Sylvester Philip Mohamed Weeks, from Sierra Leone, is the Founder and Managing Director of Operation 232. He has launched the Waste Management, Education and Clean Communities Initiative, anchored in green development, with a long-term target of collecting and recycling a total of 800,000 tonnes of waste plastic by 2040 and turning waste into opportunities for development.

Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, faces severe plastic pollution. Lacking adequate waste-handling infrastructure, the city struggles with massive accumulations of plastic waste, which degrade urban environments and pose ongoing threats to coastal marine ecosystems and the public health of local residents. Taking an integrated approach of grassroots mobilisation, educational empowerment and on-the-ground recycling, Sylvester engages youth groups, women's associations and community leaders in collective environmental action. The initiative has organised more than 100 community clean-up drives, mobilised thousands of volunteers, and collected, safely disposed of or recycled over 10,000 tonnes of plastic waste, substantially easing plastic pollution in densely populated zones and coastal areas.

Clean-up activities mark only the starting point; Sylvester places greater emphasis on awareness-building and capacity development. The programme delivers climate literacy and sustainable waste-management education via school outreach, specialised workshops and community forums. It has also set up recycling hubs, partnered with local enterprises to advance the shift toward sustainable packaging, and run environmental entrepreneurship training for women. To date, the initiative has reached more than 2.5 million people. It has trained over 500,000 young people and one million women in sustainable waste management, recycling technologies and climate leadership. A strategic partnership has also been established with Sierra Leone's Ministry of Youth Affairs to unite government and community efforts.

Sylvester Philip Mohamed Weeks remarked: "It is an honour to be invited to the World Youth Development Forum 2026. We remain committed to transforming waste into opportunity, advancing sustainable development, and building strategic partnerships that accelerate impact for future generations."