Chief Director
Mr. Charles Bockarie Vandi
Chief Director
He is the Chief Director of Protection in the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs which serves as the National Machinery for the Advancement of Women and Child Protection Systems Strengthening in Sierra Leone. He served previously in the capacity as Director of Gender Affairs for a decade and also served as Coordinator for the National Committee on Gender-Based Violence (NaC-GBV) for 5 years. The National Committee on Gender-Based Violence is a Multi-Stakeholder Committee comprising of Government Institutions, UN System, International and National Non-governmental Organizations working on the Prevention and Response to gender-based violence in Sierra Leone.
Mr. Vandi has experience in policy development and advocacy that contributes to the promotion and protection of Women and Children’s Rights. He has contributed and provided technical leadership for Sierra Leone’s reporting obligations on women and children. He provides support to Child Protection issues relating to the formulation of laws, policies and Strategic Plans for the protection of children. Contributed to the development of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy 2019; the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act 2022; Child Rights Act 2025; currently supporting the review of Alternative Care Policy 2014 among others.
Mr. Vandi served as a core team member for the development of the National Gender Strategic Plan and Sierra Leone’s National Action Plan for the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, Peace and Security I II and III. He coordinated the development, review and strengthening of the National Action Plan on Gender-Based Violence, National Referral Protocol on GBV and the legislation of the Sexual Offences Act 2012 as amended in 2019. He is the lead technical person for the integration of gender and child protection into successive country development plans.
He has good working relationship with the CSOs and Development Partners working on gender equality and the empowerment of women. As part of capacity development, he provides mentorship and transfer of knowledge to staff in the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs. He is the current ECOWAS Focal Point and also the focal point person the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative in Sierra Leone. Serve as Member, Board of Director for Social Protection Agency and a Member, Board of Director for Rainbo Initiative.
He has worked extensively on the reforms including operationalization of the Gender-Responsive Budgeting and systems strengthening for the protection and promotion of gender equality, empowerment of women and child protection.
Mr. Vandi holds a Master of Science (M.Sc) Degree in Development Studies and a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) in Education with a major in Geography and Economics Minor from the Njala University and University of Sierra Leone respectively (both in Sierra Leone). He also holds a Certificate in Gender Equality in Africa from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa.