Still feeling the results of civil war 18 years on, Sierra Leone sees some of the highest rates of unemployment and informal residents worldwide. Located on the west African coast, Sierra Leone sees many of its citizens making the move from rural areas to the urban sites of the cities, in hopes of employment and better opportunities. Often, they do not find it. Due to the increasing population in the urban centres of the nation, the cities are often buckling under the pressure. They have limited access to education, income prospects and suitable dwellings.

The majority of the population live below the poverty line, resulting in substance abuse, gang and street violence, a further decrease in education, sexual violence and rape.

Simple poster aims to bring awareness to the workshop and the services it will provide. It utilises visual communication to attract the population of women in Kissy that have little or lack literacy skills by reducing the amount of description. In addition, the poster is a more affordable method for creating awareness as it offers continuous exposure without the use of technology. This caters for those who have no access to technology as the posters are placed around Kissy.

Poster encouraging women in Kissy - Sierra Leone to participate in programs providing awareness to contraceptives. 

The use and access to contraceptive methods amongst women in Sierra Leone is very low. 17% of currently married women use a contraceptive method of some kind, and 16% use a modern method. The use of many modern contraception is however higher in urban areas 25%, compared to rural areas with 12 % respectively. The western region such as Freetown, where the largest urban population in the country is located shows the lowest prevalence, at 12%. Furthermore, women with secondary or higher levels of education are found to more likely use modern contraceptive methods, with 25% used a modern method, compared with 19% of women who only completed primary school and 13% with no education. 

In every region of Sierra Leone, women are still subjected to various forms of discrimination and violence. This project serves importance as many women in Kissy experience some form of sexual violence during their lifetime. Unfortunately, many women are raped and due to the informal settlement context and the health context of Sierra Leone, there is little to no access to proper medical equipment or resources. This makes receiving medical care difficult and terminations of pregnancies a risky medical procedure, while the trauma of a termination can add further trauma to that of the assault. As such, making contraception more accessible/available to women in informal settlements can help prevent pregnancies that may have been a result from sexual violence.