Alimamy Kamara and Benoit Sambou
Sierra Leone’s Youth Minister, Alimamy Kamara has paid a courtesy call on his Senegalese counterpart, Benoit Sambou at the end of the 4th Pan- African summit of Youth Leaders in Dakar.
According to Sierra Leone's information attaché in Dakar, Ralph Ese Donnu Sawyer, Kamara told Sambou that because of the "strong diplomatic ties between both countries, it is of vital importance that we share common experiences and identify problems affecting young people and map out strategies to address them".
The minister said that his ministry was recently established by President Dr. Ernest Bai Kororma "to promote youth affairs and prepare young people for a role in governance" adding that to face the challenges of the youth, his ministry was collaborating with the ministries of education, agriculture, employment and health, as well as other institutions in all programmes".
Minister Kamara described Senegal as a bigger nation with a youthful population and a lot of experience in youth matters, adding: "As a result I am here with two young people Francis Kamara and Florence Mabinty Koroma from Youth Organisations in Sierra Leone to see how we can collaborate with your government...on things like exchange programmes and visits".
The Senegalese Youth Minister, Benoit Sambou said, "Youth problems are very challenging and problematic and to really understand them we often had to bring them together for discussions to identify their problems and how they can be managed".
He said issues of Youth are top on all his government’s agenda and that "strong moves should be made to properly address them if peace should be given a chance". Sambou told his Sierra Leonean counterpart that President Macky Sall "attaches great importance to youth affairs and involves youth practically in everything including politics and that has indeed helped both the government and youth to a great extent".
He promised to jointly organise exchange visits for young people as a first step in this new collaborative effort.
(C) Politico 23/01/14
