By an external contributor
Following his victory in the June 2023 presidential election, His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio appointed an incredible youngman, Chernoh Bah as his Minister of Information and Civic Education.
Mr. Bah, who is also a distinguished Sierra Leonean feminist activist, previously served as the President of the Children’s Forum Network (CFN) and a prominent advocate for child rights has been described by many people as the ‘Right Man for the Right Job’.
President Bio’s decision to appoint Mr. Bah, reflects his commitment to promoting gender equality and empowering marginalised groups in Sierra Leone. By selecting a prominent feminist activist as the Minister of Information and Civic Education, President Bio aims to ensure that his government’s policies and initiatives are inclusive and address the needs of all citizens, especially children and women.
Chernor Bah is a feminist activist who has dedicated his life to building the power and amplifying the voices of girls and young people across the globe and in his beloved Sierra Leone.
At the age of 15, Chernor founded and led the Children’s Forum Network, a mass movement of children who organised and mobilised to demand their voices be included in peace and reconciliation efforts after Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war.
Decades later, a new generation of Children’s Forum Network members still gather across the country every week, a testament to the power of youth voices and an enduring reminder of what mass civic mobilisation can achieve.
Chernor Bah went on to lead initiatives for UNFPA (New York and Liberia), Nike Foundation (Ethiopia and Portland), CRS (the Philippines) and recently at the Population Council (New York).
In 2012, he co-founded, alongside Gordon Brown (former British Prime Minister), A World at School – a global mobilisation and campaign organisation for global education.
Chernor has twice been appointed by the United Nations Secretary General to high level steering committees, and is an Expert Advisor to the Security Council on Youth Peace and Security.
In 2018, he was appointed by the UNICEF Executive Director to the International Task Force on Workplace Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
Chernor Bah has spoken at the White House under President Barrack Obama, introduced First Lady Michelle Obama at a Global Education Discussion Forum held at the United Nations, spoken at the European Union, African Union and the World Bank, and lectured at universities around the world.
When Ebola struck Sierra Leone, Chernor returned home and began to organise and mobilise once again. From crisis comes opportunity, and so Purposeful was born, rooted in the most profound belief that not only are adolescent girls powerful, but if people can support them to live in that power, they will lead all to liberation.
