President Bio and I arrived in New York yesterday, ahead of the United Nations General Assembly.
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Our President is expected to address the UN General Assembly on the 27th September and will later the same day meet in a town hall engagement with Sierra Leoneans in New York.
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I will meet with heads of various organisations to work out practical ways to be more effective in working with NGO’s in Sierra Leone, and coordinating with my Office. This is important because our case is unique, and requires specialist solution.
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The UN is doing a great job in Africa, but the situation in Sierra Leone needs urgent attention. As a country, we endured over a decade of civil war and the Ebola crisis of 2014 (where we lost very good medical practitioners). In 2017 we had to face the most devastating natural disaster in Africa in recent times; the mud-slide and flash floods.
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Among other social issues, We still have one of the highest teenage pregnancy rate with its associated high maternity rate. It will be wrong to say that nothing is being done, I am saying so much more needs to be done. We have to develop ways, to be much more efficient in implementing programmes.
To have a clear understanding of the state of affairs in Sierra Leone, a networking event was organised by my office on Friday 21st Sept. Representatives from several govt and non-governmental agencies including the Ministry of Health,The United Nations, World Vision, Africell, Mercury, Sierra Leone Cancer Institute, Thinking Pink, UNICEF and the WHO were invited. They gave unbiased views on what is being done, what needs to be done, and challenges they face. Lessons learned at the networking session, will be part of the issues I will discuss here at the UN.
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My country is ready to enforce measures that will ensure that the UN and it’s related organisations work effectively in Sierra Leone. Where the current policies are ineffective, my office will liaise with the government, to lobby for new positive policies.
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On a separate note, I say a big thank you to my fellow Sierra Leoneans in America. The food was superb and made my husband and I feel at home.
I look forward to meeting my people here in America, to formally say thank you. Building a great Sierra Leone is achievable because we are unified in our vision. We have a visionary leader and he is working with a formidable team of Ministers and advisers.
H. E. Fatima Maada Bio
First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
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http://www.un.org/en/ga/73/agenda/
Strategic Communications Division
Office of The First Lady
info@officeofthefirstlady.gov.sl
+232 303 68273
https://firstlady.gov.sl
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