Statement by HE President Koroma at European Development Days, Stockholm, October 22nd 2009.
“Giving rural development a voice”
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I feel gratified to address this gathering. Youths are the strength of my country, the pillars of our democracy. The majority of citizens in my country are youths, and without their commitment, expertise and productivity we cannot grow our economy and transform the lives of our people. Most of the registered voters in my country are young people, and without their participation our democracy is in big peril. Ignoring youths is not an option for us.
Nor can we afford to marginalise any segment of the youth population. Our rural youths, in particular, face many challenges. Cultural notions that restrict youth’s access to resources, justice and opportunities are stronger in rural areas. The flight of many young persons from rural to urban areas is in many respects a response to constraints of culture and lack of opportunities. During the civil war in the 1990s, our education system collapsed, and much of our current youth population missed out on getting the basic education and requisite social and livelihood skills. Furthermore, limited resources constrained abilities to target rural youths with sustained and effective programmes.
My government is committed to harnessing the strength, creativity and transformative potential of youths in a comprehensive and sustainable manner. This requires an institutional mechanism specifically dedicated to these goals. My government is establishing a National Youth Commission, with membership from all regions of the country, as the hub for designing, implementing and coordinating programmes that promote skills acquisition, employment and political inclusion, and which maximise the contribution of youths to our country’s development.
Presently, my government prioritises agriculture, infrastructure,energy and human development in our Agenda for Change. Agriculture is the most prominent rural occupation. By providing support to farmers to boost production and productivity, we are determined to make agriculture the engine of our country’s development, and in the process to transform the lives of the young people in rural areas who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. We are also currently providing employment for thousands of youths through cash for work programs implemented by the National Commission for Social Action. Rural youths are also gaining employment through our many feeder road projects, with 2000km of roads under construction to link rural areas to the national road network.
When we make operational the National Youth Commission, it will be charged with devising a programme similar to the Young Ambassadors for Rural Development scheme. This will involve youths with the requisite commitment and skills being champions of initiatives in rural areas. These youths will be identified from all over the country to conduct inspirational sessions and pass on hands-on skills to their peers in rural areas. Our youths are in need of these innovative peer-influencing schemes. Whilst we believe that the involvement of successful older persons in inspiring and guiding youths has its benefits, we are also aware of its limitations; youths may say, “well, I will be successful when I am as old as them". Utilising inspirational youths in peer-to-peer settings takes away this excuse for deferring action. If one youth can show the path to excellence, others have no reason not to follow.
We must inform our projects with the resilience of youths; we must drive forward the revival of rural areas with examples of their courage. They say a journey starts with the first step; we also believe that the revival of rural areas starts with the first youth. This is a journey we are asking the world to take with us; our participation here today reflects our desire for strong international partnership in meeting the myriad challenges faced by