Africa Youth Coalition Against Hunger visit office of Sierra Leone VP
Youths from across Africa on the 4th edition of the African Youth Coalition Against Hunger AYCAH (AYCAH) conference in conclusion of a week long workshop on the theme “Enhancing Youths For Sustainable Development,” on Monday 22nd April visited the office of the Vice President, at Tower Hill.
Addressing participants and organizers of the workshop, the Minister of State, office of the vice president Mrs. Harriet Turay on behalf of the vice president Alhaji chief Sam–Sumana, said during the period of the workshop many people had been going without food and even as the workshop was reaching conclusion, more than a billion people all over the world would go to bed hungry, a lot more malnourished.
She disclosed that, nearly 16,000 children die every day as a result of hunger and hunger related causes which imply that throughout the one week conference held on hunger more than 112,000 children had died as a result of hunger and hunger related causes. She said unless and until the situation improves through joint efforts, an addition of one billion people will go to bed hungry every night.
Mrs. Turay said many more are dying as a result of diarrhea, malaria, and HIV/AIDS etc. which she described as a frightening account that we are living with in today’s world. She furthered to say, the youth can make a difference and that is why she said His Excellency the president Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma is calling on youths of this country to take action and work towards the elimination of hunger and improvement of human development.
She expressed hope that the messages shared during the conference, the resolution and declarations made will not stay within the walls of the conference centre until the next conference but to be taken across Africa. She said as a government, they have followed the deliberations of the conference with keen interest on the theme “enhancing the youth for sustainable development;” and that the government is pleased that AYCAH is taking leadership in addressing the issues of hunger in Africa.
She added that government is willing and ready to partner with AYCAH to ensure that these frightening challenges are addressed. She assured them on behalf of the vice president that the government of Sierra Leone under the leadership of President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma whom AYCAH have crowned as the African youth president, will support all genuine efforts by the youths of this country, AYCAH and other partners in eliminating hunger as well as accelerating our fight against poverty. That is why she went on; the issues of human development and economic growth remain at the heart of the agenda for prosperity.
She said having listened to the declarations made by youths in the conference, she was enthused to know that they are speaking in one voice about issues which the youths have not addressed before, but are now aware of them. She reiterated that the youths can participate in eliminating hunger by participating in the agricultural programs in their various countries and added that they can only do this by working together as one team. She encouraged other youths from other countries to take the message of the selection of his Excellency president Koroma as youth president to their different presidents to emulate such, so that they too can one day be crowned as youth president of Africa.
In his statement, the one of the Nigerian youth delegates who also doubles as chairman African youth conference Uyero E. Junior said it is no longer an issue in Africa that all African leaders are fighting hard to reduce hunger in Africa.
Despite the fact that Africa is the fastest growing region in the world after Asia, he said, yet 48% of the people still live in abject poverty in 2008, compared to 14% in east Africa. He added that African economy grow out an average of more than 5% due to the past decade with many countries benefitting from the surging commodity price but maintained that, the character of the growth has done little to reduce extreme poverty and hunger in Africa.
Uyero E. junior said hunger is a global issue particularly in Africa, he recalled that on the 18th of February 2012 the world leaders met at the G- 8 summit to discuss on how to move Africa forward in the fight for food security.
He said Africa as a continent has been in farming for centuries but however, cannot provide enough for her people despite the abundance of fertile lands and natural waters we have.
He revealed that, an estimate of fifteen million Africans in West Africa sub Sahara region are threatened with starvation including Chad, Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Cameroon. He added that last year 50-100 people died as a result of the firming that hit Somalia as well as Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia he said these firming occurred because many Africans are dependent on subsistence farming. He mentioned that even war also courses this situation with malnutrition as an issue, as in Sudan, Mali and other countries. He called on African youths to act in the fight to end hunger in Africa. He said African youths have to choose between having an organic form and using modern technologies to be able to provide a better future free of hunger for our children.
The CEO of the Community Health Initiative and Empowerment Foundation (CHIEF) Zainab Tunkara–Clarkson said she was delighted to be part of the international youth conference. She added that it has always been her ambition to take back what she has learnt from the United Kingdom to Sierra Leone to apply them to help repair the harm and damage that seem all present in the health sector. From her own experience in working In health authority an organization in the UK she said, I believe in early intervention in particularly, creating a better awareness in young people help prevent them from getting into the abuses of drugs, alcohol, weed etc.
Giving a background of her organization she said the objective of the organization is to support a healthier future for Sierra Leone. CHIEF in Sierra Leone, the CEO said, will be a way of bringing more awareness of danger posed by weed, alcohol and other drugs. She maintained that, her organization recognizes that in Sierra Leone, we have a range of problems many rooted in the war and continuing lack of employment for youth. She said CHIEF will work with the youth in schools and other learning institutions to develop our young people and also help them become more employable through developing healthier life styles and also teaching them life skills.
In his declaration on the fourth edition of the African Youth Coalition Against Hunger conference, the Country Director for AYCAH Sierra Leone, Peter George Amara, said the conference was organized by AYCAH in collaboration with the government of Sierra Leone and partners. He said the Maitta declaration is the outcome of learning, discussions and contributions of African youth delegates during the workshop session for the past four days at the fourth edition of the African Youth Coalition Against Hunger conference in Freetown. He said in 2000 world leaders had resolved on reducing hunger in the world from the rate of eight hundred and fifty four million hungry population to the rate of four hundred and twenty seven million thus addressing the MDG-1.
He said during the conference they focused on four thematic points, including; health related issues and food security, youth in conflict prevention, gender issues and democratic governance, international trade local agriculture and illegal migration, youth employment, migration, poverty reduction and sustainable development.
Mr. Amara said after series of presentations and discussions for several days youth leaders from different countries in Africa came together with meaningful recommendations and agreed on the following:
(i) to establish an African youth agricultural production centre in Sierra Leone with the support of the government of sierra Leone and donor partners,
(ii) and for African governments to review the agricultural policies for the interest of all,
(iii) for20% of the national budget to be allocated for agricultural sector in Africa,
(iv) easy access to land grounds to young people for agricultural purposes,
(v) to establish agricultural development Banks and road networks at all boundaries within the African continent,
(vi) subsidy situation fee for mechanized farming and medical facilities for farmers especially our young farmers and mothers,
(vii) relocate all agricultural ministers in rural areas,
(viii) establish African agricultural trade centres in each country in Africa,
(ix) provide better welfare package for farmers and promote young African farmers,
(x) manufacturing industries for African produced goods within the African continent, i.e. the free trade, to enforce the free and single currency in Africa and promote regional integration,
(xi) existing youth policies should be enacted as laws,
(xii) increasing food and nutritional security for resource own farmers,
(xiii) and for African governments should allocate resources for the implementation and supervision of all agricultural projects in the interest of all in the attainment of the MDGs amongst others.
SLENA/OVP/ JULIANA COKER
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