Sierra Leone

Country News

Published: mars 3, 2026OccasionsColombie Équateur Ghana Inde Indonésie Maroc Pakistan Roumanie Sénégal SierraLeone Tanzanie Vietnam

Request for proposals for Transition to Scale innovations!

Grand Challenges Canada, through the Being Initiative, is investing in ready-to-scale innovations that address the root causes of young people’s distress before they escalate, strengthening the environments where they live,…

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Country Focus

Substance use is a growing crisis for young people in Sierra Leone. The rise of Kush, a highly addictive drug, has been declared a national emergency, particularly affecting youth in urban areas. Many turn to substances to cope with the realities of unemployment, social exclusion, and lack of opportunity.

Substance use is associated with a wide range of mental health risks, including psychosis, depression, violence, and isolation. While awareness is increasing, there is an urgent need to offer youth meaningful alternatives, such as skills training, mentorship, and safe community spaces, to prevent and reduce substance use.

Discover more insights from Sierra Leone’s landscape analysis—download our report!

What we’re funding in Sierra Leone

Proof-of-concept funding:

Proof-of-concept (POC) funding up to $250,000 CAD will be awarded to early-stage projects that can implement, test and refine solutions to country-specific personal, social, and/or environmental factors impacting young people’s mental health and wellbeing in one of the 12 countries.

In Sierra Leone, we seek bold Proof-of-Concept ideas to reduce and prevent substance use among young people. These innovative solutions should focus on substance use education and providing youth with skills and opportunities.

Transition-to-scale funding:

Transition-to-scale (TTS) funding between $300,000 CAD and $1,500,000 CAD will be awarded to support tested mental health promotion and prevention approaches that align with country-specific priorities along their scaling journey to help catalyze their sustainability and impact.

In Sierra Leone, we seek bold Transition-to-Scale ideas to reduce and prevent substance use among young people. These innovative solutions should focus on substance use education and providing youth with skills and opportunities.

Ecosystem catalyst funding:

Ecosystem catalyst (EC) funding between $200,000 CAD and $300,000 CAD will be awarded to organizations that can address priority barriers to scale, such as legislation, evidence, coordination, and mobilize demand to help mental health initiatives succeed and grow in one of 12 priority countries.

In Sierra Leone, we’re funding EC proposals to support advocacy efforts with the goal of influencing national action plans and regulatory frameworks related to mental health and substance use towards effective prevention and promotion strategies and stigma reduction. 