June 17, 2021
By Ilyaaa Baa
With the launching of the National Youths Policy; a document to which over 35,000 youths contributed across the country, the Ministry of Youth Affairs has deemed it fit to help provide security in order to curb electricity cable theft in the Western Area.
Two hundred youths have been detailed to join the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) as security observers over the transformers which have come under raids by unscrupulous individuals for their selfish desires.
According to the Minister, Mohamed Orman Bangura, with time these guys will get into full-scale action in defence of our national infrastructure.
He said the newly launched policy is the most consultative document the youths have had since the establishment of the ministry.
He described the document as widely participatory having allowed young people to highlight the challenges they are facing.
Some of the challenges raised ranges from unemployment to substance abuse, according to him; these are issues the government is looking at critically.
He assured that the agricultural sector will soon salvage the issue of youth unemployment as the sector is gearing towards the employment of thousands of youths in the country.
“The education and mining sectors have already employed a good number of productive youths over the years”, the youths Minister told Sierra Leoneans adding that with government providing the enabling environment for the informal sector, over a million youths are gainfully engaged in commercial bike riding.
It could be recalled that in 2013, the previous APC government launched its National Youths Policy with the main goal being “to contribute to creating a more conducive environment in which youth development and empowerment interventions can sustainably achieve their desired objectives and realize its long term action”.
In Sierra Leone, 30% of the population is youths and 49% make up the current workforce in the county.