September 17, 2021
By: Mohamed Jalloh& Hafsatu Bangura
At the Ministry of Information weekly presser, the Ministry of youth affairs in collaboration with other development partners has launched the Global Good Summit 2021 on the 16th September 2021.
The ministry of Youth Affairs in collaboration with other ministries, departments and United Nation Agencies use the platform to give young people the opportunity to show case their ideas, creativity and the use of technology to solve community development challenges.
Mohamed Orman Bangura the Minister of Youth Affairs said the global good summit also recognizes young people who with their meager resources have invested in supporting community development programmes/interventions that have created a positive change in the lives of people around them.
According to the Minister, there will be three categories of challenges this year.
He said the first challenge is on youth innovation in Agriculture, which focuses on innovative solutions on improving agricultural productivity and food systems, while considering the protection at large.
The Minister noted that the awards will be gender based with a female and male winner and a selected runner up.
“The winning price will be Le20, 000,000 for both male and female category”, Minister Bangura disclosed.
He revealed that the second challenge is on youth assistive technologies for people with disabilities innovation competition which focuses on solutions that help or enable people living with disabilities to fulfill their potential.
According to the Minister, the winning price for both gender categories is Le20, 000,000 whiles the runner up price is Le 10,000,000.
Minister Bangura further disclosed that the third category is the youth impact competition which seeks to identify young people making a difference in their communities and bringing a positive impact on people`s lives.
He said the award will identify 5 successful young people from each region across the country and the winning price for each ambassador will be Le 10,000,000.
He concluded that this year`s event is aligned with the global international youth day with the theme “transforming food systems: youth innovation for planetary health”.
Liv Elin Indreiten, UNICEF deputy representative in Sierra Leone said their support to the country is sometimes technology focus and tailored to the national development plan that seeks to better the lives of children and youths.
She said UNICEF`s aim has been to use innovation and entrepreneurial skills to transform the lives of children in a result oriented manner that concentrates on digital technologies.
Mrs Indreiten noted that the avenues created through SMS communication have interlinked children by collaborating and consulting on issues that affects their welfare.
She highlighted that UNICEF have supported the government through the Directorate of Science and Technological Innovation (DSTI) to create innovations that are user friendly to the educational needs of children.
Rokya ye dieng, UNDP Deputy Country representative said their support to the young people have been critical to transforming their lives as they are a critical age bracket that could serve as agent for change in the country.
She noted that their support to the country is geared towards achieving the sustainable development goals that could emancipate the lives of young people.
She explained that UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone.
She concluded that UNDP operates in 177 countries by offering global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.