October 25, 2017 Ishmael Sallieu Koroma
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has on Monday, 23rd October, 2017, presented awards to the 2017 Social Good Summit winners at their headquarters on Wilkinson Road office in Freetown.
Speaking during the award ceremony, Country Director of UNDP, Samuel Doe, said they were gathered to award creative minds that have managed to produce something and finding solutions to the challenges of their communities.
He said one of the innovators narrated that he needed electricity to study, but couldn’t, so, he created a technology to generate electricity, a move he said was very important.
‘’Social good is that you are able to share with others by bringing in solutions to your community and that’s what this young people have started doing,” he said.
Head of Public Relations of the Rokel Commercial Bank (RCB), which is one of the partners of the 2017 Social Good Summit, George Spilsbury Williams, extended thanks and appreciation to UNDP for inviting the bank to be at the summit as a partner in the project.
‘’Let me first of all thank the UNDP for inviting the bank to be here as a partner in this project and let me secondly congratulate the winners who are here today to receive their presented their prizes,’’ he said.
He stated that there is hope for the future in the youth of the country, and that Sierra Leone has a lot to offer as demonstrated by those wonderful youthful people, who, with the little available resources, came up with such brilliant innovation.
Commissioner, National Youth Commission, Anthony Koroma, said the program is very relevant as it can reverberate national and international exposure by exposing a lot of young people in the country.
‘’We know that it will take more research, education and more creativity to be able to transform this your creation into the social good in terms of helping to solve social problem affecting our countries and developing countries,” he said.
The youth commissioner appealed to UNDP and partners to not only provide awards to the youth but to also follow up on them and expose them nationally and internationally, so that they could improve on what they are doing.
The social winners were Mohamed A. Kamara, who came first in the male category by winning a cash prize of ten millions, whilst Fanta Kondeh came first in the female category by wining ten millions Leones respectively, followed by a runner –up, Mohamed Bangura who received five million Leones.