Lessons from Sierra Leone at PopTalks: Climate Resilience Through Education, Health, and Equity
Chernor Bah, Minister of Information and Civic Education for Sierra Leone, visited Columbia University and sat down with Dr. Thoai Ngo for a PopTalks conversation. They discussed the bold policies and big ideas empowering Sierra Leone’s young people to confront a changing, challenging world.
The Rising Generation
The 2.2 billion young adults between 13 and 28—collectively, Gen Z—play a leading role in our planet’s story.
Equipped with unprecedented technology and the instincts of digital natives, this rising generation is facing down climate change, global conflict, misinformation, and corruption. They are tuned in, angry, and insisting that we find a better way.
How do you harness that riotous energy in service of civic life? The West African nation of Sierra Leone demonstrates the power of investing in opportunities for Gen Z, using the power of public policy to erase barriers and disadvantages—especially for women and girls.
Since 2018, 20% of the country’s discretionary spending has gone to education. Policies encouraging education and gender equity draw broad support across Sierra Leone, in sharp contrast with trends in many wealthy countries. One recent law requires 30% of political appointees to be women, for example. And leaders like Chernor Bah envision more to come.
Bah serves as Sierra Leone’s Minister of Information and Civic Education, a role to which he brings a passionate feminist perspective and a long history advocating for girls’ rights. On the heels of the 69th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW6), he joined Columbia’s Thoai Ngo for a PopTalks event where they discussed the challenges, opportunities, and urgent needs involved in empowering Gen Z as a force for good.
Education and Equality for Economic Growth
Sierra Leone is a young country—some 75% of the population is under 25 years old—and government investment is reshaping the lives of its residents.
Education is well-funded and strongly encouraged, and three out of four young people are now literate. The government invests heavily in STEM education, especially for girls; lunches are free, and school fees are banned by law.
And those investments, Bah said, have already paid off: as young people complete secondary education in record numbers, a massive wave of new students fills the nation’s universities.
“The nation’s investment in equality and youth are connected,” he said. “For us, investment in girls and women is the only chance for getting out of poverty.” When Ngo pushed for more policy details, Bah enthusiastically described some of what his government has done to protect women’s lives, careers, and contributions: they legislated against female genital mutilation for the first time in Sierra Leon’s history. They declared rape a national emergency and banned child marriage, and they’re fighting hard to decriminalize abortion.
Solving Problems at the Heart of a Climate Crisis
The Climate Vulnerability Monitor lists Sierra Leone among those nations most acutely affected by climate change. Together, Bah and Ngo recalled catastrophic mudslides devastating the capital city of Freetown in 2017, a deadly event that caught thousands by surprise. “The Global South is at the receiving end of the actions of the rest of the world,” Bah said. “That’s the reality this generation has to deal with.”
One example: extreme temperatures disrupt classroom learning. In South Sudan, similar heatwaves forced an adjustment to school calendars. “Too many kids were just fainting,” said Bah.
Sierra Leone has implemented innovative solutions, like heat-reflective roofing, to combat rising temperatures. With extreme heat just one of the many challenges facing the next generation, that spirit of innovation—backed by government investment—has proven valuable. Most schools still lack electricity, for instance, but students carry smartphones linked to a new nationwide 3G network and often powered by alternative energy sources, like solar chargers.
“We’re open and we’re progressing,” Bah said, “and we’re willing to take risks to try and see what works, with technology solutions that help solve real problems for real people who need it the most.”
The minister also pointed to the value of listening to communities. He cited the Sierra Leone tradition of planting a tree when a new child is born—a fortuitous tactic in the fight against deforestation. “It wasn’t climate action,” he explained. “It was something we did. It’s rooted into who we are.”
Gen Z Was Made for This
When Ngo asked, “What gives you hope?” Bah brought the conversation back to Gen Z—the “present and future” of his country.
“This generation is more connected and knows more about the world than any before it. They are constantly moving from one crisis to another. They are awake. They are aware of corruption and exclusion and governance failures—and they demand different things than the generation before.”
For Bah, those are positive traits, and they help explain why Gen Z is so central to his vision of Sierra Leone’s future. “We don’t think about this demographic as separate from our governing agenda,” he explained. “We ask ourselves: how do you invest in young people? They’re inundated with bad news because they’re so connected. How do you overcome such hopelessness?”
His government’s answer is to create a new sense of citizenship supported by four pillars: food security, public health awareness, digital citizenship, and climate action. Make a systematic bet in the lives, and abilities, of the rising generation. And, he said, harness and cultivate the sense that there might be “light at the end of the tunnel.”