“It is for these reasons we decided to organise the two-day workshop so that every ministry, department and agency can bring up to speed their data that will be compiled and put in the international domain for all to make use of.”
He said SLIBS is set to guide the governance and development processes of countries, and they also provide basis for periodic assessment of the progress made by those countries towards meeting set target. “A total of 33 Benchmarks have been identified but apparently, these benchmarks for our country have not been treated seriously by the institution supposed to manage and report on them. This is responsible for the country’s poor ratings over the years.”
Dr Sam Sesay averred that President Koroma in his wisdom in concert with his advisers designed ways to clear the image and general development focused on the effective management and delivery of the Benchmarks.
The Adviser reiterated that they have set the stage for monitoring the reporting system, format, periodicity reporting channels and responsibility. He also viewed that the Benchmarks program must be seen as compendium within Sierra Leoneans.
Dr Sam Sesay said all of the advisers to the president have a role to play and they all have different sectors they are chairing. He said during the workshop there were speeches from all of them and other dignitaries, but stressed that this is a serious programme that the president is not treating lightly because he wants the image of the country to be true and up-to-date from researchers at all times.
The National Workshop on Sierra Leone International Benchmarks 2016 took place on the 29th and 30th, July 2016 at the Port Loko council conference hall. The purpose of the workshop was given by Caroline Thomas of UNDP who emphasized on the need to cope up with the expectations of the Millennium Challenges Corporation Benchmarks, because she said it is about the prosperity of Sierra Leone, and that it could have a more accurate picture of the country and correct the wrong information usually shared globally.
Dr Sam Sesay averred that the president during the workshop emphasized that this is a great concern to him and a national pride. He said that this is the way they could be assessed and be rated, because it is a specific indicator coverage, which involves a wide range of issues.
The Adviser averred that President assured the public that he is committed to these Benchmarks and that they lost focus of the goals and targets of the MDG that was why Sierra Leone has always been portrayed as a failure. He recommended that the government will properly manage and process the reports before it is done by outsider, donor or civil society organizations.