Although Sierra Leone is endowed withrich natural resources, it is one of the poorest countriesin the world. An eleven-year war over the period 1991-2002destroyed the country's infrastructure and socialfabric. The concentration of political power and publicresources in the capital city Freetown, and themarginalization of the provinces were perceived as one ofthe root causes of the war. In 2004, Sierra Leone rankedbottom in the United Nations Human Development Indicators,and 70 percent of the population is said to be under thepoverty line. To support the decentralization process,following the Local Council Election of May-June 2004, thecouncils were encouraged to adopt the Rapid Results Approach(RRA), which became an important driver in building aculture of performance, accountability and results. Theinitial efforts have also unleashed implementation capacitywithin the newly-created local councils that deliveredmeasurable improvements in public services over a shortperiod. The note further examines the first wave of rapidresults initiatives, scaling-up, and devolution, and,stipulates that by adopting a structured process, based on afew principles designed to unleash capacity, and empowerlocal teams, a favorable environment was created forachieving results in a short period.
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