By Abass Jalloh
Not-for-profit organization Action Aid Sierra Leone (AASL) has met with various partners including community stakeholders in a bid to review the organization’s activities and discuss its programmes for 2022.
The discussions took place on Wednesday 16th March 2022 at the New Brookfields Hotel, in Freetown.
The Executive Director of AASL, Foday-Bassie Swaray, said they want to demonstrate their contribution to the Mid-Term National Development process by being accountable to the public and that they sought to ensure effective coordination by showing their plans.
“It is obligatory and mandatory for us as an organization to say how much money we have and have to spend, and how we are spending those resources,” he said.
He said the organization needed feedback from the public and the people they work with to know whether their priorities and progammes are impacting or changing people’s lives.
“The community people who are here today are critical, and it is because of the jobs that we do. We work and raise money on their behalf, so we want them to play a leading role in the work that we do’’, Swaray stated.
Presenting highlights of achievements for 2021, the Monitoring and Evaluation Manager of AASL, Valerie Nafisatu Momoh disclosed that over one billion Leones (Le 1,000,000,000) was saved by a group called Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) in AASL sponsorship and project communities, thereby enhancing livelihoods for over four thousand (4000) women across Sierra Leone.
She stated that the organization contributed to protecting the personal hygiene of two thousand three hundred and nineteen (2,319) women and girls through the provision of dignity kits as part of their covid-19 response.
She said 30 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Kambia District have gone through capacity-building exercises in various thematic areas whilst 1,878 parents got trained on positive parenting for girls’ self-esteem and protection.
Acknowledging the challenges, she stated that limited funding was available to meet the demands of communities and their programmes got affected by the increase in covid-19 cases in the first half of the year.
She also identified the effects of lack of secondary schools in several chiefdoms saying that their work or achievement made at the primary level of education is “grossly undermined”.
Presenting the budget plan for 2022, Valerie Nafisatu Momoh stated that over ten thousand Action Aid sponsors from around the world support one hundred and eighty-two (182) communities in Sierra Leone.
She said that a total of twenty-five billion, three hundred and twenty-five million, one hundred and fifty-one thousand, three hundred and sixty-four Leones was budgeted for various activities.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Accountability and the Rule of Law (CARL), Ibrahim Tommy said he was “truly proud” of ActionAid Sierra Leone’s accomplishments and the work they continue to do especially for women and girls.
“What ActionAid has done or continues to do over the years is to show that they believe in it and it is part of their institutional values; sadly we all have a lot to learn from what ActionAid has done and continues to do,” Tommy said. He praised the organisation for demonstrating accountability and transparency.
The Deputy Director of Corruption Prevention at the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Patrick Martin George, said the commission includes NGOs in their accountability mandate.
He highlighted section 37(1) in the area of misappropriation of funds and section 45 relating to the public interest and those organizations related with issues concerning taxes.
A Representative from Audit Service Sierra Leone, Aiah Gbondo-Tugbawa commended Action Aid for its accountability. He said all organizations including AASL should practice the concept of participating in audits wherein everyone should be involved. “You do not just prepare a budget; it is a process,” he said.
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), representative, Abigail Stevens who is the Executive Director of Center for Coordination of Youth Activities (CCYA), was concerned about the issue of accountability of NGOs but commended the 2022 plan by AASL, adding that they should be focused on accountability and mechanisms. “Accountability can improve management and collaboration,” she said.
A community leader Sarah Maseray Sewah commended the efforts of AASL for helping her community and said they will be able to stand for themselves after the organization would have gone.
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