Vice President Inaugurates First Batch of 200 Graduate Corps (SEPT 2018)

Sierra Leone's Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, has inaugurated the first batch of 200 graduate corps at the Peace Keeping Military Facility at Robgangba, Hastings in the east end of the Freetown. In his inaugural statement marking the official induction of the first batch of the National Youth Service Corps, Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh reaffirmed President Julius Maada Bio’s commitment to fully implement the National Youth Scheme which according to him, is one of the government’s several plans to tackle challenges faced by youth empowerment in the country. He submitted that Thursday, September 20th 2018, would be gallantly written in the country’s history as the day the Government of President Julius Maada Bio fulfilled one of their pledges and as a day the dream of the late Dr. Sir Milton Margai has come to reality. Dr. Sir Milton Margai was the first politician who mooted the need for a Sierra Leone National Youth Service as a tool for national integration, unity and development. Sierra Leone, the Vice President went on, is a nation of young people whose growth depends mainly on the attentiveness of youth to gain the mandatory skills, experience and positive mental attitude. Speaking on the importance of the scheme, the Hon. Vice President explained that the National Youth Service is a platform created to increase youth participation in governance. He added that the scheme also provides opportunities for young people to develop lofty and priceless qualities in areas such as discipline, industry, patriotism, loyalty, integrity, professionalism and dedication to national cause. “It is a rite of passage into a world of citizenship and responsibility,” VP Jalloh disclosed. He maintained that, the NYS is a catalyst for youth and national development as it will provide youths with opportunities to gain valuable work experience, develop their self-discipline and expand their knowledge of the country’s cultural diversity. He said, as a government, they are confident that the scheme will no doubt augment the sense of patriotism of the youths of this nation, promote national cohesion and help nurture and cultivate a positive work ethic, which is pivotal to their career development and realization of professional goals. The Hon. Vice President appealed to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies including the development community and private sector, to embrace such a distinctive opportunity to uphold the efficiency of the country’s young graduates by creating spaces and resources needed to budge the scheme further. He applauded UNDP, UNFPA and UN Volunteers for their contributions to the Ministry of Youth Affairs in enabling the rolling out of the scheme. In administering the pledge, the former Chief Justice of Sierra Leone, Justice Abdulai Charm, congratulated the graduate corps and advise that as they are the pioneers of the scheme, the success of the scheme depends on them. If they succeed, he continued; they will inspire the government to do more and their colleagues to be part of the scheme. The Minister of Youth Affairs, Mr. Mohamed O. Bangura informed that the New Direction administration promised to empower the youth of this nation by conquering youth unemployment in order to fight against poverty and to consolidate peace. He said under the stewardship of President Bio, youth problem is their topmost priority, as it was viewed as a human development and security challenge. The Minister of Tertiary Education, Prof. Sahr Aiah Kpakima, called one the Corps to be humble and friendly with those they are going to be working with as they are representing the nation. He also encouraged them to be disciplined while performing their respective functions. “We are expecting a positive feedback after your volunteerism that you are great people, humble, friend and above all you are productive,” he added. In her address, the Country Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr. Kim Dickson, on behalf of her organization said the inaugural ceremony of the first batch of 200 Corps is a dream come true after several years of implementation and that UNFPA believes in a world where every person’s potential is realized. She said to access a country’s demographic dividend and it potentials for economic growth, the country’s working population must be larger than the non- working population with an increasing number of young people. Sierra Leone, she said, is not an exception. She assured the Government of Sierra Leone of her organization’s continuous commitment in supporting the scheme and welcoming some of the Corps to work in her organization with their wealth of skills and experiences and to contribute to the development of the nation. The Resident Coordinator of the United Nations Development Programme, Dr. Samuel G. Doe in his statement, spoke about the benefit of the scheme which he said, will impact values, principles, skills of service and volunteerism into the Corps. He admonished the Corps to have love for their country and the people and to share the knowledge with the people they are going to work with and in turn learn from their good potentials. He reminded them of the core values of the scheme which is, to develop their attitudes and skills to become good employees.