; Whereas independent journalists, media outlets, and press freedom advocates expressed their ongoing concerns over political elites’ use of libel and sedition laws to subvert reporting on elections and high-level corruption; Whereas women’s participation in politics, including representation in Parliament, key appointments as ministers or other senior administrative positions in the government, remains at unequal levels and a big issue , according to the country’s Ministry of Gender and Children Affairs; Whereas women who participate politically in the country report suffocating intimidation by the country’s security forces, including through arbitrary arrests and other forms of intimidation by police presence; Whereas despite upticks in political and social challenges, the Global Peace Index still rates the country as the fifth-most peaceful country in Africa and 50th in the world as of 2022; Whereas Afrobarometer reported that among 30 African countries regularly surveyed since 2011, Sierra Leone is the only country where support for democratic elections increased significantly by 11 percentage points over the recent decade; Whereas, in February 2023, Sierra Leone signed into law the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act (GEWE), a historic and monumental bill that establishes a 30-percent quota for women’s participation in government for both appointed administrative positions, ambassador roles, and elected positions in Parliament and local council seats; Whereas the United States and Sierra Leone share a deep and entwined relationship with thousands of Sierra Leoneans and their descendants residing in the United States today; Whereas the United States and Sierra Leone are linked by a complex history stemming from the Atlantic slave trade in which large numbers of African slaves from present-day Sierra Leone were sent to the then-colonies of Georgia and South Carolina