72
This was an area of constant discussion between
the officials of the bank and the NAYCOM. The
Chair of the AfDB on her visit to Sierra Leone
called a meeting at the Ministry of Youth Affairs
to discuss the reduced utilisation of the project
funds and called on the Permanent Secretary to
work with the Minister of Youth Affairs and the
Youth Commissioner to put measures in place to
salvage the project. She also emphasised the need
to put measures in place to include the youth on
the AfDB new funding plan for Sierra Leone.
There was the absence of any real enthusiasm
relating to the implementation of the project from
a senior member of the NAYCOM. It was as if it
was only the Youth Commissioner and the Deputy
Youth Commission who were wholly interested in
the development and implementation of
YEEP. There were numerous instances during the
project cycle when the information on status of
the project was not provided to the Youth
Commissioner by the hired YEEP Project
Manager and the NAYCOM PIU. There were also
instances of fabrication; the project was made to
look severely underperforming. The YEEP Project
Manager displayed a lack of knowledge of critical
aspects of project management.
Opportunities for the YEEP
Considerations should be given by NAYCOM to
provide training and other opportunities to
enhance the competence of the YEEP Project
Manager and the PIU. NAYCOM should work
with the project lead to provide peer support and
coaching to the YEEP project manager to
improve his capacity in project management and
people skills.
There are opportunities for the management
of LKC to enhance their human resources management practices to one which promotes sound
human resource management practices and
respect for diversity. The consortium needs to put
measures in place to reflect this practice in their
workplace both at the headquarters and in the
field, irrespective of colour and place of geographic origin/location, to harness the unique
skills of staff and its beneficiaries.
Although there a numerous development challenges affecting the project, the midterm review
report highlighted many notable achievements
which need to be appropriately promoted and
marketed. The best practices and lessons learned
from the YEEP Project should be documented
and shared with the local and international development community. NAYCOM should make
every effort to work with the AfDB to ensure the
successful completion of the project and pursue
efforts to up-scale the YEEP to the national level.
The conceptual framework on youth and climate change adaptation was applicable to the
implementation of the YEEP in an African
LDC. However, a more careful analysis should
be conducted at its conclusion.
Reflection on the Overall YEEP
Project
The YEEP is a pilot project which is testing a
variety of innovative development strategic
approaches and methodologies to address issues
of employment and sustainable livelihoods to
deal with employment through skills development in Sierra Leone. The YEEP was established
as a pilot project to accurately test development
models and innovations in TVET, climate change
adaptation, poverty alleviation, youth development and employment creation via entrepreneurship development. It is eminent from the
innovative approaches the implemented project
will encounter its usual development challenges.
It is hoped that the lessons learned and best practices will be extracted and shared with stakeholders to enable them to learn from the successes
and failures of the project. It is hoped that the lessons learned and best practices of the YEEP will
be included in a scheme which will be up-scaled
and rolled-out nationally.
Although it is still early to assess the full
achievements of the project as it has just passed
its midterm review and has encountered its full
share of development challenges during the
implementation of the project, one can conclude
that the project fulfilled its original mandate
according to its project plans. Despite the contrary practices which resulted in slowing down
the progress of the project by delaying the com4 The Emergence of New Climatic Storms: Global Perspective on the Application…
This was an area of constant discussion between
the officials of the bank and the NAYCOM. The
Chair of the AfDB on her visit to Sierra Leone
called a meeting at the Ministry of Youth Affairs
to discuss the reduced utilisation of the project
funds and called on the Permanent Secretary to
work with the Minister of Youth Affairs and the
Youth Commissioner to put measures in place to
salvage the project. She also emphasised the need
to put measures in place to include the youth on
the AfDB new funding plan for Sierra Leone.
There was the absence of any real enthusiasm
relating to the implementation of the project from
a senior member of the NAYCOM. It was as if it
was only the Youth Commissioner and the Deputy
Youth Commission who were wholly interested in
the development and implementation of
YEEP. There were numerous instances during the
project cycle when the information on status of
the project was not provided to the Youth
Commissioner by the hired YEEP Project
Manager and the NAYCOM PIU. There were also
instances of fabrication; the project was made to
look severely underperforming. The YEEP Project
Manager displayed a lack of knowledge of critical
aspects of project management.
Opportunities for the YEEP
Considerations should be given by NAYCOM to
provide training and other opportunities to
enhance the competence of the YEEP Project
Manager and the PIU. NAYCOM should work
with the project lead to provide peer support and
coaching to the YEEP project manager to
improve his capacity in project management and
people skills.
There are opportunities for the management
of LKC to enhance their human resources management practices to one which promotes sound
human resource management practices and
respect for diversity. The consortium needs to put
measures in place to reflect this practice in their
workplace both at the headquarters and in the
field, irrespective of colour and place of geographic origin/location, to harness the unique
skills of staff and its beneficiaries.
Although there a numerous development challenges affecting the project, the midterm review
report highlighted many notable achievements
which need to be appropriately promoted and
marketed. The best practices and lessons learned
from the YEEP Project should be documented
and shared with the local and international development community. NAYCOM should make
every effort to work with the AfDB to ensure the
successful completion of the project and pursue
efforts to up-scale the YEEP to the national level.
The conceptual framework on youth and climate change adaptation was applicable to the
implementation of the YEEP in an African
LDC. However, a more careful analysis should
be conducted at its conclusion.
Reflection on the Overall YEEP
Project
The YEEP is a pilot project which is testing a
variety of innovative development strategic
approaches and methodologies to address issues
of employment and sustainable livelihoods to
deal with employment through skills development in Sierra Leone. The YEEP was established
as a pilot project to accurately test development
models and innovations in TVET, climate change
adaptation, poverty alleviation, youth development and employment creation via entrepreneurship development. It is eminent from the
innovative approaches the implemented project
will encounter its usual development challenges.
It is hoped that the lessons learned and best practices will be extracted and shared with stakeholders to enable them to learn from the successes
and failures of the project. It is hoped that the lessons learned and best practices of the YEEP will
be included in a scheme which will be up-scaled
and rolled-out nationally.
Although it is still early to assess the full
achievements of the project as it has just passed
its midterm review and has encountered its full
share of development challenges during the
implementation of the project, one can conclude
that the project fulfilled its original mandate
according to its project plans. Despite the contrary practices which resulted in slowing down
the progress of the project by delaying the com4 The Emergence of New Climatic Storms: Global Perspective on the Application…