Bridging community-level concerns with national decision-making — so young people's priorities shape Sierra Leone's environmental and climate policy.
Since 2022, YICA-SL has maintained active engagement with national government agencies to ensure youth perspectives are included in environmental and climate policy.
A significant achievement of our policy work has been facilitating youth consultations that informed Sierra Leone's updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — the country's climate commitments to the international community. Working with the Youth Climate Council Sierra Leone, we organised consultations across all regions and developed a comprehensive youth position paper.
Beyond national policy, YICA-SL strengthens environmental governance locally by organising community dialogues with local councils, documenting environmental violations and presenting findings to authorities, and supporting community representatives to participate in chiefdom and district planning.
Our policy work is delivered alongside the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, and Freetown City Council — providing entry points for community voices in environmental governance.
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