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.”