The Sierra Leone Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium Ambassador Samuel Tamba Musa paid a visit to the Chief Executive Officer of the King Baudouin Foundation in Belgium.
The purpose of the visit was to explore possible windows of opportunities for Sierra Leone, in line with the Organisation’s mandate to build a better society in Belgium, Europe and around the world.
During the engagement, Mr. Brieuc Van Damme, Chief Executive Officer gave a brief background of the Organisation, which was founded in 1976 as an independent and pluralist foundation acting for the common good together with numerous partners, experts and donors.
The Foundation, the CEO stated, is an actor for change and innovation, serving the public’s interest and increasing social cohesion. It endeavours to maximize, impact through capacity building among organisations and people thereby contributing to building a better society.
Mr. Brieuc Van Damme highlighted the Organisation’s five key areas of focus namely, social justice and poverty, health, heritage and culture, education and development of talents, democracy and climate change and biodiversity. He further intimated that prior to this date, the Foundation’ only operated in Belgium but has now expanded to become an international foundation operating in USA, Canada, Australia and Africa.
In his statement, Ambassador Samuel Tamba Musa thanked the CEO and team for the opportunity to meet, as he had been looking forward to such an engagement. He observed that although Sierra Leone was not on the list of beneficiary countries, nevertheless it was necessary to engage the Foundation for possible openings. Adding that some the programs of the Organization resonate with Sierra Leone’s agenda for the next five years, dubbed the ‘Big5’, which focuses on agriculture, education and innovation, among others.
Ambassador Musa also informed the CEO of the Baudouin Foundation on Sierra Leone’s role as a member of the UN Security Council, with the President presiding over the Security Council for the month of August, and Sierra Leone chairing the Committee of 10, which, the Ambassador emphasized, provides an opportunity to establish links on both sides.
Ambassador Musa was accompanied by the Head of Chancery, Mr. Jonathan Las-Lamin, Counsellor, Mr. Saifu George and the Information Attaché, Ms. Betty Milton.
