21/08/2026
Sierra Leone is a young country. About 60% of the population is under 25, and about 75% is under 35. At the same time, rural poverty remains significantly higher than urban poverty, with estimates of 74% in rural areas compared with 35% in urban areas. These numbers matter because many of the young people and communities living furthest from decision-making are also dealing with the greatest pressures on their livelihoods, food security, employment, and resilience to climate impacts.
At Sunrise Movement Sierra Leone, we are using civic engagement to help close this gap. Our approach is simple: listen to communities, build the capacity of young people, take their priorities into advocacy spaces, and connect them with decision-makers. Our Youth Adaptation Action Day 2025 was part of this journey. In March 2026, we launched the Youth Climate Adaptation Network (YCAN) Sierra Leone to strengthen this work nationally.
On 25 August 2026, we will officially launch YCAN and convene 40 young leaders from all 16 districts of Sierra Leone for the Youth Climate Champion Advocates Training. This is about more than training 40 young people. It is about building a network that can take community concerns, especially from remote, deprived, and underserved areas, into conversations on climate adaptation, policy, accountability, and development.
As Sierra Leone continues to strengthen youth participation in climate action, we want community voices to be part of that process from the beginning, not added at the end. For us, civic engagement means making sure that people who are often spoken about have the opportunity to speak, organise, advocate, and influence decisions for themselves. 40 youth leaders. 16 districts. One growing national platform.
And we are only getting started.
