World Refugee Day 2003 National Activity Plan: Sierra Leone

Song and dance competitions will be held in a theatre with the participation of secondary schools in Freetown where refugees are enrolled. The judges will comprise members of government ministries, the refugee committee, NGOs and UN agencies.

A concert will take place with two famous artists, one from Liberia and the other one from Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leonean President and the UNHCR Representative will open the ceremony, where the winning group of the song competition will be awarded with scholarships.

A bus with the slogan "Building the Future" will circulate the city with the participation of young refugees as peace messengers to improve the relationship between refugees and Sierra Leoneans.

Refugees and returnees in secondary schools will participate in a march to promote public awareness about refugee youth. Local comedians specialising in children's programmes will perform sketches on the theme of refugee youth in a private children's hospital.

In the refugee camps, various performances, essay competitions and sport activities will take place.

Refugee youth in Largo camp will be connected to students in Switzerland's Zurich and Geneva via satellite. The project is sponsored by the Swiss Refugee Council.

Young refugees will take photos of their everyday life for an exhibition that will be held in Japan. The project is sponsored by a Japanese NGO, Peace Tune.

Roundtables with young people will be aired on Radio UNAMSIL in a special programme titled "Voice for Children", which will cover topics such as HIV/AIDS, early pregnancy and education.

A World Refugee Day film about refugee youth will be screened on national TV channel from June 1-20, three times a week at the prime time.