Sierra Leone, 2012

It is a distinct honour

for me to convey the sincere regrets of my President,

Mr. Ernest Bai Koroma, who, on account of unavoidable

circumstances, was unable to address the Assembly at

its sixty-seventh session.

I wish to join previous speakers in congratulating

the President on his election to direct the affairs of this

session and to assure him of my delegation’s fullest

support and cooperation throughout his tenure. Allow

me to commend his predecessor, Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz

Al-Nasser, and to thank him for the skilful manner in

which he efficiently conducted the affairs of the last

session. My profound appreciation also goes to the

Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his tireless

efforts in advancing the United Nations agenda to make

the world a peaceful and safer place for humankind.

The President’s choice of the theme “Bringing about

adjustment or settlement of international disputes or

situations by peaceful means” is a timely wake-up call

for the United Nations to fully embrace the fundamental

principle upon which our Organization was established.

Indeed, only with such adjustments and the practical manifestation of our collective commitment to peaceful

coexistence can we, as a global family, successfully

tackle the myriad of prevailing global challenges.

They include poverty, hunger, the gross and systematic

violation of human rights, extremist fundamentalism,

terrorism and transnational organized crime, as well as

the reconstruction and strengthening of fragile States

and economies emerging from conflict. In that context,

we should remind ourselves that, a little over a year ago,

the Assembly adopted the landmark resolution 66/291

on mediation that recognizes its growing usefulness

as a means of preventing disputes from escalating into

conflicts and as a cost-effective tool in the peaceful

settlement of disputes and the prevention of conflicts.

Amid such security challenges and global economic

uncertainties, the African continent continues to

strive hard to contain and to address the resurgence

of conflicts in the region by peaceful means. At

the regional and subregional levels, the year under

review has been marred by sporadic terrorist strikes

by extremists, leading to the extensive loss of life and

massive destruction of property, including coveted

world heritage sites, and the recent killing of the United

States Ambassador and three other Americans in

Libya. Sierra Leone strongly condemns such brutal and

cowardly acts and will continue to work closely with

all partners, particularly within the framework of the

Mano River Union, the Economic Community of West

African States, the African Union (AU) and the United

Nations, in seeking a lasting solution to that scourge.

Until recently, the use of preventive diplomacy in

the maintenance of international peace and security

was not used to its fullest potential by the United

Nations system. Rather, it was used more as a tool in

crisis management. I am, however, heartened by the

present impetus and would like to take this opportunity

to commend the role of the Secretary-General, his

Special Representatives and the crisis-management

operations and missions around the world, as well as

the increasing role of the AU, subregional organizations

and international contact groups, in tackling crisis

situations that have emerged globally in recent times.

Sierra Leone will continue to wholeheartedly

embrace mediation and other conflict-prevention

initiatives as a key and indispensable tool in settling

disputes and in preventing and resolving conflicts. The

lessons learned from our experience have enhanced our

conviction in the core principles of democracy, human

rights and good governance as prerequisites for political stability, sustainable peace, security and development.

We therefore remain strongly committed to the rule of

law, respect for and the protection of human rights, gender

equality, the empowerment of women, equal access to

justice, fighting corruption with zero tolerance and

pursuing the internationally agreed development goals,

including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

To that end, we are committed to ensuring participatory

governance, conducting free, fair, transparent and

credible elections, and combating transnational

organized crime in all its forms.

Sierra Leone therefore views with disappointment

the fact that the United Nations Conference on the Arms

Trade Treaty ended without a negotiated consensus

on the treaty’s adoption. The Sierra Leone delegation

believes that we must all earnestly endeavour to

adopt a well-considered and balanced treaty with

adequate provisions to effectively regulate the transfer

of conventional weapons. If we continue to delay

in that respect, we face the risk of their continuous

use in committing grave violations of national and

international law, which has the potential to destabilize

peace and security. We therefore urge Member States

to consider our moral obligation to humankind as

our key guiding principle and to sincerely commit to

contributing to the establishment of mechanisms to

prevent the diversion of such weapons into the illicit

market.

In three years, we will reach the target date of 2015

for the implementation of the Millennium Development

Goals. For many Member States, particularly those

of the global South, the voyage has been rough and,

at times, turbulent. Worse still, the effects of the

food, fuel and financial crises that struck the global

community in 2008, as well as the impact of climate

change, conflicts and deadly pandemics, have further

exacerbated the situation and compromised the

determination and efforts of developing countries,

especially least developed countries (LDCs), to attain

the internationally agreed development goals, including

the MDGs.

We commend Brazil on successfully hosting

the United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development (Rio+20). We also applaud our solidarity

and flexibility during the negotiation process,

enabling the incorporation of LDCs and conflict-

affected countries in the Rio+20 outcome document

(resolution 66/288, annex). We look forward to a similar

spirit of solidarity in defining sustainable development goals that take on board the concerns of the most

vulnerable members of the community of nations.

Despite the onerous challenges facing the global

community, Sierra Leone has recorded significant

progress in strengthening its political and economic

governance, including the improvement of its social

indicators. We have made substantial progress in

implementing the President’s Agenda for Change

(2008-2012), which covers the priorities of our national

development aspirations, as well as key peacebuilding

priorities, in tandem with the United Nations Joint

Vision for Sierra Leone.

The ongoing foreign direct investment in various

sectors of the economy, notably the mining sector, is

brightening the prospects for the economy. Hopefully,

it will place Sierra Leone among the fastest growing

economies in the world in the next few years.

The Agenda for Change continues to provide a

strong partnership link between Sierra Leone and

the United Nations, as well as other international

development partners. To date, its implementation has

had a great impact on peacebuilding and on laying

the foundations for sustainable development and the

consolidation of peace.

Sierra Leone today is considered a showpiece of

best practices in donor coordination and a success story

in peacebuilding. In that regard, we reiterate our call to

the international community to continue to invest in our

success in the spirit of the New Deal for Engagement

in Fragile States, which was agreed in Busan, and

the need for special attention to be paid to countries

emerging from conflict. The successor development

framework to our Agenda for Change, entitled Agenda

for Prosperity, is anchored on the New Deal and is well

under way.

In its short existence to date, the peacebuilding

architecture has proven its worth as envisaged by the

leaders at the 2005 World Summit, whose goal was

to help countries emerging from conflict make an

irreversible transition from war to sustainable peace.

As one of the first countries on the Peacebuilding

Commission’s agenda, Sierra Leone has charted a

path that can serve as a learning model for others. In

that regard, we strongly believe that strengthening

peacebuilding will help to better safeguard countries

from relapsing into conflict and sustain peace beyond

the life of peacekeeping missions. It will also help

ensure that the enormous investments that Member States make in peacekeeping operations will achieve

their intended result.

Sierra Leone continues to uphold the principles

of interreligious tolerance, peaceful coexistence and

respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. At

the national level, we have enhanced political stability

by strengthening good governance institutions, giving

them sufficient leverage and latitude to deliver on their

respective statutory mandates. That arrangement has

earned the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone

an “A status” accreditation from the International

Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights

Institutions. In that regard, we remain focused on our

obligations to report to international treaty bodies and

have therefore submitted our initial report with regard

to the International Covenant on Civil and Political

Rights, while work is well under way on our reports

in compliance with the Convention against Torture

and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or

Punishment and the African Charter on Human and

Peoples’ Rights.

Along those lines, we recently established a national

commission for disabled persons, consistent with the

relevant provisions of the 2011 Disability Act, enacted

the 2012 Sexual Offences Act to address the specific

issue of sexual violence against women and girls, and

passed into law the 2012 bill on arms and ammunition

to regulate gun ownership so as to ensure compliance

with the Economic Community of West African States

Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons. A

gender-equality bill is also in process for enactment.

I commend the support of the United Nations and

the international partners for the work of the Special

Court for Sierra Leone, which has made a number

of critical contributions to the advancement of the

rule of law at both the national and the international

levels. In particular, we compliment the Special Court

for bringing to trial perpetrators of crimes against

humanity and violations of international humanitarian

law committed in Sierra Leone during the course of

our 11-year conflict. Sierra Leone, the United Nations

and the international community can be proud of the

Special Court’s immense achievements. With our

continued support, the Special Court can complete its

remaining work.

President Ernest Bai Koroma, in his address to

the General Assembly at the opening of its sixty-sixth

session, underscored the imperative of peacefully settling disputes in Africa and the world at large

by emphasizing that the world is so interconnected

in trade, politics and the social spheres that a single

nation’s upheaval could affect many other countries

(see A/66/PV.20). It is against that background that

we, as a country, have continued to nurture closer

ties with our sister States in the Mano River basin in

order to deepen cooperation and collaboration and

address issues of common concern, ranging from

transnational organized crime to border disputes.

The recent decision by the Presidents of Sierra Leone

and her sister Republic of Guinea to demilitarize the

Yenga border area and establish a joint committee of

the two countries in order to ensure a final peaceful

resolution of the Yenga problem is consistent with our

commitment to the peaceful resolution of international

disputes. Indeed, our steadfast commitment to global

peace and security is evident in our participation in

United Nations peacekeeping missions in Lebanon,

Somalia, the Sudan, South Sudan and Timor-Leste.

The 2012 presidential, parliamentary and

local council elections scheduled to take place on

17 November are barely 46 days away. With the support

of our bilateral and multilateral partners, preparations

are in full swing for the conduct of the third round of

such elections within the decade following the end

of our civil conflict. The Government is fully aware

that the conduct and outcome of the elections will be a

critical benchmark for assessing the level of our gains

in the area of peace consolidation and democracy. The

Government, relevant stakeholders and our development

partners are therefore expressly determined to exert a

collective effort and use every available opportunity to

ensure that we put solid mechanisms in place for the

peaceful conduct and achievement of transparent and

credible democratic elections. It is in that regard that,

in May this year, all key stakeholders in the country

committed themselves to a credible and violence-free

process by signing the declaration on the 2012

Elections. We have thus consolidated the electoral laws

and established electoral offences courts to ensure the

legitimacy and credibility of the electoral process.

As Coordinator of the Committee of Ten Heads of

State of the African Union for the reform of the United

Nations Security Council, I am pleased to report to the

General Assembly that, at the last AU Summit held in

Addis Ababa, African heads of State reaffirmed their

strong commitment to the Ezulwini Consensus and

the Sirte Declaration containing the African common

position on the reform of the Security Council. To

that end, we are committed to building alliances

in support of the African common position with

various interest groups and Member States engaged

in the intergovernmental negotiations, with a view to

achieving reform of the Security Council as soon as

possible. In that pursuit, member States of the African

Union have been called upon to include the issue of

Security Council reform among the priorities in their

foreign policies.

In that respect, Africa continues to engage in the

intergovernmental negotiations with an open-door

policy aimed at correcting the historical injustice

suffered by Africa as the only continent not represented

in the permanent-member category of the Council and at

the same time underrepresented in the non-permanent

category. Since the Security Council remains at the

centre of global governance in the maintenance of

international peace and security, it is both imperative

and compelling that the international community

recognize the need described in the 2005 World

Summit Outcome to make the Council more broadly

representative, efficient and transparent in order

to enhance its effectiveness and the legitimacy and

implementation of its decisions, as well as the need to

democratize the Council’s decision-making process and

correct the lingering historical injustice inf licted upon

the continent. In that regard, we urge the wider United

Nations membership to work with Africa to urgently

address that injustice. Africa is not being unreasonable

in its demand, and we all know that procrastination on

the matter has led to a travesty of justice and fair play,

which undermines the dignity of our peoples.

We are determined at the national level to surmount

all impediments on our way to development and to

delivering fully on all the projects in our “Agenda for

Change”. We are confident that with sustained support

from our bilateral and multilateral partners, we shall

promote socioeconomic progress and provide a better

standard of living for our people in an atmosphere of

peace and security. What we cannot afford at this time

in our history is to fail in our duty and obligation to

provide peace, security and sustainable development

for our people.

At the global level, as we look at the work that

lies before the sixty-seventh session, let us not lose

sight of our shared obligation to ensure a peaceful

and secure world by resolving our differences through

constructive dialogue and thus strengthen the existing mediation mechanisms provided in the Charter and

institutionalized within the United Nations system.