The United Nation Resident Coordinator,Babatunde Ahonsi, on Monday, April 11, 2022, presented the United Nations Annual Results report for 2021 to the Vice President of Sierra Leone at the Country Lodge in Freetown.
The UN Annual Results Report is way of taking stock of the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, which is aligned to the Medium-Term National Development (2019-2023), and the progress towards attaining the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The report focused on four priority areas: Sustainable Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security, and Climate Resilience; Transformational Governance; Access to Basic Service and Protection; and empowerment of the Most Vulnerable.
UN Resident Coordinator said that the United Nations will continue to focus on implementing the corporation framework, including activities adopted from UN COVID-19 socioeconomic response plan, adding that efforts towards collective partnership would also be better explored.
Commenting on the four priority areas, he said that in the aspect of Sustainable Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security, the country has witnessed improved agricultural practices and reduction of vulnerability due to food insecurity.
Ahonsi added that in transformational governance, access to justice had been improved, especially for vulnerable populations including children, women and migrants through development and review of legal and policy frameworks, strengthening and establishment of local service centres, and providing direct support to survivors of violence.
He said that children in Sierra Leone have been enrolled in school with improved and meaning learning outcomes; Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services have improved the wellbeing of the population and had reduced disease burden. He said that strengthening of Universal Health Coverage had also been achieved.
Ahonsi explained that in protection and empowerment of the Most Vulnerable, key actions were taken towards changing community behaviour and understanding of the rights of women, children, and people living with disabilities, and the promotion and protection of these rights.
He said that tackling the wider pandemic impacts and boost recovery, the United Nation has supported a new scheme to boost food production in 17 schools, adding that over 14,000 children could now access water and sanitation facilities in schools with an addition of 100,000 people who have access to basic water in their locality.
Upon receiving the report, the Vice President, Dr. Juldeh Jalloh said that the report represents the continuous progressive pass mark of the Government of Sierra Leone, adding that it is an independent evaluation of government performance in delivering social services to the people.
The Vice President also said that the report also linked together collective delivery efforts in a collaborative way and gives a clear picture of the financing stream of specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how resources are been utilize.
He also noted that human capital development formed a strong source of development and had made positive impact on the progress of the government.
Speaking on health, the vice president noted that even though Sierra Leone is yet to meet its 15% budget allocation to the health sector as agreed in the Abuja Declaration, but as a government, they are making positive strides to address the looming challenges in the health sector.
In the Area of Agriculture, he said that mechanization of the sector is ongoing and access to machinery and innovative financing has also been instituted, adding that there is also increased harvest and improved nutrition and have provided tools and seedlings to farmers to supports progressive growth in the sector.
The Minister of Planning and Development, Dr Francis Kai-Kai, said his ministry would continue resource mobilization, monitoring and evaluation of development programs.
He commended the United Nations, stating that despite the challenges of COVID-19, they were able to report on their activities.
By George M.O. Williams