About Youth Empowerment, Leadership and Governance Initiative (YELGI-SL)
Learn who YELGI-SL is, what the Youth Empowerment, Leadership and Governance Initiative stands for, and why its mission matters for youth leadership, civic engagement, governance, climate resilience, and gender equality in Sierra Leone.
A mission-driven organization investing in people, participation, and possibility.
Youth Empowerment, Leadership and Governance Initiative (YELGI-SL) was established to help young people build leadership capacity, understand governance, and become active participants in shaping their communities and national future in Sierra Leone.
YELGI, also known as YELGI-SL, believes that when youth are equipped with knowledge, values, and opportunities, they can become a powerful force for democratic participation, civic responsibility, sustainable national development, climate action, and inclusive gender transformation.
Mission
To create opportunities for young people to develop leadership skills, participate in governance processes, champion climate action, advance gender equality, and contribute meaningfully to national development.
Vision
A generation of ethical, responsible, and visionary young leaders helping strengthen democratic governance, environmental resilience, women's empowerment, and sustainable development in Sierra Leone.
Core values
Integrity, service, inclusion, accountability, citizenship, gender equity, environmental stewardship, and youth-centered innovation.
Young people should not only be prepared for the future. They should help shape it.
YELGI-SL promotes a practical form of youth empowerment that combines ideas, action, community engagement, responsible leadership, climate consciousness, and the amplification of women's voices.
Institutional priorities
- Youth leadership development
- Civic education and governance awareness
- Advocacy and public participation
- Mentorship and guidance
- Community-centered partnerships
- Climate change participation: We focus on youth participation in climate change while protecting our natural environment from hazards and the deliberate actions of man, such as deforestation.
- Gender equality and women empowerment: We aim to amplify women and girls' voices in development with the aim of breaking harmful traditional norms that exclude women and girls from national development. We also aim to equip them with modern skills that would make them stand out in the competitive market.
Empowered youth can transform institutions, communities, and public life.
By building confidence, ethics, civic understanding, climate resilience, and gender-inclusive leadership, Youth Empowerment, Leadership and Governance Initiative helps young people move from spectators to active contributors in national development.