By Edward Vamboi
On the 17 February 2021 the new Officer-in-Charge for the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) Sierra Leone, Dr. Nestor Azandegbe, paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Francis Kai-Kai, at his Tower Hill Office, in Freetown.
Dr. Azandegbe, in his statement, expressed his delight at the engagement, noting that he was happy to realize that the Ministry was leading aspects of population in the country, especially with a former UN colleague in-charge.
He said the UNFPA is fully committed to supporting the upcoming Mid-Term Population and Housing Census, especially in terms of providing funding and the necessary technical expertise to ensure the Census becomes successful.
Dr. Azandegbe said plans are also on the way to enhance the popularization and dissemination of the National Population Policy, across the country, even though the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect progress in every sphere of development. He also reminded the Government of its commitments made at the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) held in Nairobi, Kenya on the 12th November, 2019.
In his response, the Minister welcomed the new Representative Ad-Interim in supporting Government, noting that the UNFPA had been an important organization to work with, which was why, the Ministry had created a population desk that would look into all population related issues.
He said the Government had started implementing the commitments made at the ICPD25 Summit in Nairobi and that the respective Government Ministry’s, especially the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs were fully supporting the process in achieving these commitments.
Commenting on the Mid-Term Housing and Population Census, Dr. Kai-Kai noted that it is a critical activity for Government and also called on partners, especially the UNFPA to continue supporting the process.
“We are very happy that the Census is a primary activity for the UNFPA and you coming is something I expect, and you should come in a big way, especially supporting technically and also helping to source funding for this activity. That is our expectation,” said Minister Kai-Kai.
