New Lungos board meets government to plan road ahead |04 February 2013

The meeting, held on Thursday at the conference room of the Social Affairs department at Unity House, was attended by the newly elected Lungos board members, and representing the government was the Minister for Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports Vincent Meriton.

The meeting was mainly to establish the way forward for the organisation in collaboration with the government, and each member of the new board introduced themselves to the minister.

The social renaissance project also featured high on the agenda, with both parties brainstorming how they could help promote this initiative.

New Lungos chairperson Marie-Nella Azemia said they are reaching out to all their partners, starting with Mr Meriton’s ministry.

“Our mission is to engage all citizens in the development of the country, and all our plan of action will certainly include citizens having to play their part through various ways in accomplishing that mission,” she said.

“We will focus on commissions (which are clusters of non-governmental organisations) already established to work on thematic areas, and we are ready and willing to work even closer with the government from now on, since we want Lungos to become an even stronger voice for the people,” said Mrs Azemia.

Minister Meriton said the government is looking forward to working with Lungos, especially in very specific areas and manageable tasks.

“I look at this new board with a lot of optimism and what we need to focus on now is what is best for the country and bridge any existing gaps in the way forward,” he said.

He added that based on the findings of the social renaissance campaign, it was suggested that Lungos and the Seychelles Interfaith Council (Sifco) come together to form a sectoral committee to engage the population to be able to make a decision in the implementation of the social renaissance’s plan of action.

“It is an idea that has been broken down into specific objectives in six sectoral areas, and we have had brief discussions on how we can further bring this to life. A more detailed presentation – with the more pertinent issues that we aim to address – on how this will be implemented will be held this month, as we launch the initiative,” he said.