Sierra Leone, 2013

I bring you sincere

greetings and very best wishes from His Excellency

Mr. Ernest Bai Koroma, President of the Republic of

Sierra Leone. President Koroma regrets that he is unable

to participate in the general debate of the General

Assembly at its sixty-eighth session due to unavoidable

circumstances. He has, however, instructed me, as

his Minister for Foreign Affairs and International

Cooperation, to deliver to the Assembly this message

of goodwill:

“I congratulate Ambassador Ashe most

warmly on his election to direct the affairs of the

Assembly during this session and assure him of

my country’s support and cooperation during his

tenure. Let me avail myself of this opportunity to

also express the appreciation of my delegation to

his predecessor, Mr. Vuk Jeremi. of Serbia, for his

able leadership in directing the work of the General

Assembly during the past session. I wish him well

in his future endeavours. Let me also express

sincere appreciation to the Secretary-General,

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his constructive and fruitful

leadership of the Organization. Sierra Leone will

continue to support the progressive implementation

of his five-year Global Action Agenda.

“Over the past two decades, global peace,

security and the economic environment have

evidently been radically transformed, to the point

where neither the problems nor their solutions are

simple. The international security situation has

become more complex. Regional hotspot issues keep

flaring up, and turbulence continues in many parts

of the world, in particular Asia and Africa. Human

trafficking, in addition to other non-traditional

security issues such as climate change, nuclear

safety, energy, food and maritime security and

financing for development are becoming more

significant.

“The use of chemical weapons in conflict poses

a renewed global security threat. There is therefore

a need for increased multilateral and collective

engagement and responses to those complex

challenges.

“As we all are aware, the target date for

achieving the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs) is only two years away. While we

take stock of what have been achieved and the

challenges that continue to confront us, we should,

in keeping with the principles set out in the United

Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

outcome document, entitled ‘The future we want’

(resolution 66/288, annex), embark upon designing

a post-2015 development goals agenda in which the

specific needs and challenges of every Member

States are recognized. There is no doubt that failure

to capture those specific needs and commitments

would compromise the credibility of such an

agenda.

“We also note that important progress has been

made in many areas, such as reducing poverty

globally, improving access to primary education for

all children, reducing child and maternal mortality,

increasing access to HIV treatment and reducing

slum populations, to name a few. However, this

has not been uniform, as inequalities among many

populations are on the rise, particularly in southern

Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where food insecurity

and malnutrition are still prevalent. While access to

health and education may be expanding for us, the

quality of those services in many regions remains a

serious challenge.

“That is why the theme of this session, ‘The

post-2015 development agenda: setting the stage’,

is timely and appropriate. We are moving into

the phase of mapping out another development

framework that is expected to formulate universal

goals and responsibilities encompassing the

economic, social and environmental spheres. The

post-2015 development agenda should have at its

core the urgent need to address the causes and

consequences of conflict, violence and disasters.

These are universal issues of great concern to

the global community. Resolving and preventing

conflict and violence, creating jobs, providing

further incentives for foreign direct investment,

broadening human and financial resources,

ensuring gender equality and promoting human

rights and the rule of law are not only fundamental

to human progress; they are integral to sustainable

development.

“Sierra Leone welcomes the adoption of

the Arms Trade Treaty earlier this year. This

is a significant and historic achievement in our

collective efforts in pursuit of a safer and more

secure world. We therefore hope that the illegal

transfer of conventional weapons to the wrong

hands — a major source of the escalation of

conflicts in the developing world, particularly

in Africa — can now be largely regulated and

minimized.

“In that regard, we remain committed to

supporting international instruments aimed at

establishing peace and security in the world and an

economic order that is beneficial to the rich and the

poor, the weak and the strong, as well as to nations

big and small.

“In recent years, and despite being under post-

conflict rebuilding, Sierra Leone’s contribution

to the United Nations peacekeeping efforts

demonstrates our strong commitment to the

purpose and principles of global peace and stability.

We stand ready to increase our profile in the

peacekeeping landscape so as to ensure the success

of peacekeeping operations. To that end, we will

continue to actively engage in all new initiatives

for reform of the United Nations peacekeeping

operations.

“We applaud and acknowledge the human

resources and financial support that the United

Nations family and other development partners

continue to provide, especially towards the

successful conduct of our 17 November 2012

presidential, parliamentary and local government

elections, all of which were held in one day, for

the very first time. Those elections were widely

considered to be a critical benchmark for us,

signalling our preparedness to move into a more

developmental phase of peacebuilding. It should

come as little or no surprise that they were widely

acclaimed to be peaceful, free, fair and transparent

by the international community. Their successful

conduct clearly demonstrates the level that Sierra

Leone’s democratic process has attained, an

experience we are willing to share with other

countries in our subregion and beyond.

“Today, Sierra Leone is on the threshold

of transformation in its engagement with the

Peacebuilding Commission as well as in its

socioeconomic development. With support from the

Commission and the Peacebuilding Support Office

as well as other international and local development

partners, Sierra Leone continues to make

significant gains in the areas of good governance,

human rights, gender equality and the fight against

corruption and transnational organized crime. A

number of international treaties have been ratified

and national legislations enacted to address these

challenges, which have the potential to undermine

ongoing peacebuilding and peace-consolidation

efforts.

“Sierra Leone’s vision for transformative and

inclusive socioeconomic development was initially

encapsulated in my Government’s poverty-

reduction strategy, articulated in the ‘Agenda for

Change’ that we rolled out in my first term of

office. These have been encouraging achievements

and with residual challenges as well. In my current,

second term, we are poised to build on those

successes with renewed determination.

“With a sustained commitment to provide

improved standards of living for our people and

to raise the country to middle-income status, we

have rolled those residual challenges over to our

successor development programme, the ‘Agenda

for Prosperity’, which I launched in July this year.

This is Sierra Leone’s road map to our post-2015

development agenda. It aims to build a sustainable

future for all Sierra Leoneans, requiring sound

macroeconomic management and fiscal policies for

a society with strong institutions to facilitate good

governance, the social, economic and political

empowerment of women and young people, the

required social support for the disadvantaged,

increased transparency and accountability, and

justice for all.

“In taking up this huge challenge, Sierra Leone

will continue to welcome the strong partnership that

exists with the various United Nations agencies and

other international development partners for the

achievement of a well-planned, seamless transition

to a more developmental phase of peacebuilding

and for scaling up support to Sierra Leone’s

political and economic priorities, as outlined in

our ‘Agenda for Prosperity’. Sierra Leone, a nation

with good credentials as a post-conflict country, is

a deserving candidate for continued international

support.

“Sierra Leone continues to uphold its national

heritage of interreligious tolerance and peaceful

coexistence, as well as the principle of respect for

human rights and fundamental freedoms. In that

regard, we remain focused on, and committed to,

our reporting obligations to international treaty

bodies.

“In line with the relevant provisions of the

Disability Act 2011, we have established a National

Commission for Persons with Disability. The current

and first Chairman and Chief Commissioner is a

person with impaired vision. We have also enacted

the Sexual Offences Act 2012 to address the specific

issue of sexual violence against women and girls.

Sierra Leone will continue to collaborate with the

United Nations and other interested partners in

promoting the enactment of the Gender Equality

Bill so as to enhance women’s participation in the

decision-making process.

“We commend the support of the United

Nations and international partners for the work

of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, whereby

it has made meaningful contributions to the

advancement of the rule of law at both the national

and international levels. With our continued

support, the Special Court is expected to complete

its mandate by the end of this year.

“We are pleased to note that the Optional

Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic,

Social and Cultural Rights entered into force in May

2013. Sierra Leone pledges its continued support

to the work of the Human Rights Council and the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner

for Human Rights as we strive together to maintain

universally accepted standards of human rights and

democratic governance.

“It is in that context that we have also

embarked upon a constitutional review process to

address major socioeconomic and political issues.

A constitutional review committee has been

established with a broad spectrum of membership,

drawn from all political parties, civil society,

women, youth, disabled persons and even the

diaspora. The process will be inclusive and guided

by a critical analysis in a broad national debate, with

the aim of strengthening democratic institutions and

promoting national unity. We expect the committee

to submit a draft review within two years.

“As the coordinator of the African Union

committee of 10 Heads of State on Security Council

reforms, let me once again emphasize the need for

urgent reform of the Council. The role of the United

Nations should be strengthened, not weakened. The

need for equitable geographical representation, with

all the privileges of membership in the Security

Council, cannot be overemphasized. Africa will

therefore continue to work closely with the relevant

stakeholders and Member States, particularly other

non-permanent members of the Council, for an

early and decisive reform of that organ.

“Let me therefore reiterate that Africa’s

participation in the ongoing intergovernmental

negotiations is firmly rooted in our steadfast

commitment to the African common position

articulated in the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte

Declaration on the reform of the United Nations.

“The Millennium Development Goals remain

a very lofty agenda in the history of our collective

efforts for global socioeconomic development,

although their full achievement has been thwarted

by a multitude of factors. The year 2015 is a

critical one for the United Nations as it marks the

Organization’s seventieth anniversary. It is also the

target date for the MDGs and the tenth year since

the World Summit was held in 2005.

“We are expected to agree on a post-2015

development framework. It is imperative that

we follow a pragmatic approach with renewed

vigour and commitment to providing our people

with a future that guarantees justice, peace and

security, accountable and democratic governance,

a transparent and equitable distribution of wealth,

a safe and sustainable environment and health and

education for all. Those are all essential elements

in setting the stage for the implementation of the

post-2015 development agenda.

“Let me join the family of the United Nations

in expressing our condolences and solidarity with

the people of Kenya, Pakistan and Nigeria for

the irreparable loss of valuable lives during the

recent terrorist attacks. Our thoughts and prayers

are strongly and firmly with the families of the

deceased.”