New York, US - Michael von der Schulenburg, the UN Secretary-General’s Executive Representative for Sierra Leone, on Tuesday said that recent violent incidents between rival political groups in the country was a source of concern to its stability.

Schulenburg, however, said: 'Sierra Leone remains on track to become a stable democracy with a viable economy.'

Presenting the UN Secretary-General's latest report on Sierra Leone to the UN Security Council, the envoy said: 'I feel that this is an occasion to commend the people of Sierra Leone for what has been achieved during the last nine years in consolidating peace and building a democratic society.

'But, on the recent clashes between supporters of the two main political parties, I urged Sierra Leonean politicians not to forget what the country has achieved, by building on those accomplishments and conduct their affairs responsibly,' he noted.

He also stated: 'Elections are still one and a half years away and this must not start to embitter the social and political climate in Sierra Leone.'

Schulenburg, who is also the head of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) called for resolving of outstanding issues ahead of next year’s general elections, including reaching agreement on the polls’ legal framework and an electoral code of conduct.

He expressed support for the idea of an inclusive and non-partisan national conference floated by President Ernest Bai Koroma to discuss the country’s future.

He also informed the Security Council that Sierra Leone’s economy continues to grow and that the government was implementing infrastructure projects and pursuing a policy of privatization.

'Iron mining is expected to generate considerable revenues for the country in the coming years, the envoy said, cautioning, however, that, 'transparent management of new resources could pose challenges.'

Schulenburg further disclosed that, 'widespread poverty, youth unemployment and limited capacity for the delivery of social services, however, continue to put a damper on the country’s development potential.

'Notwithstanding the creation of the Youth Commission and concerted efforts by development partners, no substantive success has been made in fighting Sierra Leone’s rampant youth unemployment,” he said.

He also called for the better targeting of development programmes implemented through better cooperation between the government, its development partners and the private
sector.

Sierra Leone is one of five countries along with Burundi, the Central African Republic (CAR), Guinea-Bissau and Liberia on the agenda of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, which was set up in 2005 to help post-conflict countries avoid slipping back into war.

Pana 14/09/2011