Mariyam Konneh Puts Sierra Leone’s Kush Crisis in Global Spotlight
- Grace Bangura
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
Miss Sierra Leone Mariyam Konneh has used the Miss World platform to raise international awareness about Sierra Leone’s growing drug crisis, particularly its impact on women, while calling for greater access to recovery, rehabilitation and empowerment programmes.
Speaking during her Beauty With a Purpose presentation, Konneh shared the story of her childhood best friend, whom she encountered searching through garbage in one of Freetown’s poorest communities. She said the experience was painful because the confident and ambitious girl she once knew had been severely affected by addiction. The encounter inspired her advocacy project, “Her Way Forward,” under the Mariyam’s Ways Foundation.
Konneh highlighted the devastating effects of kush and other drugs on families and communities, stressing that addiction should be addressed with compassion rather than stigma. She noted that women affected by addiction often lose access to healthcare and become vulnerable to violence, exploitation, prostitution, trafficking and crime.
She said the Mariyam’s Ways Foundation has completed more than 65 projects, empowered over 4,800 women, supported more than 3,100 young people, reached over 90 communities and mobilised more than 240 volunteers across Sierra Leone.
Konneh also announced the completion of the foundation’s first rehabilitation centre dedicated to women battling drug addiction. The initiative will provide rehabilitation alongside skills acquisition programmes aimed at helping women gain practical skills, achieve financial independence and rebuild their confidence.
Her long-term vision, she said, is to establish safe recovery centres where women affected by addiction can heal physically, emotionally and mentally. Through Her Way Forward, Konneh is seeking to use her Miss World platform to promote women-centred recovery, rehabilitation and empowerment, while reminding society that women affected by addiction deserve “dignity, hope and another chance.”
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