By George M.O. Williams
In commemoration of the International Youth Day, United Nations Sierra Leone has on Tuesday September 5, 2023, launched the regional dialogues programs in a bid to engage youths in Makeni, Kenema, Bo and Port Loko.
The Celebration was themed; “Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World,” and it brought together representatives of youth organizations, government ministers, representatives of the United Nation’s Organization in Sierra Leone at the New Brookfield Hotel in Freetown.
In his statement, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Babatunde Ahonsi said that engagement with youths forms a critical role in development, adding that they have an integral role in shaping Sierra Leone and the world at large.
He added that the regional dialogues would focus on four thematic areas; Agriculture, Green Skills, Climate Change and unemployment.
Ahonsi mentioned that it has been observed that drug abuse has compounded Sierra Leonean youth today, a situation which he said has the potential to erode the gains the country has made towards achieving the objective of the Sustainable Development Goals.
He cited that Sierra Leone like many other countries, is experiencing a demographic shift which according to him presents an opportunity if the potentials therein is harnessed, but which, on the converse, if delayed would produce adverse consequences in years to come.
Ahonsi maintained that the insights of the youth must be the valued in development in the development strides of the country adding that youth should be empowered to drive the change so desperately needed.
The Minister of Youths Affairs, Mohamed Orman Bangura, said that the organizations should also focus on engaging the youth on sexual reproductive health, which will help control the birth rate among the youth.
He added that a community based approach to advocacy should be activated, adding that community stakeholders should shoulder the advocacy drive.
Bangura also mentioned that many of the youth are engaged in substance abuse, and added that there is an urgent need for state actors to address the menace.
The Chairperson of the United Nations Youth Advisory Group (UNYAG), Hannah Kargbo, described the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s statement as a call for action to ensure that youths are involved in decision making in Sierra Leone.
She mentioned that when youth are capacitated on green skills it will make sustainable impact on their knowledge towards climate change.