Chief Minister of Sierra Leone, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh, has launched the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2024-2030, and urged all development partners to be inclusive in every activity as inclusivity is crucial to every nation’s development.
The UNSDCF is a five-year strategic work plan for joint action that contributes and supports national development priorities in Sierra Leone. It was aligned with Sierra Leone’s Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP), Big five Game Changers, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030.
It has three key priorities which include food system, natural resource management, and Climate Change, human capital, essential services and employment and finally the governance and economic transformation.
The Chief Minister emphasized the long standing relationship between the UN and the Government of Sierra Leone.
“As I launch this document, we must acknowledge that is not happening outside the global phenomenon, the relationship between Sierra Leone and UN is not new, this cooperation reaffirms the enduring partnership in development, it would further cement the relationship through this next generation of cooperation framework which is very ambitious in its scope and highly transformative in its agenda,” he said.
The Chief Minister highlighted the significant of the UNSDCF to the sustainable development of Sierra Leone and the need for its full implementation, the reason he expressed the government’s all-inclusive commitment to supporting its implementation.
“This is not just a mere document, it is a guiding principle and a testament to our collective cooperation and road map to a bright future that every Sierra Leonean can strive and realize his or her full potential gearing towards the development,” he noted, while adding that the government commits its human, financial and institutional resources to closing the inequality gaps in the areas of women and children, persons with disabilities, and the most marginalized and the hard-to-reach.
The Chief Minister stated that inclusion should not just be an imagination, but the value and principles with which they work.
“It shouldn’t be just a word to the government, on the other hand, it also crucial for all partners to be inclusive more especially in the area of respect and equality that must exist within the UN family and other development partners and must ensure that every voice counts,” he urged them.
UN’s Resident Coordinator, Saraphine Wakana, mentioned the significant of collaboration by all partners involved to the UNSDCF and expressed the UN’s full readiness towards its implementation.
“Today, the event signifies our quest to deepen the relationship with a shared goal to ensuring that Sierra Leone becomes a better place. The UN is concerned that the successful implementation of this cooperation framework depends on strong partnership,” she stated.
She noted that the UN is commitment to working closely with the government of Sierra Leone, all development partners, the private sector and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to fully involved in the achievement of the outcomes that have been articulated in the framework in an inclusive manner.
Minister of Planning and Economic Development (MOPED), Kenyeh Barley, described the signing and launching of the UNSDCF as the beginning of a journey to a process that was very inclusive with vital focus to the country’s national systems and procedures, and national development agenda.
“It’s gratifying that the broad keys areas of the plan align with Sierra Leone’s Medium-Term National Development Plan, the Big five Game Changer and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2025-2030. The process ensured that stakeholders across all districts made their priorities in the UNSDCF for the next five years,” she said.
