By Francis H. Murray
The Executive Director of Action Aid , Foday Bassie Swarray has assured Sierra Leone of the organization’s resolve and commitment in supporting and promoting development across the country. Action Aid seeks social justice, gender equality and poverty eradication.
Swarray made this statement on Thursday 1st April 2021 during the organization’s 2021 budget and programmes rollout ceremony organised at Hill Valley Hotel in Freetown.
“Through the EUCSO LA project, we will launch our campaign on promoting gender responsive public services in Sierra Leone, we will continue to work with our partners on the Constitutional Review because we believe that a progressive constitution is what Sierra Leone needs to strengthen our democracy, consolidate our peace, and move this country forward,” he stated.
He stressed that they will also collaborate with other partners to campaign for debt cancellation, progressive tax to ensure financing public gender responsive basic services, promote women’s rights and strengthen the capacity of young people.
Swaray said the organization’s key policy programmes and priorities in 2021 include responding to the emergency-strengthening community structures and support them to lead the country’s COVID-19 response team as well as building resilience with special focus on livelihoods, among others.
Speaking on the reasons for the event, he noted that it was geared towards promoting the need to support accountability and transparency in Sierra Leone and to increase collaboration with key stakeholders in order to enhance learning, trust and good performance.
The Action Aid boss said the annual event is a core organizational requirement and in line with its values in order to be accountable and transparent to its rights holders, donors, government, partners as well as stakeholders.
“This is guided by our commitment to transparency, and to sharing information with people living with poverty, their organization and partners we work with, our staff, donors and government (local and national),” he stated, adding that it does not only show they plan to use resources and contributions, but also how their support is contributing in changing the lives of rights holders and targeted beneficiaries.
On the organization’s role in society, he noted that it shows how their plans are contributing to national development strategies, Local Council development initiatives so that government both local and central and other stakeholders will continue to value the contributions of NGOs in the fight against poverty and inequality and in providing services in education, health, water and sanitation.
Chairperson for the event and Executive Director of Legal Aid Board Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles said the organization has over the years championed issues of social justice, rights of women, education and has empowered people and transformed lives.
She said Action Aid unlike other organizations, has exhibited transparency and accountability, proactive sharing of information to the poor and the marginalized, and noted that the institution is a force to be reckoned with in the field of development.
A board member of the organisation, Emmanuel Turay noted that they have the responsibility to ensure that the institution operates with optimum transparency and accountability, with the board meeting with the senior management team on a quarterly basis and annually with the general assembly members to ensure that the institution meets its set objectives in a manner that upholds the values of accountability and transparency.
In her presentation of the gains of 2020, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of Action Aid, Valerie Nafisatu Momoh said that they provided 25 inmates at the Bo female Correctional Centre increased knowledge on gender-based violence through Sierra Leone global youth platform outreach, and that they also participated and contributed to the production of an audit report scorecard on 10 MDAs under the non-state actors (NSA) audit network supported by the Ministry of Finance.
She added that the institution also enhanced institutional capacity of 20 CSOs in five districts through the provision of small grants, ensured safe space for public support discussions, tracking and validation, enabling CSOs to contribute to the production of district and national reports.
She however noted that the institution is challenged with limited funding to meet the demands of projects and other limitations brought about by government measures during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Keynote speaker, Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Rev Dr. Titus Jonathan Williams noted that over the years NGOs have played an incredibly significant role in providing social, economic, and environmental services to the marginalized in different parts of the country.
He went on to note that the Mid-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) is a national visionary plan of the government for improving people’s lives , supporting education and inclusive growth in building a resilient economy. He added that accountability is a key principle in governance in ensuring that those in authority account to those on whose behalf the exercise of responsibilities was entrusted to them.
Mamusu Sesay, representing 17 communities in the Western Area lauded the intervening activities of Action Aid in improving the living conditions of the poor and marginalized in the area of education, health, capacity building and economic empowerment.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (07/04/21)
