Freetown — The Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs will today launch the Strategic Community Development initiative in Moyamba district, southern Sierra Leone. The initiative is led by government and supported by UNFPA.

This initiative, by dint of resource and other challenges, will be phrased within short intervals to, firstly diffuse through the Moyamba district and then be replicated to other parts of Sierra Leone.

The initiative, which is community participation through the partnership with the Gender ministry, is geared towards enhancing the immense potentials of men, women and youths, including the provision of essential protective social and physical environment for children.

Speaking to Concord Times, minster of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs, Dr. Soccoh Kabia, said the initiative will stress on holistic human resource development in local communities in line with one of the pillars of the poverty reduction strategy, and branded by the President's agenda for change.

Dr. Kabia said the initiative is a strategy arm of his ministry to ensure that the community is fully and has ownership of the implementation process of government policies and government programs, noting that it is a fact that traditional leaders can never be sidelined in community development as the ministry will be using the bottom-top planning and implementation approach.

Sexual gender based violence, children's rights, understanding gender laws, the Child Rights Act, teenage pregnancy and adult literacy will heighted through sensitization and awareness arising in this initiative. Kabia stressed that the initiative is multidimensional, encompassing the collaboration and cooperation of various stakeholders at all levels.

After the launch, a workshop will follow to discuss the issue as to how the initiative can be disseminated and implemented.