The Ministry of Youth Affairs has today received a delegation from the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), at the Ministry’s conference room, national stadium in Freetown.
Welcoming the team, the Minister of Youth Affairs, Hon. Mohamed Bangura catalogued progress made so far. He admitted that there are challenges but if his team is provided with the adequate support the entire story in the youth sector will be a worthy success.
Minister Bangura informed that he has a very good team in readiness to deliver.
Receiving the delegation, the Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs, Hon. Lusine Kallon, thanked the Qatar delegation on behalf of His Excellency, President Julius Maada Bio who is currently in Yokohama, Japan to attend the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
He said their visit to Sierra Leone will now send a strong message to the world that President Bio’s visit in Qatar was important and fruitful.
Hon. Kallon called on the Qatar team to provide the needed support for the Ministry in line with the New Direction agenda.
He said capacity building and skills development to achieve the Medium Term Development Plan, 2019 to 2023, are very fundamental to the growth of our youth.
Referencing the recent UN joint assessment mission conducted by the Youth Ministry and the UN New York office, he said the outcome of the survey indicates that the youth are at high risk and are mostly in conflict with the law.
According to him, the report will serve as a springboard for the Ministry to step up and brace up in fully implementing and developing programs and projects that will better the living condition of every young person.
He said the Youth in Agriculture Project has acquired about 6000 acres of land for young people to engage in agriculture as the engine for socio-economic growth.
The Commissioner of the National Youth Commission(RAYCOM), Thomas Ngolo Katta, encouraged the team to help in the areas of Technical and Vocational Skills Training, Youth Entrepreneur and Agro businesses.
The Qatar team outlined the reasons for their visit to Sierra Leone, adding that their focus is to align their mandate with global development objective in tandem with the Sustainable Development Goals in health, education and economic development.
They said they were happy to learn about the priority programs in the youth sector and assured of partnership and future cooperation.
