By Morlai Sesay
The Minister of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED), Honourable Kenneth Barclay, on Tuesday, 16th January 2024, highlighted five enablers of the new Mid-Term National Development Plan of 2024-2030. Barlay made the statement at a news conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Conference Hall, Tower Hill, Freetown.
According to her, the 2024-2030 Mid-Term National Development Plan aims to hugely diversify the economy by effectively working on other critical sectors that ensure it is in its finest shape. She noted, “Tourism, mining, and manufacturing are apart from agriculture, which plays a significant role in transforming and diversifying the economy."
Governance, she asserted, is another area her Ministry would be looking at very closely to ensure that the New Mid-Term National Development Plan works effectively. Proper governance, she said, is integral in shaping the economy where the Ministry would be engaging local government so that the peace and security of the state are guaranteed. The rule of law prevails in all aspects of the country.
Climate resilience, she noted, is also another enabler that the Minister said they would be closely working on. The presidential initiative for climate change is one key sector in which the government is determined to put disaster management under control. "This is so because if we keep on having these disasters, the government will continue to have significant setbacks that would hinder sustainable development in the country, “he affirmed.
By popular demand, the Minister disclosed that the fourth enabler is gender mainstreaming. Gender mainstreaming, according to her, is a strategy to improve the quality of public policies, programs, and projects, ensuring a more efficient allocation of resources. Better results mean increased well-being for both women and men and the creation of a more socially just and sustainable society. She noted that the move is a deliberate one because Gender mainstreaming has been embraced internationally as a strategy towards realizing gender equality, stressing that her Ministry would be making sure that it involves the integration of a gender perspective into the preparation, design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of policies, regulatory measures, and spending programmes, to promote equality between women and men, and combating discrimination across all sectors in the country.
She revealed that the fifth and final enabler is financing implementation and resource mobilization. With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and consensus document from the Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa, Minister Barlay discloses that both of which call for greater country ownership and sustainable financing for development and that many agree that domestic resource mobilization must be elevated as a development priority.
With the cost of implementing the SDGs estimated in the trillions of dollars, she emphasized that Sierra Leone, as a developing country, will need to rely more on its resources. This, according to her, is undoubtedly a significant influence in President Bio's Feed Salone project, which aims to create a platform for Sierra Leoneans to improve the agricultural sector so that Sierra Leone's food sufficiency move, as stated by His Excellency President Maada Bio, would become a success.
Comments