.png){kind=logo}
Credit: State House Media and Communications Unit
Bank Complex, Kingtom, Friday 17 June 2022
His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has launched the 20th Anniversary Celebrations of the National Commission for Social Action, NaCSA, and thanked the World Bank, European Union, the United Nations family (UNICEF, UNDP, WFP, UNHCR), German Development Bank, German Cooperation, the Islamic Development Bank; and the African Development Bank for their sustained commitment and support to the work and project of the Commission.He noted that twenty years ago, as the din of civil war violence was dying down, an SLPP Government led by President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah thought of establishing a single agency that would coordinate reconstruction, resettlement, and rehabilitation initiatives across the country, saying that NaCSA was designed to implement social protection programmes for a very vulnerable population in the wake of the mass displacement and destruction of the civil war.
“The community-driven development focus of NaCSA, supported by our partners, has ensured that NaCSA’s interventions have been tailored to address vulnerability and social protection problems in community-specific ways. This targeted approach means that communities are carefully selected across the nation based on needs assessments to deliver specific development interventions. That is good; that is fair; that is right. NaCSA is a national agency.
“Because of NaCSA’s work, we have been able to scale up the provision of social and economic infrastructure and services in communities across the country. There is hardly any district or chiefdom that has not benefited from schools, markets, community centres, health centres, bridges, rural roads, potable water systems, renewable energy installations, and other social infrastructure built by NaCSA,” President Bio noted.
He further told the gathering that NaCSA’s work had supported food security and entrepreneurship for vulnerable and social groups, which he said included small microenterprise grants and loans that provided livelihood streams for very poor families, adding that skills development projects had taught vulnerable population groups, including persons with disability, with skill-sets that could help them make a decent living.
“Twenty years down the line, NaCSA’s commitment to delivering sustainable development outcomes and ensuring community resilience is not in doubt. I am very proud of their mission and their achievements, and it is with great pleasure that I launch the 20th anniversary celebrations of the National Commission for Social Action. I thank you for your attention. President Bio concluded,” he concluded.
Giving an overview of the operations of NaCSA, Commissioner General, Dr. Sao Kpato Hannah Isatta Max-Kyne, said the institution had gone a long way in providing humanitarian support in the country, saying that NaCSA had also played a pivotal role in nation building.
Commissioner Max-Kyne further noted that she was proud that they continued to provide essential humanitarian support to people living with disability, particularly the vulnerable group, adding that their assistance had helped in minimizing the risk of living in abject poverty.
She maintained that NaCSA had also contributed to peace consolidation after the war with keen attention to the young people, contributed to agricultural activities in different parts of the country, contributed to the construction of schools, health centers and construction of community centers in all districts of the country and would continue to provide direct cash transfer to the vulnerable groups.
“I want to thank our development partners and the Government of Sierra Leone under the leadership of President Julius Maada Bio for their continued support to the work of NaCSA. Thank you very much,” she concluded.
Speaking on behalf of the development partners, World Bank Country Manager of Sierra Leone, Abdu Muwonge congratulated NaCSA on their 20th anniversary celebration, saying that their livelihood interventions had helped alleviate many people from poverty. He, therefore, urged the government for fast action initiatives that would continue to help poor people and communities.
“Thank you very much Your Excellency and NaCSA. This is so tremendous. On behalf of the Bank and other development partners, we look forward to more collaboration with the government of Sierra Leone,” he concluded.