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Secretary General of UN visits Sierra Leone

06 March 2014 03:30 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon has told the media in Sierra Leone that Sierra Leone represents one of the worlds most successful cases of "post conflict recovery, peacekeeping and peacebuilding., APA reports quoting Xinhua"

He said the international community has stayed the course through the challenging process of keeping, consolidating and building peace. He urged other countries now turn by war to draw hope from Sierra Leone's inspiring example of the power of international solidarity and national resolve to overcome even the most brutal conflicts.

The Secretary General maintained that the transition from the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL), a political mission to a more development focused UN presence testifies to the determination of the Sierra Leonean people to put the war behind them.

He described his meeting with President Koroma as "constructive" noting that the cooperation between the UN and Sierra Leone will continue.

Responding to a question on the Ukraine, Ban Ki-moon informed the media that he has been engaged with world leaders including Russian President Putin and German leader Agella Merlkel on the seriousness of the Ukraine problem, noting that the problem in Ukraine has global implications and urged both countries to sit together and engage in what described constructive and direct dialogue to resolve this issue.

In welcoming the Secretary General, President Koroma described the visit as "historic" as all Sierra Leoneans will feel proud of the transition taking place.

He said it has been a successful story for both the country and the UN. for their support..

He said the country had collapsed including the infrastructure but with the help of the UN the country has been able the country witnessed the end of the war introduced good governance conducted successful elections and can now boast of sending peace keeping troops to Darfur, South Sudan to name a few.

He stressed that "we do not only moved from war to peace but have peace keeping in foreign countries. This is pay-back time". He however spoke of the challenges, including youth unemployment, women's issues noting that he welcomes the new engagement with the UN that will be focused on "good governance".

The secretary-general has a very busy schedule during his two day visit, from state hose the Secretary General had a meeting with the ten political parties and later attend the formal closing of UNIPSIL at Bintumani Hotel.