts, are serving critical roles in supporting the COVID-19 response in their respective communities, health …

Ambassador Maria Brewer attended the opening of the Mano River Union conference on renewable energy yesterday in Freetown, introducing Power Africa coordinator Andrew Herscowitz, who made remarks on Power Africa’s role in the MRU region. Power Africa  is a U.S. Government partnership program that brings together technical and legal experts, with leaders from the private sector and …

Ambassador Maria Brewer spoke at the opening of the Empower Africa Agriculture Trade Mission on November 5, 2019.  Ambassador Brewer stated, “The U.S. Mission in Freetown places a priority on creating sustainable prosperity in Sierra Leone.  We support strengthening capacity in the agricultural sector to reduce malnutrition, hunger and poverty, while adapting to environmental changes …

Ambassador Maria Brewer met with President Julius Maada Bio this morning and offered her congratulations to Sierra Leone on the occasion of passing the 2020 Millennium Challenge Corporation – MCC  Scorecard. Ambassador Brewer stated, “I am pleased to congratulate the Government of Sierra Leone on passing the 2020 MCC Scorecard. In many significant areas, including Girls Primary Education Completion Rates …

Ambassador Maria Brewer visiting Njala University, where she recently met with the Aquaculture team and representatives of SkyFox, a USAID grantee. Together, they are developing new business opportunities and resources for fish farming, helping provide access to markets for women and youth entrepreneurs.  

  Ambassador Brewer met with Sierra Leone Correctional Services (SLCS) officials upon their return from a U.S. government-sponsored two-week training at the International Corrections Management Training Center in Colorado. This is the fourth Sierra Leonean delegation to participate in an advanced “Corrections Institutional Management” course. Participants highlighted the importance of respecting the human rights of …

On September 12, Ambassador Maria Brewer joined President Julius Maada Bio, who formally launched the National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS). The NAPHS is a road map for building capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats. Ambassador Brewer focused her remarks on the coordinated response to the Ebola epidemic, which was …

  On Friday, 52 new Peace Corps Volunteers, were sworn in to service, continuing a tradition started in Sierra Leone in 1962. Ambassador Maria Brewer told them, “you truly represent the best of America – people who have left your homes and all you hold dear and familiar to put into practice your belief that …

At the U.S. Embassy in Sierra Leone, we commemorated the 243rd anniversary of our Independence Day last week with guests from government, civil society, business, media, academia, and the arts. Honorable Alhaji Kanja Sesay, Minister of Energy, & Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation charmed the room with a speech and a toast …

Religious tolerance in Sierra Leone is essential to its ongoing peace, functional government and diverse society. Ambassador Brewer welcomed clerics and members of the Muslim and Christian communities in Freetown for an interfaith iftar on the 30th of May, 2019. Sheikh Abu Bakarr Conteh presided over the event. Each year for the past decade during …

During his March 2019 trip to the United States, President Bio traveled to Boston, Massachusetts and Washington DC. He spoke at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In Boston, our U.S. Embassy Freetown Economics Section organized an investors round table breakfast where the Chief Minister and other VIP speakers addressed American senior executives and …

U.S. Embassy Freetown welcomed a group of four firefighters from Bloomington, Indiana as part of the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) reciprocal exchange program. The trip was designed and implemented by Sierra Leone Mandela Washington Fellowship alumnus Eastina Taylor, who works for BBC Media Action. The firefighters spent one week in Freetown training the National Fire Force, meeting with high level officials in the national …

Ambassador Brewer met with H.E. President Maada Bio to discuss the important bilateral relationship between our two countries. Long live the friendship between the United States of America and the Republic of Sierra Leone!

On October 12, U.S. Ambassador Maria Brewer signed grant agreements totaling $60,000 with eleven community organizations working to improve economic and social conditions at the local level through the Ambassador’s Special Self-Help Program. The funds will support projects in nine districts to help them withstand economic and social hardship. The projects will provide agricultural inputs …

AUTHOR: Mariama Keita U.S. Ebola recovery investments in health in Sierra Leone will help millions of women, children and communities grow and thrive. As USAID Transforms lives, Sierra Leone is committed to inclusive development and we celebrate the successful presidential, parliamentary, and local-level peaceful election processes in March 2018 were a vital step forward in …

At the U.S. Embassy in Sierra Leone, we commemorated the 242nd anniversary of our Independence Day last week with guests from government, civil society, business, media, academia, and the arts. In her remarks, Ambassador Maria Brewer noted how our two nations are united by history, common values, and a commitment to democracy. Minister of Foreign …

On May 11,  2018 the White House delegation met with President Julius Maada Bio on the eve of inauguration, and attended the inauguration on Saturday

On Thursday, May 10, 2018 Ambassador Maria Brewer launched the Sierra Leone chapter of the State Alumni Group in Sierra. This group comprises people who have benefitted from one of our many exchange programs like Tech Woman, YALI, Fulbright, Humphrey, and many others!

I am the U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone and not just to Freetown.” This was Ambassador Maria Brewer’s key message as she made her first visit outside of Freetown to Makeni and Kono respectively. For Ambassador Brewer, coming to Sierra Leone as an Ambassador felt like a homecoming after having served at the U.S. Embassy …

The U.S. government partners with the Sierra Leone Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) and other ministries dedicated to the conservation of Sierra Leone’s fragile environment. The rapid and indiscriminant felling of trees is leading to  deforestation  of large parts of Sierra Leone, contributing to  soil erosion . This in turn has resulted in landslides and …