UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan(photo) met on Monday with United Nations officials and peacekeepers in Sierra Leone as well as with the president of the small West African country that the world body helped to nurse back to peace and stability after a disastrous and brutal civil war.
On the second stage of an African and European trip, Mr. Annan visited Solar Camp, which houses the more than 200 Mongolian soldiers who protect the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, where those charged with crimes against humanity are being tried for their roles in the 10-year conflict in which thousands were killed and many others mutilated with amputations of limbs.
He thanked them for their dedicated, exemplary service so far from their home, adding that they could be the vanguard of increased Mongolian participation in UN peacekeeping.
The Secretary-General assured President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah that while the peacekeeping mission had closed, the UN remained dedicated to working in Sierra Leone and stands ready to assist in elections.
Speaking to reporters after meeting the president, Mr. Annan praised progress in Sierra Leone. “There have been some remarkable achievements: the security situation has remained stable; commercial activity has expanded; the economy is growing, albeit from a low base; there has been progress in fostering national reconciliation; the country now has a professional police force; the restructuring of the army continues; you are preparing to go to national elections next year.
At the same time, he noted that Sierra Leone is beset by a number of difficulties, including “limited employment opportunities, especially for the youth; lack of capacity in many State institutions; extreme poverty and the fragile security situation in the sub-region.” The UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone was created to support the Government in consolidating the gains already made and in addressing remaining challenges, he added.
He then went to see the Special Court, where he was briefed by senior officials on its work and its completion strategy.
The Special Court will have jurisdiction over the case against former Liberian President Charles Taylor at The Hague. Speaking to reporters, Mr. Annan said that trial would be a signal event. “Mr. Taylor’s trial should send the strong message around the continent, and around the world, that warlords in other parts of Africa, and the world, can not assume that they will get away with their crimes, and that impunity will not be allowed to stand.”
Mr. Annan, who arrived in Sierra Leone from the Gambian capital of Banjul where he attended an African Union summit, was leaving for Liberia. After that, he will head on to Côte d’Ivoire, where he expects on Wednesday to continue discussions on resolving the crisis that has divided the country between a Government-held south and a rebel-held north.
Source: UN news
Photo: Kofi Annan, arriving at the SC compound in Freetown. On his right is Gelega-King, the Chief Prosecutor and on his left the registrar Lovemore Munlo.
Photo credit: UN.
Kofi Annan’s press conference in Freetown:
Press Conference by the Secretary-General
Freetown, 3 July 2006
SG: I am delighted to be in Sierra Leone to witness at first hand the progress your country continues to make in consolidating peace after the departure of UNAMSIL (UN Mission in Sierra Leone).
There have been some remarkable achievements: the security situation has remained stable; commercial activity has expanded; the economy is growing, albeit from a low base; there has been progress in fostering national reconciliation; the country now has a professional police force; the restructuring of the army continues; you are preparing to go to national elections next year.
I had fruitful discussions with President (Ahmad Tejan) Kabbah, and his cabinet, today. We reviewed recent progress the Government has made in key areas. I congratulated him on his leadership, which has brought peace and stability to the country — in cooperation with the international community, particularly the United Nations.
But many challenges remain: limited employment opportunities, especially for the youth; lack of capacity in many State institutions; extreme poverty and the fragile security situation in the sub-region.
The United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone was created precisely to sup port the Government in consolidating the gains already made and in addressing remaining challenges.
The work of the Integrated Office is a pioneering endeavour, which is already drawing attention from around the world. I understand a delegation from Burundi was visiting recently to see what is going on here.
I am also pleased that Sierra Leone, along with Burundi, became the first to ask to be referred to the UN?s new Peacebuilding Commission, which is an intergovernmental body set up to assist countries coming out of conflict to consolidate peace and stabilize the country. It is also a commitment from the international community that peacebuilding, or nation-building, is a long-term commitment and not a short-term one.
As you know, the United Nations is helping to provide security and protection for the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and we also assisted in bringing Mr. Charles Taylor to the Court.
I was able to visit the Court today and meet with the Prosecutor, the Judges and the Registrar. We had [a] very fruitful discussion and for me it was very moving because I was part of the early discussion when it was an idea on paper. So to visit it, functioning, as I did today was rewarding.
Mr. Taylor’s trial should send the strong message around the continent, and around the world, that warlords in other parts of Africa, and the world, can not assume that they will get away with their crimes, and that impunity will not be allowed to stand.
I will now take your questions.
Q: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary-General, for making this trip to Freetown. May I ask this question about the election just around the corner? There is a good number of Sierra Leoneans who believe that the proper conduct of this election will further enhance the peace process of this country and therefore will see them as a challenge. To what extent will the United Nations continue to help to ensure that we have properly conducted elections?
SG: Let me assure you that the United Nations is ready to assist, and we have an electoral expert group coming in to assess the situation and to discuss with the Government. And so we are prepared to assist the Government and people of Sierra Leone. But in the final analysis, the responsibility should be that of the Government and people of Sierra Leone to ensure that the elections go well and I think, if it does go well, it will be a feather in the cap and also a consolidation of the hard work we?ve all done together. Let me reaffirm that we, at the United Nations, are prepared to work with you in ensuring that free and fair elections are organized and we have a team coming in and I think the Government is prepared to work with us.
Q: Mr. Annan, I want to know how you describe your visit and your feeling personally about Sierra Leone and its successful achievement for the peace you spoke about, fragile in the West African region, now you have also mentioned that you are interested that elections should be held in [the] Ivory Coast as soon as possible and you indicated a period of time, within this year. Can you explicitly explain what is this fragile, the fragility with the sub- region?
SG: Fragility within the sub-region is pretty obvious to all of us. We have seen what we have gone through in Liberia, we have a conflict situation in Sierra Leone, and a situation which is not clarified in Guinea, and you have just come out of your own situation and you are building on a the peace and stability that we have all worked to achieve. And I cannot say that this is a sub-region that is at peace and stable and, I?m sure you will all agree with me, we have lots of work to do to stabilize the sub-region. Ideally, I would want to see a region that is stable and at peace, where the countries are able to work together and pool their efforts to move the sub-region forward. It is possible but we first need to get rid of the tension and the conflicts that exist in the sub-region.
On the question of what has been achieved here, I think when we look back — four, five, six years ago — I think some of us can remember how desperate and difficult the situation was. I think we have achieved quite a bit, the situation is relatively stable now. We have many challenges ahead of us, but we are in much better situation today than it was two years or so ago. What is important is that we build on what has been achieved and that we do not rest on our laurels. There are many, many challenges: we have recovery work to do, reconstruction, institution-building, and there are lots of things to do. I hope that elections next year will go well and help consolidate peace.
As far as the Ivory Coast situation is concerned, the parties themselves agreed on a roadmap and that roadmap requires to take place by the end of October this year. I like to see politicians who enter in[to] commitments and honor them. There are certain practical steps which need to be taken. Before the election can take place, we need to go through disarmament identification, particular identification before election should take place and that requires the cooperation of all the political parties and the Ivorians. And I am urging them to press ahead and to undertake this task so that we can organize the elections on time, and the Ivorian people can say on who governs them and select them freely without intimidation. I will be going to Ivory Coast on the 5 th of the month and I will meet with all the political leaders and some of the West African leaders, and President [Thabo] Mbeki [of South Africa] will join me at that meeting to appeal to them and press them to honor the commitment they have entered into, so that we organize the election and move forward.
Q: Mr. Annan, hopefully you are retiring this year and, as African, are you really satisfied with the contributions that the United Nations has made toward the solution of African problems, especially when we talk about wars, poverty, hunger and disease?
SG: Not hopefully. I am retiring next year. You have raised some of the biggest problems facing the continent. Let me say that the UN is trying, at least trying, to do something about it, whether its in the area of conflicts — we have our largest peace keeping operations on this continent, from Sudan to the Democratic Republic of Congo to Liberia, Sierra Leone and we just left Burundi and we have about 85,000 troups deployed around the world, vast majority of them on this continent, so in addition to that we have been working very quietly behind the scene with many leaders to resolve conflicts and prevent conflicts before they explode. Only about two weeks ago, we negotiated a conflict between Nigeria and Cameroon about the Bakassi Peninsula which is a decades old conflict over which wars have been fought several times. But they have now signed an agreement. They went to the International Court of Justice; we worked with them to implement their agreement and, of the four areas, three have been settled, and we settled Bakassi, which is over [a] thousand kilometers border. But they have done it peacefully which is quite an achievement. There are other issues that we are working on behind the scene. Preventive and diplomatic work is not done in front of cameras and is not in the press, which often one does not hear about. So we are doing quite a lot in the peace and security area. If you turn to areas of economic and social development, I think the UN?s Millennium Development Goals have galvanized government and people around the world and particularly on this continent to focus on development issues in an attempt to provide basic services to the people. We are helping fight HIV/AIDS epidemic, which is really wrecking havoc on this continent. It is not only taking away the present but it?s taking away the future. It?s killing teachers, doctors, policemen, soldiers, civil servants, and it was the UN that pressed and I, personally, pioneered the idea of the global fund to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, which today has raised about $5.8 billion which is being used to help countries, most of them on this continent. We may not have been able to solve all the problems on issues of institutions-building. UN agencies are working on governments to strengthen their institutions. We are encouraging governments to work and support development of civil society organizations. We also made it clear that the challenges we face cannot be handled by government alone. We need to work in partnerships — governments, international organizations, private sector and individuals. We have to really do that. So, I think we may not have solved all the problems, but I believe the UN has made a contribution to this continent.
Q: I am wondering whether to congratulate you or commiserate on the performance of the black stars.
SG: I think my boys did well. Someone has to win. It was not their day, but they will redeem themselves tomorrow and, by tomorrow, I mean South Africa 2010.
Q: I want to know what the UN can do promoting sports in the world, which has proven to be a very important hidden device and, furthermore, I would like to know if you did discuss the Yenga issue in Sierra Leone
SG: Let me start with the last question. We did not discuss it. We are aware of the problem on our side and we are monitoring very closely.
On your first question, sports, we are actively engaged. I have a Special Envoy on peace, development and sports who is constantly coming up with ways of harnessing sports for development and for peace bringing youth from warring factions to play soccer games or some other game working, with FIFA Fédération Internationale de Football Association and the Olympic Committee to promote the Millennium Development Goals, put out signals, and encourage young peoples to become active in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We have been working quite directly in partnerships with FIFA and Olympic Committee and, I believe, that sports — when used properly — will thus help young people, boys and girls, about life; it teaches them about rules and how to accept rules and also to break down bridges and walls. I don?t know if some of you saw the op-ed piece I wrote on the World Cup saying that, basically, it’s incredible that a ball can bring the whole world together. Billions of people focused on football and yet we cannot get them to focus on HIV/AIDS, cannot get them to focus on world peace, we cannot get them to focus on environmental degradation and the need to stop global warming. I hope some of you young people in this room will think it through and see how we can capture that magic and use it in our fight against some of the challenges that we face.
Q: Mr. Annan, you leave office next year. Are you going to stand for the presidency in Ghana or maybe you are going to take a teaching job in Macalister and, secondly, you do not know your successor but, before you leave, are you going to extract a commitment from him that he will focus on the African continent just as you did?
SG: Let me say that after ten years in this job and five years prior to that working on peace keeping operations, I think I?ve earned a bit of rest and don?t push me to go and take on an arduous responsibility. I think I will be seeking a balance between action and reflection and, I believe, I deserve that. I will do quite a few things. I will also pay attention to some of Africa?s problems as a private citizen, of course, and do whatever I can and also have other interests that I would like to pursue. And I believe my wife and I, to begin with, will need a very long period of rest and that we intend to take.
On the question of what my successor does, I don?t know who he or she is going to be, but we have built a solid UN programme in Africa, and I think it is going to be very difficult for anyone to set that aside and ignore problems of Africa, and the international community is very focused on Africa and, obviously, my successor is going to do it his or her own way as I did it my own. I don?t believe whoever it is can ignore the African problems. The UN is too engaged for that to happen.
Q: Sir, we?ve asked the listeners of UNAMSIL radio to send in questions to you and we have chosen one. Mr. Annan, UNAMSIL troops were withdrawn here because of the confidence in the national security. If so, why take Charles Taylor to the Hague?
SG: It’s a good question. We wanted Taylor to be tried in an environment which is free from the sort of tensions and conflicts we see in this region. I referred, just about fifteen minutes ago, to a fragile security situation in the region. When we look at security in that particular context, I think we should focus only on what is happening in Freetown and what could happen in Freetown. Taylor was based in Liberia, Taylor was active in the sub-region and, there was a judgment that it is best to try him in a place away from the sub-region. The trial will be open, it will be public, and everybody will know what is going on. Taylor will be able to defend himself and will get the best lawyers that he can afford, and the people of Sierra Leone and Liberia and of the West African region will be fully aware of how the trial proceeds. I think if the price one has to pay was to ensure that we don?t have additional tension in the region while he sits in jail and the trial goes on, I think it is worth it. So you avoid additional tension but you ensure that justice is done.
SG: Let me say that, generally, I would want to help Zimbabwe. I would want to work with them to improve their situation with the rest of the world. But when I met the President, President Mugabe and he indicated that President, former President Ben Mkapa [cell phone interruption] Let me start again. Basically, what I was saying when he [Mugabe] advised me that President Mkapa had been appointed as mediator, I know President Mkapa well — he is a very experienced man. He is one of the great African statesmen. He also has good contacts with the world outside and, if indeed he had accepted to do it, I did inform President Mugabe that I will support Mkapa?s efforts and do whatever I can to help. But, obviously, you do not need two mediators. If there is a mediator you don’t need another one. And particularly, if the party concerned is satisfied with that mediator, all that I can do is to offer full support. I know Mkapa and I respect him and we will support his efforts.
Q: With the support the UN has been given, are you satisfied with the progress Sierra Leone has made since political parties, some political parties, have been accused of using donor funds for political campaigning?
SG: I think you?ve come quite far and we all know the situation a few years ago. There are lots of changes that we would want to see. There are lots of improvements that we would want to see but this cannot be done overnight. I think that we need to recognize the achievements that have been made and understand, as I said earlier, nation building, strengthening institutions and building on the stability of the peace, as tenuous as it is, does take time. It is not something that you can do overnight and in one or two short years. I don?t have any facts about the issue of corruption. I don?t know which donor countries you are referring to, so I don?t want to get into details. But let me say that we have been in many situations, many peace building situations, from Bosnia-Herzegovina to Mozambique to Burundi and others. It does take time to help a country coming out of conflict, a country in distress, to really stand up, stabilize, strengthen institutions and move forward, and I think you are making progress and I would urge that the effort continues. And the UN will be there to work with you as you move forward. But I think, as Sierra Leoneans, you should be proud of what you have achieved. You went through a very traumatic period. Obviously, I don?t live here but having come in, I see the difference. I see the difference from what it was like a few years ago and have courage, have faith, have strength, but I would also want the young people of Sierra Leone to become engaged, to become involved. You have a role to play. You are the leaders of tomorrow. Don?t sit back and expect the government to do everything. You have a role to play as citizens, as individuals, you have power, too. You have power with the choices you make, the purchases you make, what you buy and what you refuse to buy with your choices at the polling booth on elections day and in your own community. Begin in your own community and do whatever you can in your own community to assist. And if each and every one of us did our little bit, I think, collectively, we can make a major contribution and assist this country.
Thank you.
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