The Civil Society Consortium Engages Youths on Drug Abuse

The Civil Society Consortium on Natural Resources Governance and Management has on the 24^th May, 2023 engaged and youths at the Kumba Satta Resource Centre in Koidu City, Kono District with sponsorship from the Koidu limited.

The engagement was based on awareness raising on drugs abuse and it impact on the communities on the theme “Awareness raising on cooperate response investment”.

The consortium which works on an objective of promoting the impact of cooperate legacies and responsive investment carried out the engagement targeting youths from different communities including women.

The Public Relations Officer, Ibrahim A.S Bockarie said the Consortium is a coalition of several natural resource governance based organizations who are poised to look at the interest of mining communities and companies as well as the interest of cooperate entities and the state.

“We are also trying to write the story of the resource course. Over the years many Sierra Leoneans because of the poor knowledge in the extractive industries do say our country is not benefitting from these industries. We are trying to awaken the mind-set of Sierra Leoneans to let them understand that, the minerals that we have in the country belong to us as well as the marine produces, ” he said.

He added that, the people will have the right and mandate not in a conflict mood to ask these industries about their accountability to the community as their cooperate social responsibilities in terms of their operations.

Bockarie said that they are trying to boost the knowledge of the communities through a win-win situation by bringing the companies and state to the people. He said they believe in dialogue to get things done peacefully which is their principal mandate.

“ Today, we carried out awareness raising on drugs because drug has a very huge impact on Sierra Leoneans and since it has become an issue of national emergency we source funding from Koidu limited to carry out this one day symposium,” he noted.

The participants posed different comments on the drug use and misuse as well as committing themselves to be ambassadors in their various communities to preach against the misuse of drugs to other youths.