Sierra Leone 2005

UNDP Resident Representative;
Ambassadors;
Distinguished guests;
Friends

Your recent history shows that a remarkable progress has taken place in this country, from the official end of disarmament and demobilization in January 2002, to a deliberate and carefully implemented process of stabilization and recovery today. The Government of Sierra Leone should rightly take credit for this development. So should the United Nations. The UN peace operation in Sierra Leone is undoubtedly one of the success stories of the organization.

My first impression of your country has been one of deep contrast. The natural beauty of your coastal landscape and the sharply rising hills framing the harbors, makes an idyllic setting. This stands in sharp contrast to the unfortunate reality of poverty. During the next days, I hope to understand how and why such natural resource endowment can coexist with deep poverty.

As a Goodwill Ambassador of UNDP I am indeed interested in this issue. In the early nineties, UNDP was in the forefront in revealing the connection between conflict and poverty. Sierra Leone illustrates what researchers have been pointing out for more than a decade: addressing poverty will contribute to conflict prevention. Sierra Leone should be one of the countries where we must apply our collective knowledge about conflict and development. Democratic governance and human rights issues must be at the centre of any conflict prevention strategy.

The international community has already made an important investment in peace-keeping, through the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL). The humanitarian effort and international investment in recovery have been generous.

We must also learn not to abandon the job of peace-building before it has successfully transitioned to long term development. Moreover, the sustainability of peace-building efforts seem to be somewhat hampered by a too narrow crises-oriented definition of the tasks at hand. I hope that during the next few days I will be able to see and hear from the people of Sierra Leone how the process of recovery from war has been achieved, and how you are addressing the challenge of poverty reduction.

Today I learned from your honourable Vice-President that your country has drafted a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, and that it represents a blueprint for consolidating the peace and advancing toward the Millennium Development Goals. This was particularly inspiring to me. When I accepted to become Goodwill Ambassador for United Nations Development Programme one year ago, it was because I wanted to support the new global vision represented by these goals.

It is a powerful shared idea whose time has come. The eight Millennium Development Goals include a promise to halve extreme poverty and hunger, slashing child and maternal mortality rates, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, ensuring that all boys and girls receive an education; and guaranteeing environmental sustainability for cleaner water and sanitation, all by 2015.

It is possible to reach the Millennium Development Goals, but it will require hard work and a campaign mentality to transform the political debate at local, national and global levels. Reaching the goals is our shared responsibilities. Rich countries must provide their support, and developing countries has a responsibility for good governance and sound management of available resources.

I was pleased to learn that your country’s strategy for fighting poverty focuses particularly on the challenges of good governance. I understand that one of the major building blocks of your strategy is decentralization and the creation of local government structures. I look forward to seeing the beginning of the process of decentralization during my travel up country.

It was also my pleasure to meet with the Mayor of Freetown this afternoon. I learned that in this post-war period you have a multi-party democracy. Your government and people are to be congratulated for enabling free, multi-party politics to be part of the post-conflict governance strategy. I am pleased to know that your country demonstrates tolerance and support for pluralism in the political leadership of your institutions.

Poverty alleviation and conflict prevention are inextricably linked. I am glad to learn that Sierra Leone has made remarkable progress toward post-conflict stabilization. I now look forward to hearing more about your short and long time strategies and to see more of your country.

Thank you for this opportunity to meet with you, and to kick off this visit.