RSLAF Reviews Gender Policy, Seeks More Women in Military Leadership

The Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) and UN Women have started a two-day session to review the military’s gender policy and validate a five-year action plan to increase women’s participation, especially in leadership.
The meeting at Companero Resort in Bureh is reviewing the RSLAF Gender Transformative and Strategic Inclusion Policy and validating its 2026–2030 Strategic Action Plan. Chief of Army Staff Major General Kemoh Tehwo Seray represented the Chief of Defence Staff. He told participants that gender mainstreaming should be treated “not merely as a target” but as a basic principle that makes the Armed Forces more effective and more ethical.
He said the RSLAF was taking affirmative steps to bring more women into leadership and decision-making roles. He pointed to the appointment of the first female battalion commander and a female battalion second-in-command as signs of progress. Major General Seray admitted that women make up a much smaller share of the RSLAF than of the national population. He said this is partly a result of the civil war, when most new recruits were men. The military leadership, he said, is committed to closing the gap step by step and widening opportunities for women across the institution.
He also praised the role of Sierra Leonean women in international peacekeeping. He said the RSLAF had made significant progress in giving female personnel the chance to serve in UN missions, and promised that the leadership would keep mainstreaming gender throughout the force.
UN Women Officer in Charge Baindu Massaquoi said the policy review and action plan were based on consultations with more than 1,000 RSLAF personnel across formations and units. She said those consultations identified institutional problems affecting recruitment, retention, career development, promotion, leadership, welfare, protection from harassment and access to peacekeeping deployments.
Women currently make up about 13 percent of the RSLAF, Massaquoi said. However, they account for about 28 percent of Sierra Leone’s military personnel deployed on peacekeeping operations. She said the goal should go beyond increasing the number of women in uniform. It should strengthen the whole career path, from recruitment and retention to training, promotion, leadership and deployment. “This process is about institutional change and ownership,” she said. She added that gender reforms should make the Armed Forces more professional, operationally ready, fair and well led. Massaquoi said the initiative is grounded in Sierra Leone’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Act 2022, the Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, UN Security Council Resolution 1325, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Lieutenant Colonel James Browne urged participants to look hard at the proposed policies and actions and make sure they are realistic, measurable, sustainable and able to deliver real results.
“The success of any policy,” he said, should be judged not by how well it is written but by how well it is turned into practical action and measurable outcomes. He called for clear responsibilities, strong accountability and enough resources to support implementation.
Ibrahim Kamara, Director of Policy and Planning at the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, commended the RSLAF for its progress in building gender considerations into its institutional policies. He said Sierra Leone’s commitments under CEDAW and Resolution 1325 require institutions, especially in the security sector, to promote women’s meaningful participation. Women’s representation in the RSLAF is still below the desired level, he said, but recent progress is encouraging.
Kamara said the policy and action plan are in line with Sierra Leone’s gender laws and the Third Generation National Action Plan on Resolution 1325.
He stressed that gender mainstreaming is not only about adding more women. It is also about making security institutions more effective by making sure military operations consider the views and needs of women, men, boys and girls. He said the ministry would keep working with the RSLAF and UN Women so that the policy is put into practice and does not stay on paper.
The session brings together representatives of the RSLAF, UN Women, the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs and other partner institutions.