The UNDP Country Office in Sierra Leone has donated 24 brand new motorbikes to the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA). The motorbikes will help to facilitate the work of the Authority’s civil registration and Vital Statistics Programme in Sierra Leone. The donation took place at the Authority’s headquarters at Wallace Johnson Street in Freetown on Monday 12 November 2018.
Receiving the bikes on behalf of the Government and people of Sierra Leone, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Lahai Lawrence Leema, commended UNDP for the donation, which he described as ‘laudable gesture,’ especially at a time when NCRA has to reach out to people in the communities in Sierra Leone to take part in the CVRS process.
“On behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone, I want to thank UNDP for such a laudable gesture especially at a time when we have to reach out to the people in the communities,” he stated.
He added that the bikes will help NCRA staff to get appropriate information on time and also assured all that the bikes will not only be used for their intended purposes, but good care will be takento have them last longer.
The Director General of NCRA, Mohamed MubashirMassaquoi, in receiving the keys to the motorbikes, also commended UNDP for helping to facilitate the movement of his staff, who are in all 16 political and administrative Districts in Sierra Leone, including Bonthe Island,Karene and Falaba, to enable them have timely and updated information on births and deaths registration activities done in communities.
Mr.Massaquoi gave a background of his engagement with UNDP and stated that when he assumed office in July 2018, NCRA approached UNDP after it realized that mobility around the communities was one of the critical challenges that they had in order to capture the occurrence of births and deaths, which are among the vital events the NCRA is mandated to record.
He said NCRA has offices in all Districts in Sierra Leone, where the motorbikes will be used for the CRVS Programme. Mr. Massaquoi also assured that the bikes will be used for their intendedpurpose.
Earlier, in presenting the keys of the bikes to the Director General of NCRA on behalf of the Acting Head of Governance Unit UNDP, Josephine Scott-Manga, Programme Associate, Mahmoud Alpha Conteh, said UNDP recognizes that NCRA was key in the achievement of the priorities of the Government of Sierra Leone. He disclosed that UNDP came to the conclusion to donate the 24 motorbikes to NCRA after they had an engagement with them.
He described “NCRA as one of the successful Implementing Partners of UNDP,” and expressed hope that the bikes will be used judiciously.
Training Officer of NCRA, Mrs. Rosaline Massaquoi, thanked the UNDP for their continuous support to NCRA and added that the donation of the bikes is among the many interventions expected from the UNDP.
The ceremony was graced by the attendance of the Deputy Director General of NCRA, John Lavalie, and a cross section of the staff of NCRA.