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Mayor of Freetown; Her Worship Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Mayor of Monrovia; Jefferson T Koijee and other founding members have launched the City Champion for Heat Action Initiative at Freetown City Council Administrative building in Freetown.
The launching was done on Wednesday 20th October, 2021 at the Freetown City Council Council Administrative building in Freetown, Sierra Leone in the presence of Government Agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations, Experts, Foreign Dignitaries, Councillors, Staff of MDU, Staff of Freetown City Council and many stakeholders.
“Today we launched the City Champion for Heat Action Initiative, of which Freetown is a founding member.
The Initiative is run by Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center at the Atlantic Council through the Extreme Heat Resilience Alliance (EHRA). It supports cities in addressing heat-related risks as extreme heat has significant impact on health and the economy.
Extreme heat is a cause for concern for me and Council as many residents of Freetown (up to 35% of the population) live in informal settlements and in homes made of zinc, which exposes them to potentially lethal levels of extreme heat. The Initiative allows the first Chief Heat Officer in Africa, appointed through Innovation SL, to raise awareness of extreme heat risk, and to implement and track initiatives that reduce the heat-related climate risks.
The launch of the Initiative was attended by the Mayor of Monrovia, Jefferson T Koijee and chairpersons of other local councils: Chairman of Bo District Council, Mr Joseph Bindi; Chairman of Tonkolili District, Madam Yabome Sesay; Chairman of Bonthe District Council, Chairman Moses Probyn; Chairman Elect of Koinadugu District Council, Lawrence Teteh Kargbo. The Ambassador of Liberia to Sierra Leone, HE Madame Musu Ruhle and members of the Atlantic Council, Kathy Baughman-McLeod and former Mayor of Quito, Mauricio Rodas were also present. The event was also attended by representatives of Councillors and staff of Freetown City Council, CDMCs, EPA and the Sierra Leone Metrological Agency.
It was inspiring to see the level of collaboration within country and with our neighboring city. #TransformFreetown” Her Worship Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr wrote.
