While Sierra Leone has made impressive progress since the end of its civil war, the international community still needs to help the country's transition efforts, according to the Chairman of the Sierra Leone Configuration of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, Guillermo Rishchynski.
More than 50,000 people were killed in a civil war that raged for more than a decade in the West African nation.
Rishchynski, who spoke at a UN Security Council meeting on Sierra Leone Thursday, said while gains were impressive, it was premature to declare victory.
'Now is not the time for the international community to turn away from Sierra Leone,' he said, stressing the need to the need to sustain the support to the government so the country can achieve stability and ensure growth and development.
Sierra Leone had last November held mayoral, local council, parliamentary and presidential elections, the second since peacekeepers from the UN Mission in Sierra Leone left the country in 2005.
Incumbent President Ernest Bai Koroma was re-elected in a contest seen as fair by members of the international community.
Pana 15/03/2013