VISION

A society in which youths are sufficiently empowered to take responsibility for and shape their own future and their community.


MISSION
To work towards youth empowerment through effective coordination and capacity building of youth groups and...
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VISION

A society in which youths are sufficiently empowered to take responsibility for and shape their own future and their community.


MISSION
To work towards youth empowerment through effective coordination and capacity building of youth groups and through co-operation and collaboration with youth promoting organizations within and outside Sierra Leone.
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CCYA was established in 1998 by former student leaders wishing to contribute to the long struggle of restoring stability and democracy to Sierra Leone. They recognized that the lack of political and economic spaces for young people caused by long years of dictatorship and tyranny created a huge...
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CCYA was established in 1998 by former student leaders wishing to contribute to the long struggle of restoring stability and democracy to Sierra Leone. They recognized that the lack of political and economic spaces for young people caused by long years of dictatorship and tyranny created a huge army of unemployed youth who are excluded from society and therefore are distrustful of any democratic political processes in the country. Further, this awkward situation depicts a perfect recipe for conflict and instability that gripped the country for over ten years. It was clear that the damage caused to the image of young people perpetrating atrocities against their own people during the war period would have negative implications for the future aspirations of every young Sierra Leonean. It became important for us to bring ourselves purposely to the attention of the public as role models for youths in society in order to change public perception of the upcoming generation of Sierra Leoneans.

Primarily, the objectives for the formation of CCYA are, among others the mobilization of both urban and rural youth towards fruitful engagement and to ensure the equitable distribution of the country’s wealth in an environment of social injustice perpetrated by years of bad governance over the Sierra Leonean youth.

Prior to the formation of CCYA , there was no policy exclusively for addressing the youth factor in Sierra Leone .The semblance of policies formulated for tackling youth unemployment for example were both unrealistic and not pursued with a sense of purpose or commitment. Successive governments only paid lip service to youth development while criminal behaviour and banditry came to define youth responses to the collapse of meaning and hope in their lives. Even young people themselves did not help the situation, very few were ready to work for their collective development. They lacked the knowledge, technical skill and experience including institutional deficiency to promote their viability.

Following the restoration of the elected government in 1998 amidst the enduring chaos and violence due to the war, the CCYA idea of helping others was initiated among a group of young Sierra Leoneans. They began by organizing young people to provide humanitarian services to the thousands of displaced people in the capital, Freetown, including the provision of free tuition to primary and secondary school children from the provinces whose education was halted due to the war. They also conducted cleaning exercises of public places like hospitals, parks etc as well as distributing food and clothing in displaced camps.

As these activities gained wider coverage in the local media, the founders of CCYA became more inspired and approached officials of the UNESCO secretariat in Freetown for support of a more sustainable youth Programme. As one open door leads to many more, CCYA was born as a result.
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CCYA os a youth focused and it caters mainly for young people and tries to limit itself according to the national youth policy defination of youth.

It seeks to promote the well being for young pople and advocate on thier behalf to policy makers for a positive policy formulation.