Introducing the Sierra Leone Local - Location Event Dataset (SLL-LED)

This data-note introduces the Sierra Leone Local – Location Event Dataset (SLL-LED) – an event dataset of the armed conflict in Sierra Leone. These data includes an unrivalled number of events, actors and allies. The set is based entirely on local sources, and each event is geo-coded. This note first explains the process of the data construction and potential limitations. Second, it compares SLL-LED to other data collection efforts; UCDP-GED, the TRC, Bellows & Miguel, 2009 and ACLED-v4. It finds that these efforts have potential biases, inconsistencies and weak spots whereas the SLL-LED data is unrivalled in scope, depth and precision. A thorough analysis of the civil war from 1991-2001 in Sierra Leone is best achieved using SLL-LED. Finally, this data-note gives descriptive characteristics of the conflict, describes four distinct conflict environments and indicates potential contribution of the data to theoretical debates.