Sierra Leone Permanent Representative to the United Nations, His Excellency Alie Kabba, has called on the UN Peace Building Commission (PBC) to accompany Sierra Leone in setting up a Commission on Peace and National Cohesion and support other priority areas of government, including human capital development, economic diversification, institutional resilience and governance, as well as COVID-19 Response and Recovery efforts.
His Excellency Alie Kabba made the appeal during the Peace building Commission meeting on Wednesday, 3rd February, 2021 at the UN General Assembly in New York.
He noted that, as a country that has been a beneficiary of the advocacy and convening power of the PBC and funding from the Peace building Fund, the government of Sierra Leone is particularly pleased with the progress made by the Commission in supporting countries in conflict and those in transition, adding that it is significant to acknowledge the work of the Commission on promoting gender issues, prioritizing financing for peace building activities, and building partnerships for peace building and sustaining peace across the world.
“We welcome and commend the PBC for convening the PBF Replenishment Conference. Sierra Leone is extremely proud that His Excellency Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Co-Chaired this particularly important Conference, which, we believe, is a significant step on the much longer path towards ensuring more sustained and predictable financing for peace building activities and efforts going forward,” Dr. Kabba said, adding that it is important for the PBC to utilize its convening role in facilitating a regional approach to peace building and strengthening private sector engagement to see where they can invest in some of those countries for effective management of their extractive industries and other key sectors.
It could be recalled that in 2019, Sierra Leone held a three-day national forum on peace and national cohesion, dubbed Bintumani 3, which was aimed at establishing a Peace Commission in the country.
Addressing participants at the event, President Julius Maada Bio stressed on the need for the whole Sierra Leonean population to build solid institutions that will enable the consolidation of democratic practices and enhance national cohesion.