Following a decade of armed conflict that led to the virtual collapse of the country's social, economic, legal and political fabric, the Sierra Leone National Consultation on Women and Men in Partnership for Post-Conflict Reconstruction, held in Freetown in May 2001, brought together 250 people from governmental and non-governmental organisations to discuss ways in which the war has impacted differently on women, children and men and how best to ensure gender equality in all reconstruction efforts. The papers in this report examine the following issues from a gender perspective: * political and public decision-making * security and peace-building * legal reform violence and other crimes against women and children * poverty, economic recovery and empowerment * health, HIV/AIDS and STIs * settlement of displaced persons and rehabilitation of ex-combatants * the role of young people in post-conflict reconstruction

Following a decade of armed conflict that led to the virtual collapse of the country's social, economic, legal and political fabric, the Sierra Leone National Consultation on Women and Men in Partnership for Post-Conflict Reconstruction, held in Freetown in May 2001, brought together 250 people from governmental and non-governmental organisations to discuss ways in which the war has impacted differently on women, children and men and how best to ensure gender equality in all reconstruction efforts. The papers in this report examine the following issues from a gender perspective: * political and public decision-making * security and peace-building * legal reform violence and other crimes against women and children * poverty, economic recovery and empowerment * health, HIV/AIDS and STIs * settlement of displaced persons and rehabilitation of ex-combatants * the role of young people in post-conflict reconstruction