SIERRA LEONE NEWS- IN AWARENESS TIMES NEWS PAPER LAND FOR SIERRA LEONANIE SLUM DWELLERS The Deputy Minister of Lands Country Planning and Environment, Hon. Ahmed Kanu has said in Freetown that their ministry through the help of the government led by His Excellency President Ernest Bai Koroma has planned to give a big portion of land to people that are residing in slum communities since ownership of land in a healthy environment is an important part of ensuring human rights are upheld. He made this statement on Monday 10th February 2013, while giving the keynote address at the opening ceremony of a West African meeting at the Leisure Lodge, Cape Road Aberdeen. The dialogue attracted fifteen delegates from Burkina Faso, Liberia, Ghana, Kenya Nigeria South Africa and Togo, to talk on issues affecting peoples living in slum communities and to find solutions. The Centre of Dialogue on Human Settlement and Poverty Alleviation (CODOHSAPA) is the local organization that is advocating for Sierra Leone slum dwellers, under the umbrella body Slum Dwellers International (SDI). SDI is a loose transnational network of NGO professionals and slum dwellers federation working with local and municipal authorities to improve on the lives and situation of informal settlers and slum dwellers. Giving the Keynote, the Deputy Minister of Lands said access to housing is part of human and constitutional rights, and that their government has set the task of alleviation for Sierra Leoneans. He said Sierra Leone is a very hospitable country. He stated that the President set up the Agenda for Prosperity for lives of Sierra Leoneans to be improved. As he emphasised commitment to development, he said government will shortly make available land to slum dwellers, and that the land will be inspected soon. He pledged their government commitment to work with the organization. Francis Relfeld the project manager for YMCA said the organization’s efforts in this regards of upholding rights of slum dwellers, has been spread to over thirteen communities in Western Area and environs. He said the organization has also spread to some part in the provinces. He said the country has gained a lot for their colleagues in other countries. For his part, Joseph Muturi working at the West African Hub Coordination SDI Secretariat in Kenya said they should come up with ideas which will make change for every country involved in activities of SDI. He advised all participants to identify their challenges and put it across for it to be addressed. He said SDI is currently operating in over 35 countries in the world. At the opening, the entire participants from all the countries represented at the ongoing Sierra Leone meeting, were able to give their various country’s updates in which solutions were identified from amongst them. The meeting was overall very successful.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 04:50:57 +0000
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