February 11th, 2021— The Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Francis Kai-Kai, has today, launched the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Sierra Leone Vision 2030 Strategy with the theme “Faith Knows No Bounds”, at the New Brookfields Hotel in Freetown.
The 10-year program strategy would focus on three (3) strategic priorities including: Education, Health, Agriculture and Livelihoods, while the emerging strategic priorty was Urban Resilience.
Paul Emes, the Country Director, in his welcome remarks, said since 1963, the CRS had started its work in Sierra Leone carrying out the commitment of the Catholic Bishops and Catholic community of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas, focusing efforts on supporting education projects and health centers for mothers and children.
He said the strategy would contribute to the Sierra Leone National Development Priorities as established in the Medium Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) 2019-2023 and the United Nations SDGs.
In her opening statement, Her Worship, the Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, acknowledged CRS for their role in supporting the #TransformFreetownAgenda, saying that, at Freetown City Council they believed that partnership was the only way development could be delivered successfully.
Mayor Aki-Sawyerr encouraged CRS to continue to be an organization that does not only produce documents, but deliver services and change for the lives of those they seek to serve with passion, responsiveness, and with alignment to the country in which they provide services.
In his Keynote address, the Minister, Dr. Francis Kai-Kai, expressed his delight to participate in the launch of the CRS Strategy dubbed the Vision 2030, which aims to contribute to the MTNDP and very aligned with the UNSDG 2030.
He said the launch event was an opportunity to reinforce the message of His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio’s desire to accelerate service delivery for the people of Sierra Leone.
Minister Kai-Kai noted that he personally understood and appreciated the contribution of NGOs, especially CRS to national development, which was why the Ministry had taken its relationship with NGOs to another level for the good of all.
“The Ministry and the Government of Sierra Leone recognize CRS’ long history of partnership with the Sierra Leone Government, which is based on trust, respect and mutually beneficial, said Minister Kai-Kai. We consider CRS an exemplary NGO that has made invaluable contribution in meeting the aspirations of Government and people of Sierra Leone”.
The Minister then, on behalf of the Sierra Leone beneficiaries expressed his pleasure to launch the CRS Sierra Leone Vision 2030 Strategy.
Credit: MoPED COMMS TEAM
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Source Owl Newspaper
