Franco Bonghan was among those honored with the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award by the US President Joe Biden during the 2023 World Humanitarian Day celebration.
The event which took place on Saturday, August 19, 2023 in Houston Texas, had the Bright Light Projects’ Executive Director recognized for his work in community development across the USA and Africa.
Receiving the award on behalf of the team, Franco recounts their exploits across The United States to Sierra Leone, to Cameroon, Guinea Conakry, and Nigeria, adding that the was for all the team members.
“Through this recognition, we honor and appreciate all of our team members and volunteers, even if you have given us just one hour of your time. Thank you for your endless sacrifices in helping BLP’s vision to promote BLP beneficiaries to become self-reliant and contribute positively to the development of their communities”
He said that morale boosting from the Award will help them achieve a whole new thing in coming years.
He further stated that the team, donors and volunteers have sacrificed in the face of challenges and that has brought them to where they are.
“This year’s theme #NoMatterWhat simply amplifies the fact that you go above and beyond to serve no matter the conditions because you understand it can never be worse than the challenges facing our beneficiaries daily” he said.
Through their simplistic approach to support and conduct non-partisan initiatives in rebuilding broken communities, in line with the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGS), BLP is working in the domain of skills development, gender equality and social inclusion, human rights, community development and sustainable agriculture.
Other areas are Prison Inmate Reintegration, Education (Formal & Informal), STEM Education, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) & Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
“For a long time Africa has had the wrong diagnosis” How come six decades after an inflow of charity and Humanitarian Aid, Africa is worse off”
“This is because the West thinks Africa needs food and clothing to develop, but no country has ever developed from HANDOUTS. what Africa needs is skills development, innovation, and partnership as a pathway to self-reliance”
“BLPs heavily emphasizes youth empowerment through skills training as our best bet for the economic transformation of the continent as we strive to achieve the United Nations Agenda 2030, and the African Union Agenda 2063.”
“There is a need for increased global partnership and collaboration within the three pillars of sustainability namely: Social inclusion, economic development, and environmental protection for the greater concern for humanity”, he said.
