Sierra Leone

During the course of their visit to Sierra Leone, the youth politicians traveled to the north and east provinces of the country, where they met with youth representatives, politicians, parliamentarians and traditional leaders in both Kono and Makeni. Fruitful discussions occurred between the parties, each describing the achievements and challenges in the governance of their respective countries, with each learning from the experiences of the other. The group also visited the National Electoral Commission, the Special Court of Sierra Leone, UN officials and key Government representatives.

Commenting on the trip, one youth from Norway’s Socialist Youth Party, Karine Hektoen, said, “from the lessons we have learned over the course of this visit, we hope to stimulate discussion around the development challenges facing Sierra Leone, with each of our political parties in Norway.”

Background
The UNDP office in Norway recently initiated a project with political youth parties to find practical political solutions for reaching the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The partnership aims to create more substantive debate on Norwegian and international development, as well as shaping committed development politicians for the future, by providing them with increased knowledge on development issues and inspiration to continue working within the field. This visit is part of the project of incorporating development issues into the Norwegian political agenda.