About Us

When permission was received from the Earth Charter International Secretariat to establish an Earth Charter Youth Group in Sierra Leone, several documents relating to the EC Initiative were downloaded, members studied them well and then shared the information with some prominent youth leaders of various organisations. For several weeks, the ECYG-SL Coordinator engaged in lots of sensitisation efforts among youth groups/organizations.

Several meetings with leaders of various youth groups/organizations were held and a committee of 20 was set up, comprising representatives from different umbrella youth organizations, including the Independent Youth Forum (IYF), which has over 100 registered youth organisations, Centre for the Coordination of Youth Activities (CCYA), working with over 200 registered youth organisations country-wide, National Multipurpose Cooperative Society (NYMCOS), which also has membership of over 100 Community Based Youth Organisations (CBOs), Advocacy Initiative for Development (AID), etc.

In another development, members of the first ECYG-SL that is based in Freetown received an invitation to participate in a weeklong workshop that was organized by the Centre for the Coordination of Youth Activities (CCYA) in Sierra Leone's second largest city, which is Bo Town, Bo District. The organizers, CCYA, which is also housing the Earth Charter Youth Group in Sierra Leone (ECYG-SL), requested that we introduce the Earth Charter Initiative to an expected 350 participants at the workshop.

We honoured the invitation and wow, ... the result was great!! We were able to introduce the Earth Charter Initiative to the more than 300 participants who attended the meetings. People were so excited to know/learn about the Earth Charter Initiative. Participants even requested that we establish a committee that will be responsible for ECYG's work in that part of the Country. We wasted no time in responding to their request. Two groups of twenty youth leaders/workers were set up!! It was amazing because, by the time we got there, we only had in mind to introduce the Earth Charter Initiative to the participants, share some printed materials and return to Freetown.

About the Earth Charter Youth Initiative (ECYI)

The Earth Charter Youth Initiative seeks to take the Mission of the Earth Charter Initiative and make it one that is alive, relevant and applicable to young people globally. The program provides support to those individuals and youth organizations who are working to bring the Earth Charter and the values and principles it articulates to young people everywhere.

ECYI Formation

The Earth Charter Youth Initiative (ECYI) was put together by a core-group of young people from different countries committed to the Earth Charter, and active in bringing it to a larger number of young people worldwide. Members of the Earth Charter Youth Group in Sierra Leone are taking the lead in promoting the Earth Charter Initiative and encouraging Sierra Leoneans to put into practice the principles that are set therein.