Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr

"Through these different interventions, we are creating jobs. We are cleaning our city and we are meeting our objective collectively as Freetonians to transform Freetown"

"In building the people, you are addressing those structural drivers of migration. You’re addressing the reasons why these people are moving because, again, the concept of building a wall, versus building people, is about investment."

"You invest in people by providing the opportunities that they need to fulfill their own potential."

"People, generally speaking, are migrating because they’re looking for a better life, because they’re looking for opportunities, because they want to be sure that they can provide food, clothing, and education for their children. They’re moving from one place to the other, because of climate change and the impact of climate change on their livelihoods, on their opportunities."

"But at the next moment, if that country needs more healthcare workers visas are given to those very people that are needed by their own countries. So you take them when you need them, and you block them when you don’t."

"The impact of the brain drain is a serious one for a city like mine, a country like mine, where we need human capital in order for development to happen."

"I think the fact that people still feel the need to do this is painful. I’ve had young people who have tried to migrate, been jailed, seen their colleagues die in front of them in the desert, seen girls raped, come back to Freetown and try again."