BY Sallioeu S. Kanu
Sierra Leone – December 4, 2025: The Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE, alongside councillors and staff of the Freetown City Council (FCC), community stakeholders, and beneficiaries, has officially launched the construction of the new Susan’s Bay Care Block. The initiative is designed to ease the heavy burden of unpaid care work on women and girls in Freetown by providing a centralised hub of essential services.
The Care Block will offer adult education, nutrition support, childcare, professional development, and access to health and gender-based violence resources. It will also provide training for men in caregiving and spearhead public campaigns to promote the value of care work.
The project, implemented by FCC in partnership with CHANGE, adapts Bogotá’s pioneering Care Blocks model to empower caregivers in Sierra Leone. It forms part of the Scaling Care Innovations in Africa partnership and is funded by Global Affairs Canada and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), with support from Metropolis.
Mayor Aki-Sawyerr emphasized that the initiative aligns closely with the Human Capital Development goals of the Transform Freetown agenda, underscoring the city’s commitment to improving social services and creating opportunities for women, girls, and caregivers.
Once completed, Susan’s Bay Care Block is expected to serve as a transformative space for community empowerment, reducing inequalities in care work and strengthening Freetown’s social development framework.