March 2, 2017 By Ibrahim Tarawallie
The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) hason Tuesday (February 28) concluded its fourth referral partnership meeting at the commission’s conference room on Tower Hill in Freetown, where issues on referral cases were discussed.
The commission has been collaborating with various ministries, departments and agencies and other organisations that were most suited for the past years to address certain complaints brought to them by individuals.
During the course of the meeting, the referral partnership policy and its terms of reference was endorsed by those present.
According to the Director of Complaints Investigations and Legal Services, Doris Sonsiama, the policy seeks to solidify their relationship with partner institutions and establish effective partnership with them in order to synergize the efforts of collaboration in dealing with referred cases through its quarterly referred partnership fora.
She said the aim of the partnership meeting was to give as well as obtain information from different partners within the forum on referred cases.
The forum, according to her, was formed to obtain information from partners on referred cases and also to provide relevant information on matters referred to them.
Also speaking, Chairperson of HRCSL, Brima A. Sheriff, said the presence of partners was an indication of their seriousness to the wellbeing of the partnership forum. He urged them to discuss critical human rights issues of violations and to look at progress made with regards referred cases.
He commended the various institutions for the complementary work and the successes achieved in working on referred cases.
Also, updates, human rights issues, feedbacks and reports on cases the commission had referred to it partners and those referred to the commission were discussed.
Officials from the National Commission for Persons with Disability, Independent Media Commission (IMC), the Sierra Leone Police, Ministries of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs and Local Government and Rural Development, the Independent Police Complaint Board, Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security made meaningful contributions for furtherance of the partnership.