By Naomi Henkriay Samura
The journey to transform Freetown by transforming lives has begun with the launch on July 4, 2024, by Mayor of Freetown C40 Cities Co-Chair, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr of the ‘Transform Freetown – Transforming Lives 2024-2028 Development Agenda’.
The development Agenda is a strategic roadmap by FCC to address the structural challenges of Freetown through investments that support economic growth and create 120,000 decent jobs by 2028.
Speaking at the launch, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr explained that in developing the agenda, the FCC engaged with and collected input from relevant stakeholders, including development partners, civil society, parliamentarians, non-governmental organisations, representatives from devolved sectors, religious and political leaders, professional and academic groups, and 4,800 Freetown residents across 48 communities.
At the launch, the British High Commission and the World Bank, pledged their full support for the agenda’s realisation, a document which aligns with Sierra Leone’s Medium-Term National Development Plan 2024-2030 and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Also speaking at the launch was Deputy Minister of Local Government and Community Engagement Hon. Alfred Moi Jamiru, who emphasized that the plan is a bold initiative that aims to bring hope to Freetown residents. The successful implementation of the document would have a positive ripple effect across all districts, he underscored.
The Transform Freetown-Transforming Lives Development Agenda builds on the achievements of the 2019-2022 #TransformFreetown plan and is focused on 4 clusters – Climate Action, Heritage Tourism, Digital Economy and Human Capital Development. In the next four years, it will pull efforts together on a number of critical pathways including investing in reforestation, green energy, and clean air expanding investments in solid and liquid waste management value chains, undertake informal settlement upgrades, city regeneration and green urban mobility, promoting Freetown as a destination city with a focus on heritage sites, cultural festivals and the creative arts, improving access to digital skills, investing in the enabling environment for digital transformation, improving access to water, health outcomes at primary care level and access to food via urban farming.
The launch was attended by FCC councillors and staff, district council chairpersons, development partners, UN agencies, students, representatives from various ministries, departments, agencies, and young people.
One of the highlights of Thursday’s event was the opening performance by pupils of the FCC Early Learning Adventure Centre in Congo Water Market. These precious children reminded the audience of the value of early childhood development and the importance of Freetown City Council making high quality free education available to the vulnerable children and grandchildren of market women trading in that market. Early childhood development is featured within FCC’s education critical pathway in the Human Capital Development cluster. Another highlight was the Tree Give Away! Guests were encouraged to pick up a seedling to plant in their homes, take a photo of it and upload it on the #FreetownTheTreeTown tree tracker app. Their seedlings then become a part of the project.