In June Harriet Harman visited Sierra Leone with Save the Children. She has written a report on her visit which can be read here - http://fresh-ideas.org.uk/international-development-speeches-and-reports

 Many people of Sierra Leonean origin live in Harriet's constituency. Camberwell and Peckham has the largest Sierra Leonean community in the UK. Though settled in the UK, they remain strongly committed to their country of origin and send remittances back there. Harriet wanted to  see what progress had been made since her first visit to Sierra Leone in 2004.

 On her visit she visited Save the Children's projects in slum areas of Freetown. Save the Children is doing important work to reduce the number of women who die in childbirth and reduce the number of children who die of preventable diseases.

 Sierra Leone is rich in mineral resources - diamonds, rutile, bauxite, gold and iron ore- yet its people are amongst the poorest in the world.  As part of its policy review, Labour is developing policies to ensure that the mineral wealth enriches all the people of a country, not just the mining companies.  During her visit to Sierra Leone Harriet visited an iron ore mine and met the local community in the mining area.