ECOWAS to Send 40 Volunteers to Sierra Leone

15 April 2013
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Economic Community of West African States (Abuja)
press release

Abuja - Nigeria — ECOWAS plans to deploy 40 volunteers to Sierra Leone to support the country’s health and education sectors. To this end, a delegation of the ECOWAS Volunteers Programme (EVP) Regional Office, led by the Director of the ECOWAS Youth and Sports Development Centre in Ouagadougou, Mr. Francis Chuks Ajoagwani has just-ended a four-day visit in Sierra Leone 8-12 April 2013 to fast-track the process.

The ECOWAS team met with key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology; Ministry of Health and Sanitation; Ministry of Youth Affairs and the Ministry of Sports, as well as representatives of civil society organizations and the UNDP/UNV, the technical partners to the EVP. Mr. Njoaguani described the outcome of the visit as “encouraging,” adding that “there is greater certainty that ECOWAS Volunteers will be deployed to Sierra Leone in the next 30 days.”

The EVP Regional Coordinator, Mr. Ibrahim Ouedraogo, said the mission has helped regain the commitment of all the key stakeholders, especially the primary beneficiary ministries.

The first batch of 20 volunteers earmarked for the Ministry of Education is expected to arrive in the country by end of April 2013 and the remaining volunteers for the Health sector, by the first week of May.

The Deputy Minister 1, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Osmond Hanciles pledged the full commitment of the ministry to the programme. “We must reassure that we will not fail on the commitment made by our Head of State when Sierra Leone was selected as one of the four lucky countries for the pilot phase of the ECOWAS Volunteers Programme,” he added.

Also during the delegation’s courtesy call on her, the Minister of Health, Mrs. Miatta Kargbo stressed the importance of the ECOWAS Volunteers’ contribution to the country’s development particularly the health sector.

Read the original article on Ecowas.

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