As it has been a traditional gathering initatied by the Youths And Children’s Advocacy Panel (#YACAP) under the astute leadership of Chief Youth Ambassador Sheku Foryoh who doubles as the founder of the Youths And Children’s Advocacy Panel and the National Chairman for the National Youths Leadership Summit ,with overwhelming support from both local and international partners,the Sierra Leone National Youths Leadership Summit was first held in the year 2018 at the prestigious Hotel Albertson Halls in Kenema District and in the wells of the Sierra Leone Parliament in 2019 on the theme “Sierra Leone in the eyes of the Youths”.
Making sure to deliver on the promise of making every succeeding year’s event more magnificent, intriguing and exceptionally interactive, this year’s Summit exceeded all expectations.
The opening session which began with a brief introduction of the events of the day and a word of the traditional parliamentary prayers was ushered in with “a mock Parliamentary session”. This mock session saw an exact replica of what one will expect to see in a typical parliamentary sitting in the legislative arm of government in Sierra Leone.
Occupying the seat and roles of the “honorable speaker of Parliament”,H.E. Alusine Diamond Suma made a brief opening statement and Invited colleague parliamentarians and other members of the mock executive arm government to make their submissions to the honorable house on issues related to health, Youths policy reviews,Drugs abuses and misues and the state of affairs of youths in clicks and gangs using the “Black street gang” as a case study.With an excellent presentation by the keynote speaker and a brief but jaw-dropping address by the founder and chairman of the National Youths Leadership Summit Ambassador Sheku Foryoh, the baton was handed down other eloquent speakers to give their statements of motivation and goodwill.
The first talk was given by the chairman of the parliamentary committee on Youths, Honourable Abdul kargbo and other brief but exciting talks came from donors and partner organisations like the Rokel Commercial Bank, Restless Development,Defence For Children and the National Youth Commission.
Sliding into the Panel discussion session,a long list of youth achievers,mentors, pacesetters and changemakers like the Anti-Corruption commissoner Francis Ben Keifala, Dwight Nicole Of COMAHS,former youths minister Honorable Bai Mahmoud, Precious Lebby,Madam Millicent Kargbo,Chief Alex Nallo,the deputy director of restless development in Sierra Leone and a host of youths stakeholders in all walks of life dissected and deliberated on issues relating to”changing the narrative from them to us,Roles of youths in the fight against covid-19 and Youths economic livelihood and unemployment”.
with the sessions being co-hosted by the Reverend Alusine Diamond Suma, Ambassador Musa kar gbo,Ana ka,Igbo and Zipporah Mor iba,the sessions were unarguably the best and most competitive of all the other youths gathering in Sierra Leone till date.
As the conversation was too interactive and tempting for one to be left out of, hundreds of questions were thrown from all corner of the room and the world via zoom, Facebook and YouTube and these questions and concerns were adequately addressed and promises made as to how things are going to be done better in the interest of youths in Sierra Leone.
With hearts filled with liquid joy and minds bubbling up with entrepreneurship ideas, innovate, ions, and plans of actions, the over five hundred delegates from Sierra Leone and across the Diaspora officially adjourned the gathering until 12th August 2021 and retreated.
