The Sightsavers Sierra Leone Country Programme has donated three brand new motorbikes and computers to three of their key partners.

It is under the Citizens Political Participation, ‘Investing in the next generation of people with disabilities through enhancing youth citizenship.’ It is a project with funds from Irish Aid called “A Better World Programme.”

These partners include the National Council for Civic Education and Democracy (NaCCED), Ministry of Youth Affairs and the Commission for Persons with Disability.  Each partners received one motorbike and one computer.

The Citizens Political Participation Project is a five-year project which aims to promote an enabling environment in which young men and young women (youth) with disabilities to be able to claim their rights to fully participate in society; this will be achieved through a process of strengthening inclusive political dialogue and promoting democratic values that are inclusive for all citizens.

Additionally, this project will contribute to increasing the level of civic education and knowledge of rights amongst youth with disabilities, addressing the current barriers to civic participation and will lead to equal opportunities for those in Sierra Leone. It will also empower both men and women(youth) with disabilities to get involved in local developmental projects, leading to electoral success in council elections, or be advisors in key decision-making institutions.

Country Lead for Sightsavers Sierra Leone, Tiangay Gondoe explained that these donations are provided to capacitate the partners to implement their activities adding that the motorbikes will help in their movement during operations while the computers should be used for reporting purposes.

“If we want our partners to send reports and other information on time, we need to support them with the necessary tools to enable them to be effective and provide reports on time, the motorbikes will enhance mobility,” she said.

Tiangay further called on NaCCED and the other partners to use the items for their intended purposes while emphasizing that Sightsavers conducts yearly assest verification exercises for donated items to ensure they are in good working order.

She concluded by thanking the partners for their continued support and contributions towards the implementation of Sightsavers projects .

Chairman for the National Council for Civic Education and Democracy, Kalilu Ibrahim Totangi while receiving the items on behalf of NaCCED thanked Sightsavers Sierra Leone for their support noting that they have been working as partners for some time now and their intervention is laudable. He added that Sightsavers is one of the few INGO’s that are appreciated in communities due to the impact of their interventions.

“I have seen the impact especially in communities we have visited. The target beneficiaries, express willingness to participate in all activities as most of them say this project is one of the few that considers the inclusion of youths with disabilities in their interventions,” he said.

The Chairman further noted that NaCCED is very appreciative of the support by Sightsavers as it will help the institution access more locations, adding that the new motorbikes will add to the ones they acquired recently which were sent to outreach teams in communities.

Kalilu was also confident that the motorbike and computer will enhance their jobs and assured Sightsavers that the items will be used for their intended purposes.

The Deputy Minister of Youth and the Executive Secretary for the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities also thanked Sightsavers Sierra Leone for the support while assuring them that the items will be used judiciously.

Signing of documentations were also done at the end of the handing over ceremony to ensure proper ownership of items.