The Directorate was established in January 2023 in respond to the increasing threat and impact of climate change on the enjoyment of fundamental rights more especially the rights of vulnerable communities and the protection of their environment. It is also the Commission’s function to “providing human rights information, including locating within the Commission a national human rights resource and documentation centre” to provide an effective human rights information hub for research and public education, pursuance to Section 7 (2) (b) (ii) of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone Act (no. 9) of 2004. The Directorate therefore has two major roles to carry out which are:
1) Coordinate the Commission’s activities on human rights and climate change, which include:
· Monitor and report on the human rights impacts of climate change
· Advise the state and others on human rights-based approaches to climate action
· Support communities to participate in decision-making on climate strategies
· Assist victims to seek justice and redress through complaints handling mechanism
· Provide education on the human rights impacts of climate change and policies
· Engage businesses and others on their roles and responsibilities to keep the environment safe
· Work in collaboration with government-specialized MDAs, CSOs and NGOs on environmental issues and in ensuring that decisions on climate change are participatory, non-discriminatory and accountable, with the benefits and burden of climate action shared equitably;
· Provide training and capacity-building programs for communities and civil society organizations. This is to empower these groups to understand their rights concerning the environment and climate change, enabling them to advocate for themselves and participate in decision-making processes.
2). Manage the Commission’s information Services to meet the information needs of internal and external researchers. The information services refer to the management of the library and documentation centre including records, reprographic and archival services of the Commission; and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Archives hosted at the Sierra Leone Peace Museum. The Commission has established library and documentation centres at headquarters and in its three regional offices in Bo, Kenema and Makeni. The centre at headquarters holds a collection of over 1,592 human rights-related publications and has been very instrumental to both Commissioners, staff and external researchers, particularly university students working on their academic dissertations and research papers. The documentation centres are open to the public for research and they serve as the information broker and depository of the institutional memory of the Commission.
Director Abu Bakarr Kamara - is an Information and Communication Professional with a wealth of over 23 years of multitasking information and knowledge management practice in both academic and public institutions. He joined the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone in 2008. He was among the expertise of staff contributed to the development of the Directorate of Education, Communication and Training and has served in that directorate until January 2023 when he was assigned to a new task to head the newly established Directorate of Climate Change and Information Services. His 15 years’ service in the Commission has broaden his knowledge horizon and capability in designing, developing and implementation of human rights related programmes for different categories of rights holders and public officials. He has benefited from series of trainings in the field of Human Rights Education & Training, National and Public Inquiry, UN Mechanism & Treaty Body Reporting, Advocacy and Report Writing, Project Managements etc. conducted by high-profile Human Rights and University Associate Institutions.
He holds a Master of Economic and Social Studies (MSc Econ) with specialization in Information, Knowledge Management and Library Studies from Aberystwyth University, Wales, United Kingdom (2012); a Bachelor of Arts with Honours degree (2007) and a Diploma (1995) in Library, Archive and Information Studies from the University of Sierra Leone; and a Professional Certificate in Records Management Fundamentals from Toronto University, Canada (2009).